how influential have electric guitars been?

bball_1523

New member
I was wondering if you guys know how electric guitars have influenced all kinds of music ranging from the blues, jazz, rock, metal to pop, r&b, hiphop/rap, techno/trance/electronica, country, etc. ?

Also I was wondering if you guys have any websites that explain some of this influence and the history of the influence of electric guitars.

thanks
 
I am...right here too

I'm reading some books right now but I need more info so I've come to you guys to find more sources or advice if possible.
 
bball_1523 said:
I was wondering if you guys know how electric guitars have influenced all kinds of music ranging from the blues, jazz, rock, metal to pop, r&b, hiphop/rap, techno/trance/electronica, country, etc. ?

Also I was wondering if you guys have any websites that explain some of this influence and the history of the influence of electric guitars.

thanks


You are asking a question that has no answer.
 
Alright bball.... I'll step up to the plate and take a swing. I'll give you two tantalizing tidbits:

First off, think about this: nothing changed the face of music in the 20th century more than......electricity. Before that the guitar was just a background instrument in jazz ensembles. Now suddenly guitarists had the means to amplify and attain volume they needed to play leads and compete w/ instruments that were acoustically very loud, like the sax and trumpet. From there it was guys like Charlie Christian that pioneered the guitar as such. It literally changed the face of popular music.

Second, up until the 20th century the piano was the most popular and widely played instrument. Now it's the guitar. Why? Again.... partly due to electricity, but more importantly due to Leo Fender, who approached luthiery from a mass-production angle and made the guitar accessable as an "every-man's" instrument.

And a bonus: it wasn't until the '80's that the electric guitar became widely accepted as a solo instrument in pop music, thanks to Michael Jackson and Eddie Van Halen among others. There are earlier examples of screaming solos in pop songs, but not until the '80's was is really considered cool to have ripping guitars in a country song or pop song.

got mojo?
www.voodoovibe.com
 
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got mojo?
www.voodoovibe.com
 
I think when the first engineer cut a hole in the back of an acoustic guitar and stuck a mic in it so he could hear it along with a big jazz band, the race was on and hasn`t slowed down.
 
Check out a book called "The Guitar Handbook"

Covers the history of both acoustic and electric guitar and gives brief overviews of more recent innovators on the instrument. Includes stuff about bass, amplifactions, recording, and a lot of good technique and theory. An excellent book for someone asking a question like yours.

If the local library does not have a copy of the book, ask them to order one. Its a keeper.

Take care,
Chris
 
Aaron Cheney said:


. . . And a bonus: it wasn't until the '80's that the electric guitar became widely accepted as a solo instrument in pop music, thanks to Michael Jackson and Eddie Van Halen among others. There are earlier examples of screaming solos in pop songs, but not until the '80's was is really considered cool to have ripping guitars in a country song or pop song. . .


Usually Aaron, you're pretty much right on it - but I have to disagree with you on this one.
Let's talk about all those early '60's hits by the Shadows, the Ventures, Link Wray, Duane Eddy! etc etc. Serious guitar music. Mike Bloomfield, Eric Clapton, Senor Hendrix et al in the mid to late '60s. I agree that there wasn't much mega-distortion to go round, but there was some serious gtr playing going on.

And if you want to go earlier, let;'s talk about Charlie Christian, and a little later, Joe Pass, Tal Farlow and Barney Kessel.

Dem jazzer boys could all play bout as much as you could want.
 
. . . and one serious effect of the electric gtr bball was that now a dance band (or whatever) didn't need a horn section to knock you on your ass.
One Fender Twin and one Fender Bassman with two guys who know how to use them could do the work of an eight-piece horn section.

A lot cheaper to put together a band - so lots of horn players found themselves out of work.

Changed the sound and economics of live performance forever.
 
foo said:
Usually Aaron, you're pretty much right on it - but I have to disagree with you on this one.
Let's talk about all those early '60's hits by the Shadows, the Ventures, Link Wray, Duane Eddy! etc etc. Serious guitar music. Mike Bloomfield, Eric Clapton, Senor Hendrix et al in the mid to late '60s. I agree that there wasn't much mega-distortion to go round, but there was some serious gtr playing going on.

And if you want to go earlier, let;'s talk about Charlie Christian, and a little later, Joe Pass, Tal Farlow and Barney Kessel.

Dem jazzer boys could all play bout as much as you could want.

Yeah, you're right. There were lots of hot players way before the '80's for sure.
What I was talking about more was the integration of guitar into genres where screaming guitar was just not a part of the vernacular, i.e. pop, country, etc. Of course rock was guitar-centric from the get-go. Jazz is sort of constantly evolving anyway, and willing to go wherever somebody wants to take it. But putting a Hendrix style lead into a song like "In My Room" by the Beach Boys was like getting your chocolate in somebody's peanut-butter: nobody thought to do it until around the '80's, when all of a sudden you had EVH showing up on Thriller, and the like.
But now that I'm thinking on it, if memory serves.... wasn't there a Carpenters song that had a hot guitar lead on it??
These days it's not unusual to hear a screaming guitar on anything from Back Street Boys to Celone Dione.

But then again.... I was born in '68, maybe my perspective is just skewed on this one. It wouldn't be the first time....:D

got mojo?
www.voodoovibe.com
 
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