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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.
List of contents
Contributors; 1. Introduction Jan-Peter Herbst and Steve Waksman; Part I. History: 2. The misunderstood history and prehistory of the electric guitar Matthew W. Hill; 3. The electric guitar's 'Golden Age' Steve Waksman; 4. The guitar hero in classic rock John Covach; Part II. Technology and Timbre: 5. They don't make 'Em Like They Used To: Electric Guitar Design 1950-2022 Matt Brounley; 6. Even in the quietest moments: amplifying the electric guitar Kyle Devine; 7. Stompbox revolution: electric guitar pedals and tone Erik Broess; Part III. Musical Style and Technique: 8. Technique vs. Virtuosity in the instrumental gesture: from classical to rock and from rock to contemporary creation Philippe Gonin; 9. The bass guitar in popular music Brian F. Wright; 10. Thumping, glitch, and butterfly tapping: innovations in guitar technique in the new millennium Alexander Paul Vallejo and Jan-Peter Herbst; 11. Rhythm changes: rhythm guitar from jazz to funk Kate Lewis; Part IV. The Electric Guitar in Society; 12. Trailblazers, self-creators, and provers: celebrating women in electric guitar Sue Foley; 13. Black women: race, gender, genre, and the electric guitar Mashadi Matabane; 14. Ecological entanglements: following the electric guitar from factory to forest Chris Gibson and Andrew Warren; 15. Electro-collectives: Virtual guitar communities Daniel Lee; Part V. The Global Instrument: 16. African electrical networks Nathaniel Braddock; 17. Rhythm, rasta, rock, & 'Electric Avenue': the electric guitar in Anglo-Caribbean popular music Mike Alleyne; 18. The electric guitar in Southeast Asia: a serpentine path Rebekah E. Moore; Index.
About the author
Jan-Peter Herbst is Reader (Associate Professor) in Music Production at the University of Huddersfield. His background as a rock guitarist has led him to specialize in the study of electric guitar playing and rock and metal music production. Herbst has also edited The Cambridge Companion to Metal Music (2023).Steve Waksman is Elsie Irwin Sweeney Professor at Smith College. He is the author of Instruments of Desire: The Electric Guitar and the Shaping of Musical Experience (1999), This Ain't the Summer of Love: Conflict and Crossover in Heavy Metal and Punk (2009), and Live Music in America: A History from Jenny Lind to Beyoncé (2022).
Summary
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.
