ELECTRIC GUITAR - THE EPITOME OF ROCK!

The reason I say electric guitar is the epitome of rock is because I think it is the instrument most associated with rock and roll. Rock images most often include a shot of the guitarist leaning out over the crowd and burning up a solo.

Like the electric bass guitar, the vibrations are turned into electrical signals, and then amplified out to the player and audience. Of course, electric guitar is not only used in rock - it is played in jazz and probably every other genre of music you can think of.

One big reason the guitar needed to become amplified in the early part of the 20th Century, was due to the increasing size of big bands, and an acoustic guitar just couldn't get enough volume out into the audience.

The electric guitar is different from the electric bass guitar, in that the electric guitar typically has six strings, and the electric bass typically has four strings. The overall pitch range of the electric guitar is higher than the bass.

Les Paul (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Paul) was one of the early innovators of the electric guitar. He helped perfect the solid body construction of the guitar that is most widely used today (in rock). Jazz guitarists often still use a hollow body electric guitar.

Learn how to play all styles of electric guitar at Earthtone School of Music.

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And now, I leave you with a great guitar solo by one of the great rock guitarists: Jimi Hendrix, playing a tune called Red House: