TJ Nicolella- Musical Instrument Blog #1

​          I was thinking about making some type of acoustic guitar for this project because a guitar is the only instrument that I have at least a little bit of experience with. I do know that guitars have been around since the 1500’s and can vastly differ from one another. However, most acoustic guitars have six strings varying in width and mass that are laid over a hollow body to emanate a louder sound to be heard at a further distance. On a regular acoustic guitar, strings become thicker from bottom to top of the bridge of the guitar, so the higher the string on the bridge, the thicker the string. When the strings are plucked they actually make little noise but this disturbance makes a disturbance in the air around it that also vibrates the bridge of the guitar. The strings can also make different noises based on how you work them whether it be plucking or tapping them, etc.

The body of a guitar is usually made of spruce or other “springy” woods that can vibrate up and down relatively easily. In the case of an acoustic guitar, most of the sound is produced by the vibrations of the strings when they are touched or plucked, the body of the guitar only makes the conversion of energy from the strings to the body more efficient, creating more sound when the strings are plucked. Meanwhile, an electric guitar does not have the same effect because it does not have a hollowed out body and many vibrations do not convert to sound (unless connected to an electric amp.)


Resources:
http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/music/guitar/guitarintro.html
Allen Collins

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