The Cambridge Companion to the Electric Guitar

A comprehensive introduction to the electric guitar's history and cultural impact, for students, guitar fans, and researchers.

Designed for students and others seeking an up-to-date introduction, this Companion explores electric guitar technology, culture, and music. It approaches the instrument from multiple angles ranging from manufacture to virtuoso performance, from worldwide popularity to online communities, enabling a richer understanding of its global influence.The electric guitar is one of the most important musical instruments and cultural artifacts of the 20th and 21st centuries and enjoys popularity worldwide. Designed for students, this Companion explores electric guitar technology and performance, and the instrument's history and cultural impact. Chapters focused on the social significance of the electric guitar draw attention to the ways in which gender and race have shaped and been shaped by it, the ecology of electric guitar manufacturing, and the participation of electric guitarists in online communities. Contributions on electric guitar history stretch the chronology backwards in time and broaden our ideas of what belongs in that history, and those addressing musical style investigate the cultural value of virtuosity while providing material analysis of electric guitar technique. The Companion's final section considers the electric guitar's global circulation, particularly in Africa, the Afro-Caribbean, and Southeast Asia.