Technically, I’m not a guitar player, all I play is truth and emotion.”–
Jimi Hendrix
music gives a soul to universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything
plato
Joe Perry Digital Artist
In this research my main focus is on guitar, what the object is, history , philosophy also the reason behind choosing a guitar as an object is to how much i am attached to my guitar and musical instruments however i have not looked my guitar as i am seeing it right now. my guitar knows me better than anyone. whenever I am playing guitar its like I am sharing all my emotions to this instrument and it is converting all to a good melody that is so satisfying. for instance everyday my emotion changes and i used to express it by my guitar it is also another way to just let go the felling’s. the guitar have every note and tone to express what a guitarist is actually felling or which he wants to give. guitarist knowingly or unknowingly expresses what he is feeling and most of the artist doesn’t know when they playing they are just in the flow of emotions. when i am feeling good i play major scales which is a happy note on the other side when i am overthinking or in a bad mood i play minor scales. guitar have every note for every emotion.
acoustic guitar are literally magical object for me that how a 4 piece wood and 6 strings can be a most powerful way to express yourself. guitar is art itself by seeing the shape, texture , design every element is artistic in its own way. the guitar is made of wood and strings it can be of 2 to 12 strings and it also have a body with waist and belly which have soundhole that produces sound and a neck to play keys which is known as fretboard. guitar produces sound by vibration. it is amazing how a particular key produces a vibration which is converted into rhythm or tunes moreover the appearance of guitar is itself artistic.
History of guitar and string instruments
let’s have a look of amazing history of guitar and strings instruments in various culture because guitar is like a latest addition of strings instruments.
guitar, plucked stringed musical instrument that probably originated in Spain early in the 16th century, deriving from the guitarra latina, a late-medieval instrument with a waisted body and four strings. The early guitar was narrower and deeper than the modern guitar, with a less pronounced waist. It was closely related to the vihuela, the guitar-shaped instrument played in Spain in place of the lute.
The guitar originally had four courses of strings, three double, the top course single, that ran from a violin-like pegbox to a tension bridge glued to the soundboard, or belly; the bridge thus sustained the direct pull of the strings. In the belly was a circular sound hole, often ornamented with a carved wooden rose. The 16th-century guitar was tuned C–F–A–D′, the tuning of the centre four courses of the lute and of the vihuela.From the 16th to the 19th century several changes occurred in the instrument. A fifth course of strings was added before 1600; by the late 18th century a sixth course was added. Before 1800 the double courses were replaced by single strings tuned E–A–D–G–B–E′, still the standard tuning.From 20th century acoustic guitars become famous and fashionable moreover electric guitars are also being produced this instrument’s sound and tone depend almost entirely on the electronic detection and amplification of its vibrating strings. For instance this are the string instruments from all over the world that include the following: (1) musical bows—the berimbau of Brazil
(2) African and European lyres—the krar of Ethiopia and crwth of Wales;
(3) harps—the ennanga of Uganda, saung gauk of Burma and the Paraguyan harp;
(4) plucked lutes—the charango of the Andes of Arabia
The balalaika of Russia
Sitar of India
During my ongoing research I discovered that guitar have roots with strings instruments and one of the string instrument is produced in India. The earliest surviving stringed instruments to date are the Lyres of Ur, plucked chordophones, which currently exist in fragments that date back to 4,500 years ago. The first bowed chordophones were probably developed in central Asia and were the forerunners of an Indian folk instrument known as the ravanastron.
String instruments, Creativity, culture and Enlightenment
One of the reason why i am so much attached to my guitar is that i feel peace because its like i am connected with the universe just by Creativity. In Indian culture it is believed that one can achieve Enlightenment by the way of art and creativity. Shiva, Mahadeva is a god of frequency he doesn’t have any form. Shamboo is like voice or a powerful frequency. he is attracted by music, dance and almost every artform . he dances from mrutyu to moksha. he plays damruu. In Indian culture every god and goddess have its own musical instrument. for instance The venu is associated with the Hindu god Krishna, who is often depicted playing it. This kind of flute is mainly used in South India. Vishnu is portrayed as Venugopala, playing the flute of creation.
Idols of Ganesha are worshipped everywhere. there are five idols of ganesha playing five different musical instruments namely Dafli, Violin, harmonium, flute and Mridanga. It represents the art and wisdom of Lord Ganesha. As the god of beginnings, he is honoured at the start of rites and ceremonies.
Saraswati is the goddess of learning, holds the most evolved string instrument was placed in her hands by contemporary artistes. Saraswati holding Veena on the upper side with her left hand and the lower side with her right hand means she has command over the complete power of knowledge and learning to her devotees.The sound of veena is known to symbolizes the primordial sound of creation.
the damaru is known as the instrument of the deity Shiva, associated with Tantric traditions.There is a very deep significance behind every thing that you see with Shiva including his damroo. Shiva is the Supreme Dancer ‘Natraj’ whose sacred dance produces this entire Universe. A dance can be performed only according to a beat, a rhythm; damroo signifies that divine rhythm which sends Shiva into ecstasy. That ecstasy, that overflowing joy produces the Universe. It is believed that sound or ‘naad’ is the fundamental cause of creation. It is Shiva’s damroo that produces the ‘naad’. That ‘naad’ is symbolised by the sound ‘Om’ or the ‘omkara’ which is the substratum of this universe. Quantum physics has verified this fact that everything in this universe from the lowest amoeba to the highest galaxy is nothing but a result of some vibration in the underlying quantum space. It is quite evident that what the modern science has discovered only now had already been understood by the ancient seers of India through their well developed yogic powers developed by long and intense meditation. the common thing of damroo and guitar is they produces vibrations. this is so fascinating for me. foe instance I can say the very same 10 instruments is played in bible also. so everything at the is same and creativity. creativity is the most effective way to connect one with universe.
fun fact: there is sculpture of Natraj a form of Shiva in Nasa space center.“For the modern physicists, then, Shiva’s dance is the dance of subatomic matter.” The figure of Nataraja is enclosed in a ring of fire which represents the continuous creation and destruction of the universe. The mass, space and time are enclosed within this cosmic ring of fire.
Guitar philosophy
jamie andreas is the author of “the principles of correct practise of guitar”. it is the life changing theory for every guitarist.
The greatest guitarists are more than guitarists, they are artists and musicians who play the guitar. Often, they are poets, philosophers and even mystics. “Guitar Philosophy” explores this deeper dimension of our art. Jamie explores the many ways in which becoming a guitar player and musician relates to our psychology and our spirituality.
“What you are as a person is what you will be as a guitarist”.
jamie andreas
practise is meditation and playing is prayer
I want to take one of the aspects of guitar philosophy . I have always found similarity in playing guitar and meditating. i have practised the same note for 1000 thousand times to make it sound better. producing music is not a easy thing or just practising the exact sound because it takes lots of patience and presence of mind. when one is playing guitar they have to use even a tiny muscles of hand to big muscles like bicep to make a sound so it the muscles which we don’t use in our daily life ofcourse it also uses mind and soul to express feelings. I live for that one moment which is the state of effortless playing.
This is the state of “effortless playing” often talked about. It allows the mind and emotions to focus only on the spiritual essence of the music. It is an ecstatic state that all musicians prize, in fact, live for. When the body, mind, and emotions are in complete communion with the music, we ride upon the music like a surfer rides upon the wave. The body and fingers are the surfboard, we use them to touch the strings and so to touch the music.
The music seems to play itself.
The mind is the surfer, riding upon the infinite power of the ocean of music. In this state of total absorption, surfer, board and ocean are one. When the meditation of our practice transforms us so that mind and body have merged with the music, we take up our instrument. Then player, instrument and music become one, sending the offering of our music as a prayer to the Infinite Mystery, which is the source of music, and ourselves.
there is deep sense and philosophy for guitar and it is just extraordinary i never imagined it all worked this way all this time.
my journey with guitar (object)
After all this knowledge of the object that is guitar and describing the feelings how i am feeling when i play guitar i would like to add some audio and video clips of me playing some random tunes and songs. from my very childhood i was around drama, various type of artists and classical musicians because my mother is a drama artist, musician also a professor in psychology so everytime she have her rehearsal going on so i just pass my time in theatres, youth festivals or any shootings. she used to be drama teacher for college youth festival. i started playing guitar when i was 15, i performed first time in a club. my first song was hindi and the song name is “gulaabi ankhein”.
my first guitar was gifted by my parents and that made my guitar more special because i got my favourite guitar from favourite persons in the world, after some time i joined a rock music academy called Nidus academy, i had time before joining college so i completed grade 1 and 2 which is like degree or level in guitar. during my graduation i was not getting enough time to make my own studio and music also to make videos or audio clips and i lost my old phone and data so here i would like to present raw clips of mine. i was working as a journalist in covid 19 lockdown so whenever i get time from work i used to play guitar.
usually i only get one holiday so on that day i play and read. I am reading book called “The Power oF Subconsious Mind”.
some videos from my social accounts with my object Guitar.
after lockdown I started going back to nidus academy again where i learned playing and also i was teaching there before coming here. i had earned some money working as a journalist back in lockdown so by that I purchased my first electric guitar and amplifier for me and my also build a mini studio in my room.
