Curlie

Guitar

At its simplest, a guitar is "a stringed instrument of the lute family, plucked or strummed, as the instrument sits upright in one's lap." However, the guitar family has proved particularly adaptable to different cultures, musical genres, and to technological developments.

The modern Classical Guitar has six strings, usually of nylon (once of gut), a wooden resonating chamber with incurved sidewalls and a flat back, and is nowadays normally tuned to standard tuning (EADGBE).
- The Flamenco Guitar is very similar, but of lighter construction.
The Acoustic Guitar is similar to the modern classical guitar; however, it has steel strings, which involves building a stronger and larger resonating chamber, and a stronger but narrower neck. Standard tuning (EADGBE) is the commonest tuning. However, a wide variety of alternative tunings is available, some of them particularly associated with certain musical styles. The acoustic guitar has proved particularly flexible and some of the variations include
- Resonator Guitars - where the sound box's function is replaced by metal resonators;
- Guitars with varying numbers of strings; 6 courses of 2 strings (12 strings) is relatively common, but there are also 7, 8, and 10 string guitars;
- Guitars with different shaped bodies - with flat tops or arched tops.
- Semi-acoustic guitars are designed to combine the physical construction of a sound-box to transmit and amplify sound, with inbuilt electronics to facilitate use as an electric guitar.
The Electric Guitar generally has a solid body, as electronic amplification replaces the function of the acoustic guitar's sound-box. It generally (but not necessarily) has 6 strings, tuned to standard tuning (EADGBE).
- Bass Guitars are a particularly flexible development of the electric guitar; they generally have 4 strings.

There are two major caveats:

These definitions reflect a somewhat simplistic view of the commonest guitars as played by most players in major genres of western musics. Beyond that, the guitar family includes
- Adaptations of the classic model in Iberia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and elsewhere; these vary considerably in size, number of strings, tunings, and method of playing;
- Adaptations which considerably change the structure of the guitar - Steel Guitars (Lap Steel or Pedal Steel), which bear some resemblance to zithers.
The physical description of the "guitar box, strings, and neck" has little connection to musical styles/genres in which the guitar has become irreplaceable. It would be very hard to imagine some musical styles without the guitar, played in particular styles, with a particular range of chords/fingerings, or with specific tunings. These genres require very specific skills and understanding of the instrument. A few examples:
- Bluegrass
- Blues
- Classical
- Country and Western
- Flamenco
- Hawaiian Slack Key
- Jazz
- Rock
- Soukous

Please submit only informational sites, in English, about the guitar. Sites selling products which can be purchased from home should be submitted to Shopping. Sites for walk-in stores should be submitted to the appropriate locality in Regional.

Acoustic

Acoustic guitars are guitars primarily constructed of wood and strung with 6 or 12 steel or nylon strings which do not require the use of amplification to be heard.

For informational sites about the acoustic guitar (the instrument, not guitarists).

Sites selling items online should be sent to Shopping

Sites with walk in stores should be sent to the appropriate locality in Regional

Sites about Guitar players should be submitted to the appropriate Guitarist category.

Chats and Forums

For sites that primarily exist as a forum or a discussion board about guitars or guitar playing. Sites with additional content should be categorized elsewhere. Acoustic-only forums are listed in their own sub-category.

Classical

The modern Classical Guitar has six strings, usually of nylon (once of gut). The wooden resonating chamber is commonly made of rosewood, with a thin pliant top and a flat back. The neck is relatively broad, with 12 frets.
Standard tuning is EADGBE.

Please submit only informational sites about the classical guitar. Sites selling products which can be purchased from home should be submitted to Shopping. Sites for walk-in stores should be submitted to the appropriate locality in Regional.

Please submit to the appropriate sub category if available.

Education

Sites in this category contain free, online learning resources covering guitars and guitar playing. You can also find fee-paying guitar education services and products in the related shopping category and guitar tutors are listed under their local regional section of the directory. Similar resources for particular styles of guitar playing are found in the Guitar/Syles categories.

Electric

Instead of a hollow resonant box the electric guitar uses electro-magnetic pickups and electronics to amplify the vibration of the strings. While some have hollow bodies (so-called semi-acoustics or archtops), most are solid.

Please submit only informational sites about the electric guitar. Collections and picture galleries without additional content or special focus should be submitted to Personal Pages.

Sites selling products which can be purchased from home should be submitted to Shopping. Sites for walk-in stores should be submitted to the appropriate locality in Regional. Manufacturer and company sites are listed in their appropriate subcategories.

Please submit to the appropriate subcategory if available.

Events

For guitar festivals and competitions.

Guitarists

Guitarists play the guitar - but not all people who play the guitar will be considered for listing in this category. We will consider listings for guitarists of significance - guitarists with national/international careers and/or significant recording careers; or those who have made a particularly strong contribution to the revival/development of a particular instrument of the guitar family.

Guitarists will be listed according to the style in which they play. Exceptionally, we will consider listing a guitarist in an instrument category.

Guitarists with local careers and amateur guitarists should consider submitting sites to a locality in Regional, or to the Guitar/Personal_Pages category.

Singer-songwriters should consider an appropriate category in Arts/Music/Styles.

Luthiers

You must be a luthier/instrument builder to be included in this category.

Repair work, wholesalers, retailers, music stores, not accepted. Search DMOZ first before submitting for most appropriate category. Please ensure your website has full content before submitting. Under construction sites will not be approved until complete. Sites which immediately redirect to other sites will not be approved.

Please include Luthier''s full name in description field when submitting.

Manufacturers

Sites of businesses that mass- or factory-produce guitars.

Only for guitar accessory manufacturers. If you manufacture both guitars and accessories please submit to Guitar Manufacturers.

Walk-in stores should be submitted to the appropriate sub category for location in Regional.

Sites that focus on online shopping should be submitted to Shopping.

MIDI

This covers the electronics which use the MIDI interface to allow a guitar to be connected to a computer and be used as a synthesizer; there is also a range of specific electronic musical instruments which bear more or less similarity to the traditional guitar constructions.

Organizations

Organizations, societies, associations and clubs for Guitar.

Repair

Sites dealing primarily with the repair and maintenance of electric and acoustic guitars and basses.

Resonator

Guitars which use an internal metal "loudspeaker" to amplify the sound instead of the normal wooden "box with a soundhole". The sound box may be wood or metal, or a combination of the two. The two best known styles of this instrument are Dobro and National. They are frequently played using metal or glass slides.

Steel

Not to be confused with steel-string acoustic guitars, these are adapted to playing with a metal or glass slide. They generally have a rectangular sound-box with a guitar neck. The Lap Steel is designed to be played flat on the player's lap (rather than upright, as with a "normal" guitar). The Pedal Steel is a development of this, designed to be played flat on a stand, with additional pedals/knee levers.

Styles

Many styles have music have come to almost unimaginable without the contribution of the guitar, and specific styles of playing. This category includes general informational sites about guitar playing styles, and free, online learning resources covering guitars and guitar playing.

Fee-paying guitar education services and products are listed in related shopping categories, and guitar tutors are listed in their locality in Regional.

Tablature

For sites which offer free music written in Tablature/Tab, for the guitar in a variety of styles.

This notation is often used as an alternative to "standard Western" notation for stringed instrument players who wish to complement learning their music by ear, or who do not "read music".

The standard elements of Tablature notation are that each line represents a string, and the finger-placing/fret is shown. Representation of key, timing, tempo, phrasing, and technique is not standardized.

Sites offering sales of Tablature/Tab should be offered to the relevant Shopping category.

Sites for publishers of Tablature should be offered to Business/Publishing_and_Printing/Publishing/Music/.

Variants

A taste of the rich and varied guitar family, covering less common variations in the number of strings (3/4/7/8/10/12 or more), developments of the classical guitar in different parts of the world, and adaptations which have come to be particularly associated with different styles of music.