The Birth of the American 12-string Guitar

(harpguitars.net)

45 points | by bilegeek 4 hours ago

4 comments

  • indymike 2 hours ago
    The author is Gregg Miner, and Gregg has an extensive library of harp guitar music. A long time ago I met Gregg when one of my friends Brad Hoyt (a keyboard and harp guitarist as well) hosted a harp guitar convention here in Indianapolis, and I got recruited to help. Gregg and the rest of the artists that were there were extremely approachable, and most of the crowd were musicians (some pretty famous ones, too) checking out one of the more interesting variations of the guitar... and what you could do with one. Fun times.
  • pluc 4 hours ago
    12 strings is one thing, but how about microtonal? That's instead of adding strings, you add frets!

    If you haven't heard them yet, you're in for a wild ride: https://www.youtube.com/@AnginePoitrine

    • adzm 55 minutes ago
      It is still worth noting that the microtones used by Angine de Poitrine are usually just transient notes, and could instead be played portamento with smooth transitions between the notes (eg on a fretless board) in most situations. It still sounds really cool, though, and certainly a technical and musical accomplishment. But the music itself still follows the usual patterns closely.
    • defrost 4 hours ago
      A bit spotty, but alright; meanwhile the Italian instrument makers said guitar-harp? Hold our expressos, this'll take some discipline:

      * https://www.delta-harp.com/

      * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdUztFVwi3I

      • swiftcoder 48 minutes ago
        Never having played a harp, whats the advantage here (beyond cool factor) over an equivalent electric guitar?
    • bilegeek 3 hours ago
      That's the first time I've heard microtonal work in a rock setting. Pretty good!

      I see your added frets, and raise "add frets on the fly using Lego":

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPCEImSfCwc

      • functionmouse 2 hours ago
        > That's the first time I've heard microtonal work in a rock setting. Pretty good!

        Really? I highly recommend Flying Microtonal Banana.

        • stronglikedan 1 hour ago
          > Really?

          Really? Most people's first intro to microtonal guitar is recent and brought to them by Angine de Poitrine.

    • jagged-chisel 4 hours ago
      Why frets? Orchestral strings don’t use frets.
      • bilegeek 4 hours ago
        For plucked instruments, besides ease of use, it adds clarity and sustain. Orchestra AFAIK only has Pizzicato where that would matter.
      • analog31 4 hours ago
        Frets make chords possible.

        You only have to put your finger somewhere in between two frets to get a particular note, so you can play more than the tiny handful of chords that can be played on something like a violin.

        There are non-fretted guitars but they are rare, and I think early banjos were not fretted.

        • jagged-chisel 3 hours ago
          Frets make chords easier
          • BigTTYGothGF 2 hours ago
            It makes hard chords easy, and impossible chords possible (if not easy). Most barre chords, for example.
        • ErroneousBosh 2 hours ago
          > Frets make chords possible.

          What do you think double-stops are?

          • bluGill 2 hours ago
            There are those who say it isn't a chord until you have 3 notes. I'm going to skip the complex music theory behind the arguments (I haven't studied them enough to understand much less form an opinion).

            Of course in most music contexts there is more than one instrument playing and so the others can fill in the missing note making a full chord. Only a "one-man-band" really feels the loss.

            • ErroneousBosh 1 hour ago
              Power chords only have two notes (although more than two octaves, I don't know if you count that)
              • williamdclt 1 hour ago
                It's self-consistent: those who say that a chord must have at least 3 notes also say that power chords are not technically chords
              • dahart 1 hour ago
                What do you mean about more than two octaves? The basic power chord is 3 notes, for example E2 + B2 + E3. One of those is an octave.
          • amanaplanacanal 2 hours ago
            Whimpy-ass chords. You need three or more notes for a serious(tm) chord.
            • ErroneousBosh 1 hour ago
              Five for the Hendrix Chord, E7♯9 ;-)

              That's E, G♯, B, D, F

              • telotortium 47 minutes ago
                Every jazz player knows you can drop the fifth, and the root too if the bass is filling it in. That gives your fingers room to add even crazier extensions
      • ErroneousBosh 2 hours ago
        What's the difference in sustain time between a cello played pizzicato and a plucked guitar string?
  • SloopJon 2 hours ago
    I'm probably preaching to the choir in a story about guitars, but if you're looking for some good 12-string music, Leo Kottke's 6 and 12 String Guitar is a good start.

    If you haven't heard (or seen) Michael Hedges play a harp guitar, there's some background and links to videos here:

    https://michaelhedges.com/michael-hedges-the-harp-guitar/

  • babblingbrook 3 hours ago
    What I love about links like this is that we see information being shared just for the love of it. This person has done a lot of work simply to share knowledge with the world about something they are passionate about. This is what great about the internet and is easily lost amongst all the commercial content.