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The Cambridge Companion to the Electric Guitar
  • Edited by Jan-Peter Herbst, Steve Waksman
  • Published online:
    08 November 2024
    Print publication:
    17 October 2024
  • 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.

  • 10 - Thumping, Glitch, and Butterfly Tapping: Innovations in Guitar Technique in the New Millennium

  • from Part III - Musical Style and Technique
  • Edited by Jan-Peter Herbst, University of Huddersfield, Steve Waksman, Smith College, Massachusetts
  • Book:
    The Cambridge Companion to the Electric Guitar
    Published online:
    08 November 2024
    Print publication:
    17 October 2024, pp 165-188

  • Summary

    Guitar playing styles have gradually, albeit substantially, changed over time. The new millennium in particular brought a fundamental change in playing techniques, primarily due to technological advances such as extended-range guitars. Established techniques were adapted to new instrument designs and their use in progressive musical styles. This chapter introduces novel approaches to melodic playing in three areas of progressive rock subgenres: percussive techniques, tapping, and using the thumb. The analysis of contemporary techniques includes adaptations from the electric bass that inspired thumping, slapping, and popping techniques. Concerning tapping, traditional shred tapping is complemented by forms of pianistic multi-finger and multi-role tapping, as well as percussive glitch and butterfly tapping. Finally, examining thumb use demonstrates that the picking-hand thumb is now involved in techniques such as under-strumming. The chapter shows how these techniques are used in progressive rock and metal, where virtuosity is expected and where guitarists must actively explore unique ways of playing to distinguish themselves from other skilled players.

  • 1 - Introduction

  • Edited by Jan-Peter Herbst, University of Huddersfield, Steve Waksman, Smith College, Massachusetts
  • Book:
    The Cambridge Companion to the Electric Guitar
    Published online:
    08 November 2024
    Print publication:
    17 October 2024, pp 1-14

  • Summary

    This introduction to the Cambridge Companion to the Electric Guitar offers a concise synopsis of the dominant narrative surrounding the instrument, and establishes the ways in which the current collection seeks to expand the existing framework for considering the electric guitar’s history and cultural impact. It also discusses the provisional development of “guitar studies” as an academic field, highlighting trends in conferences, journalistic and special interest publications, and discussions surrounding music technology, the electric guitar industry, and socio-demographic issues such as gender, race, and age. While electric guitar scholarship has made significant progress, it has not fully established itself as a distinct field. Currently, there is no dedicated journal or professional organization for researchers in this area. “Guitar studies” may not yet have come to fruition, but its foundation is being laid, to which this Cambridge Companion intends to contribute.

Rock Guitar Virtuosos

Rock Guitar Virtuosos
  • Advances in Electric Guitar Playing, Technology, and Culture
  • Jan-Peter Herbst, Alexander Paul Vallejo
  • Published online:
    29 November 2023
    Print publication:
    21 December 2023
  • The guitar has been an integral part of popular music and mainstream culture for many decades and in many places of the world. This Element examines the development and current state of virtuosic rock guitar in terms of playing, technology, and culture. Supported by technological advances such as extended-range guitars, virtuosos in the twenty-first century are exploring ways to expand standard playing techniques in a climate where ever-higher levels of perfection are expected. As musician-entrepreneurs, contemporary rock guitar virtuosos record, produce, and market their music themselves; operate equipment companies; and sell merchandise, tablature, and lessons online. For their social media channels, they regularly create videos and interact with their followers while having to balance building their tribe and finding the time to develop their craft to stay competitive. For a virtuoso, working situations have changed considerably since the last century; the aloof rock star has been replaced by the approachable virtuoso-guitarist-composerinnovator-producer-promoter-YouTuber-teacher-entrepreneur.

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