If you are planning to give your kids a guitar lesson, begin with telling them the basic things about guitar. There are various questions to understand, such as how a guitar works?
Once the kid understands these concepts, they will enjoy the guitar lessons and can play it perfectly. Through this article, you will know how a guitar works for kids. How do the strings of the guitar work? And some other facts about the guitar.
How does a Guitar Works?
Guitars are of different types. Although the popular one is electric guitar, people also love to know about acoustic and solid body electric guitar. Each of the guitars works on the same principle, but the ways are different. Here you will learn the working of two widely used guitars, Acoustic and Electric.
1. Acoustic Guitar
The acoustic guitar dominated the music industry centuries ago. It is an old ancestor of the present electric guitar. For a long time, the guitars use gut strings. However, in the 19th century, steel strings took their place.
To produce sound, the guitarist strikes the strings that make them vibrate. This vibration of strings creates an energy that shifts to the soundboard via the bridge. The vibrating strings also produce a sound which is the hollow body of guitar amplifiers. The pitch of sound or vibrating strings depends on the tension, mass, and length of traditional gut strings.
In guitars with steel strings, the thickness of the lower strings is more. The way you tune them alters the tension. The pitch depends on its tightness. By pushing down on frets, you can also change the number of strings that are free to vibrate. The pitch of sound also depends on the distance between the fret and soundhole. If the soundhole and fret are close, vibrating strings are shorter. Thus, it produces a higher pitch.
So, this is a simple explanation of how a guitar works for kids.
2. Electric- Acoustic Guitar
One of the most basic things to learn about the guitar is the working of the electric guitar. For a long time, guitarists and guitar manufactures were looking to increase the volume of the instrument. Finally, electrical amplification came out as one of the best innovations for manufacturing louder guitars.
In the 1930s and 1920s, guitar makers experimented several ways. However, in most of them, they attach a pickup to the acoustic guitar to pick the sound of the instrument and amplify it.
The first successful pickup system was developed by Paul Barth and George Beauchamp. It was an electromagnetic pickup system. This system was primarily used in the Rickenbacker Frying Pan guitar, popular in 1932.
Today, the electromagnet is mounted under the strings of the guitar. They sense the vibration of strings and change the energy into electrical signals. The cable carries these signals to the amplifier to produce high sounds. The pickups are of two types: Humbucking or double-coil and single coil. The former creates a fuller sensation.
Now you know how a guitar works? It is also vital to know how the strings of the guitar work? The next section deals with it.
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3. How the Strings of a Guitar Works?
Every musical instrument contains a part that moves in a repeated or regular motion to make a sound. In guitar, vibrating strings play this part. Although the strings create a low disturbance in the air. It creates the vibration that is further amplified by bridge and body in acoustic guitar and amplifier in electrical ones.
The pitch of the sound produce by vibrating strings depends on the following factors:
- Tension in the string
- Mass of the string
- Length of the string
- Mode of vibration
The working of a string is a vital part of basic things to know about guitar. Kids should also know some fun facts about the guitar.
Also Read: Home Workouts for Kids: Get Them Moving their Body with These Fun Exercises
Fun Facts About Guitar
Here are some basic things to know about the guitar:
- In German and French, the word guitar is known as ‘gitarre’ and ‘guitare’ respectively. However, the origin of all the three words is from the word “guitarra”. It is a Spanish word.
- Guitars are not new. They have been there from 3000-3500 years ago. The first guitar recorded was in Iran ( Persia at that time ). It was known as ‘tanbur’. Unlike the hourglass design of present-day guitars, tanbur has a circular bout ( body) under its neck.
- In the early times, the key role of guitars was to enhance and establish a rhythm in bars and parties. The guitarists were not allowed to do anything of their own. They only sync with the tone of the singer.
- Despite being there for a long time, guitars became popular in the 1900s. The mass production of electricity and the growing popularity of radio resulted in demand for music from every home.
- Have you heard about the largest guitar in the world? It is 43 feet ( nearly 13m) long. The weight of the guitar is around 2255 lbs. or 1000 Kg. Its shape is like an electric guitar.
- If you are surprised by the features of the largest guitar, the smallest guitar will further surprise you. Cornell University in New York developed the world’s smallest guitar. It is only 10 mm long. The strings are 100 atoms wide. You can play this guitar but not like the regular ones. You require special equipment to play it. However, you cannot hear the sound produced by it.
- The most expensive guitar in the world is named ‘Reach out to Asia’. It is signed by 19 legendary musicians. It was valued at 2.7 Million$. The funds collected through it were donated to the victims of the 2004 Earthquake and tsunami in the Indian ocean.
So, these are some fun facts about the guitar.
Conclusion
Guitar produces sound but the music depends on you. Kids need to know about at least one musical instrument. Since guitar is a popular one among teens, your kids will take interest in it. They will soon become the rockstar of their group.
