The document traces the evolution of the acoustic guitar from its origins thousands of years ago to its widespread popularity and cultural impact today. It discusses early instruments that preceded the modern guitar, like the lute and kithara. The guitar continued developing over centuries as it spread across cultures. Today, the acoustic guitar remains deeply influential across many genres of music and has never lost its appeal despite technological changes, demonstrating its power to inspire emotions. Famous musicians like Dave Matthews still rely heavily on the acoustic guitar to create music. The guitar has evolved as different societies have shaped it but continues to influence individuals and cultures in a mostly positive way.

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Maidie Knight
Ms. Bennett
British Literature
9 September 2011
The Evolution and Cultural Impact of the Acoustic Guitar
“Among God’s creatures two, the dog and guitar, have taken all the sizes and all the
shapes, in order not be separated from man.”(Segovia.) This quote by Andre Segovia shows the
strong bond between an instrument and mankind. For someone to make such a remark about a
piece of wood with strings shows that it must be an influential and inspiring instrument. In
different cultures, the acoustic guitar means and impacts different forms of music that fits almost
any style or taste in a culture. In one culture, it could be used to be uplifting or joyful. However,
in another culture, the acoustic guitar could be used to show sympathy, or sorrow. Either way,
that instrument is moving emotions. The way guitar affects emotion so powerfully is based on
technique and form. There are many different ways a guitar is made and there are multiple ways
to play the acoustic guitar. Acoustic guitars have made huge differences in many cultures and
have impacted many individuals throughout the instruments’ lifespan. The acoustic guitar is a
specific art form that is used to display all of the diverse individual personalities and societies in
the world.
The first signs of the guitar date back to over five thousand years ago("Strings to the
past").Starting out, historians could not match the modern day guitar to their findings. There
were many possible relations. In Mesopotamia, the lute was a similar instrument that contained a

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flat back and curved sides("Strings to the past"). This instrument had a soundboard and frets. A
soundboard is what amplifies the sound the strum of the strings make. Also, in Greek culture, the
kithara was similar to a guitar("Strings to the past").It is depicted in statues and paintings.
Kithara is a word that closely relates to the word “guitar” (www.guitar-4u.com).Shortly after
these instruments became popular; the Spaniards did a little bit of tweaking and created the
“guitarra.”(www.guitar-4u.com). In Spain, culture is a lot more positive, so the speed and beats
differed from earlier forms of guitar playing. The idea of the guitar spread around the world
when travelers exposed their forms of the instrument to natives of other countries and then those
countries continued the cycle of introducing this new instrument. It is said to be that the first real
guitar emerged in the sixteenth century, with a long neck containing many holes and one round
hole in the front known as a sound ("Strings to the past").This body was a lot larger than a lute
and was known as a Vihuela.(www.guitarlessoninsider.com). Now, the instrument very closely
resembles the modern day guitar. The Vihuela had multiple strings like today’s guitar does
(www.guitar-4u.com). In the 1700s, the actual guitar that exists today was defined. A string
called the bass was added, along with steel and nylon strings, which are much more durable and
create a more amplified and nicer sound. In European, the root word “guit,” means music, and
the root word “tar,” means string or chord, which is what a guitar is made up of
(www.guitarlessoninsider.com).
Starting in the late 1800s, a young boy living in Greece with his father, a timber
merchant, began constructing instruments (www.acousticmusic.org). This boy’s name was
Anastasios Stathopoulo, and he was very fond of the lute. By the age of seventeen, Anastasios
was ready to go out and start up his own business. He had everything from mandolins and violins
to lutes. Around the same time, Anastasios was also in the midst of creating a family. He had

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three sons and a daughter. His first son was named Epaminondas (ww.acousticmusic.org). As
tensions in Greece rose, the Stathopoulo family decided to move to America for greater
opportunities. This migration was good timing on their behalf because in America, mandolins
were the greatest thing around, especially in New York, which is just where the Stathopoulo
family ended up (www.acousticmusic.org). America was full of musical inspiration. All kids
took some sort of music lesson and New York was the happening place for new outbreaks for
music. It is said that there was a music room in every house. The family business for the
Stathopoulos’s was expanding. When Anastasios died, his first son Epi took over
(www.acousticmusic.org). Epi’s name is where the term Epiphone comes from and Epiphone
was the best brand of violins and mandolins around. There were all kinds of models and
improvements.
Gibson is a very popular brand name of guitar("Strings to the past").This is the guitar that
influenced Jazz in the 1920s. The 1920s were full of trends. However, in 1929, when the market
crashed, even most businesses in America crumbled. Music was so powerful for people that this
region of industry was hardly affected. Thinking back on the 1920s, most music was influenced
by the Great Depression, which proves how meaningful the guitar really is. It was a small and
affordable tool that could output some sort of message; either positive or negative. Even when a
negative message is being sent out through music, there is usually some positivity that comes
from music, whether it is a result or just a form of realization. For example, when a group of
oppressed people use music to express their emotions, the song and music associated could
sound completely depressing and negative, which can cause someone to help them make this
statement or some form of a resolution could occur, such as; civil rights, or even equal paying

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wages. With this being said, guitar is not something that could be easily done away with. It has
thrived and withheld through some hard times and still manages to impact people.
In the 1950s and the 1960s, culture was facing a folk craze. Everything in this time period
was about peace and tranquility. Now, what comes to mind when peace is mentioned? Pretty
sounds are definitely a candidate, and pretty sounds come from acoustic guitars. Music was used
to convey the message of strong emotion toward war, unfair labor, hard times, and what is good
and equal in life.The demand for an acoustic guitar has never decreased. Actually, as time goes
on, demand for acoustic guitars continues to increase. The acoustic guitar demand was so high
that popular manufacturers such as Gibson could not keep up, so the Gibson Company had to
find ways to make production quicker. All companies were forced to decrease the quality of their
instruments in order to keep the instruments easy for producers and affordable for consumers.
Ibanez was a new company that recognized the big issue and jumped right into business. This
company made guitars that were very similar to Gibson and Martin guitars, but were a lot more
affordable and they still sounded decent. Ibanez could be considered the CVS branded medicine
of guitar. The body styles were so closely related that Gibson threatened to sue. There was a
huge lawsuit over the whole issue and Ibanez stopped “copying” Gibson
(www.acousticmusic.org).When all of that was over with, Ibanez did not give up. That company
did not want to diminish; therefore, the body styles of Ibanez guitars began to closely resemble
Martin guitars (www.acousticmusic.org). It is said that history repeats itself, and in this case, that
is exactly what happened. Once again, Ibanez violated copyright terms and lost the company.
(www.acousticmusic.org).
Many musicians start out with the simple acoustic guitar and move up to more complex
instruments, however, some stick with the acoustic guitar. Dave Matthews, born in South Africa,

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came to America to pursue a better life. His job was bartending at a local bar in New York.
There, he found his love for music. Jazz was the most popular music played at the bar he worked
at. Jazz is the music that gave the acoustic guitar its real beginning. Dave Matthews now has is
band known as the Dave Matthews Band. This band is full of all kinds of instruments such as
trumpets, violins, different guitars and keyboards. However, Matthews still uses the acoustic
guitar as his main instrument. The majority of his songs are formed around this instrument. The
Dave Matthews Band is a very well-known musical group. When listening to some music by
them, the main instrument heard is an acoustic guitar; this instrument is the basis of almost all of
their songs. Such an instrument helped Dave Matthews get to where he is today; on Top 20
countdowns, music awards, and of course the radio. These are all great accomplishments that
comes from Dave Matthews’s talent, but credit should be given to the introduction of the
acoustic guitar as well.
The popularity of the acoustic guitar has never been lost or replaced, even throughout all
of the technological advancements in music. Nothing beats the rhythm and sounds an acoustic
guitar outputs; not even pop culture electronic music. Over the years, and many time periods, the
guitar has evolved and impacted upcoming generations; therefore, it evolves again. It is like a
never ending cycle that continues to influence more and more individuals and continue making
history. With all of the different societies that have transformed the acoustic guitar, it still retains
the same motives and impact. No matter how much it is tweaked or reconstructed, the acoustic
guitar will never lose its value. If one day the acoustic guitar were to lose its value, it would
always have its name that has lasted for thousands of years. The acoustic guitar is not violent,
dangerous, harmful, or disruptive. Furthermore, the acoustic guitar is just a soft-sounding
instrument used for good, and it cannot harm anything. The guitar’s impact on culture has

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withstood many transformations and still remains very superior. The acoustic guitar is also the
basis for almost all musical form, so without the acoustic guitar, music may not have made it this
far. Guitars have not faced many hardships because they are so loved; they have never been
deserted or mistreated. There are not many instances where the acoustic guitar is a disruption and
a society wants to get rid of it. The acoustic guitar will continue to thrive, especially at the rate it
is going and has always been going. There is much good and positivity that comes from music
and that is shown multiple times in the history of it all. Guitar has clearly influenced
enoughindividuals so that they want to “tweak” it into something new and inventive. The
acoustic guitar is used to reach out and appeal to one’s emotions. Each individual guitar player
has his or her own style or soul that is imitated in their music. Acoustic guitar players are just
like painters; there are not any alike and all pieces of art are different and original. This statement
shows that guitar is really influential on emotion. The impact of guitar has been greatly shown in
American history, and even world history. Every country has been impacted and made an
influence and given guitar its unique styles it has today. There are such big movements related
to the acoustic guitar and the playing of this instrument is so widely dispersed. Who knew a
piece of wood and some string could make such a difference to mankind?