Instruments

Guitar (Electric)

In modern parlance the word "guitar" usually connotes an electric guitar; the qualifier "acoustic" is necessary to indicate the original instrument. The first electric guitars were marketed by the Rickenbacker, National, and Gibson companies in the 1930s. These were essentially acoustic instruments with pickups for an amplifier, and like other electric instruments they gained their first popularity in the country and rhythm-and-blues fields, where nightclub and tavern venues were the rule and added volume was required. The first solid-body electric guitar, with entirely electronic amplification, was built for country guitarist Merle Travis around 1946; shortly after that, the Fender company's Broadcaster model, soon renamed the Telecaster, set the pattern for numerous instruments that followed, and did as much as any other single invention to give birth to rock and roll. Over much of the rest of the twentieth century the guitar was the point of intersection between the efforts of individual players and the vast array of musical electronics involved in the composition of a popular recording.

Artist Highlights

Artist Active Styles
Jimi Hendrix 1960s - 1970s Album Rock, Hard Rock, Blues-Rock, Psychedelic/Garage, Acid Rock, Psychedelic Soul, Soul
Les Paul 1920s - 2000s Swing, Traditional Pop, Vocal Pop
Chet Atkins 1940s - 1990s Country Boogie, Country-Pop, Finger-Picked Guitar, Instrumental Country, Nashville Sound/Countrypolitan, Traditional Country
B.B. King 1940s - 2010s Modern Electric Blues, Soul-Blues, Early R&B, Memphis Blues, Regional Blues
Bonnie Raitt 1970s - 2020s Adult Contemporary, Blues-Rock, Contemporary Pop/Rock, Slide Guitar Blues, Contemporary Singer/Songwriter, Album Rock, Singer/Songwriter
Duane Allman 1960s - 1970s Blues-Rock, Southern Rock, Album Rock, Slide Guitar Blues
Stevie Ray Vaughan 1960s - 1990s Blues-Rock, Electric Texas Blues, Modern Electric Blues, Modern Electric Texas Blues, Regional Blues, Texas Blues, Album Rock
Keith Richards 1960s - 2020s Rock & Roll, Album Rock, Hard Rock, Blues-Rock
Django Reinhardt 1920s - 1950s Continental Jazz, Swing, Gypsy, South/Eastern European Traditions
Link Wray 1950s - 2000s Instrumental Rock, Rock & Roll, Rockabilly
Eric Clapton 1960s - 2020s Album Rock, Blues-Rock, British Blues, Contemporary Pop/Rock, Regional Blues, Adult Contemporary, Hard Rock
T-Bone Walker 1920s - 1970s Electric Texas Blues, Regional Blues, Texas Blues, Early R&B
Jimmy Page 1950s - 2020s Album Rock, British Blues, British Invasion, Hard Rock, Regional Blues, Rock & Roll
Wes Montgomery 1940s - 1960s Hard Bop, Jazz-Pop, Soul Jazz, Contemporary Jazz, Crossover Jazz, Guitar Jazz, Jazz Instrument, Modern Jazz
Barney Kessel 1940s - 1990s Bop, Cool, Guitar Jazz, West Coast Jazz, Jazz Instrument
John McLaughlin 1960s - 2020s Fusion, Global Jazz, Jazz-Rock, Post-Bop, Chamber Jazz, Guitar Jazz, Indian Classical, Indian Subcontinent Traditions, Jazz Instrument
Charlie Christian 1930s - 1940s Swing, Bop, Big Band, Guitar Jazz, Jazz Instrument
Curtis Mayfield 1950s - 1990s Blaxploitation, Chicago Soul, Funk, Soul, Soundtracks, Uptown Soul, Psychedelic Soul, Smooth Soul, Film Score
Elmore James 1940s - 1960s Electric Blues, Electric Chicago Blues, Regional Blues, Slide Guitar Blues, Chicago Blues, Electric Delta Blues
Sonny Sharrock 1960s - 1990s Avant-Garde Jazz, Free Jazz