guitar
instrumentsgih-TAR
A fretted string instrument played by plucking or strumming, typically with six strings.
The guitar is one of the most widely played instruments in the world, found in virtually every genre from classical to rock to jazz to flamenco. The modern classical guitar has six nylon strings and a hollow wooden body. Steel-string acoustic guitars produce a brighter tone suited to folk and country music, while the electric guitar uses pickups and amplification to create sounds impossible on an acoustic instrument.
Guitarists use a wide range of techniques: fingerpicking for delicate arpeggios, strumming for rhythm and chord accompaniment, palm muting for percussive effects, bending for expressive pitch changes, and tapping for rapid legato passages. The guitar can play melody, harmony, and bass simultaneously, making it one of the most self-sufficient instruments. Andrés Segovia established it as a serious concert instrument, while blues and rock musicians like Robert Johnson, Jimi Hendrix, and Eric Clapton made it the voice of popular music.
The guitar overtook the piano as the world's most popular instrument in the 1960s and has held that position ever since, with an estimated 50 million guitarists worldwide.