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Essential Question
How did the electrification, amplification and design of the guitar facilitate its emergence as a dominant instrument of popular music?
Overview
In the early 20th century, the guitar was a purely acoustic instrument. Its limited dynamic range typically relegated it to a supporting role in ensemble performance. Surrounded on the bandstand by horns, drums and other stringed instruments, the sound of an acoustic guitar was barely audible.
In the early 1930s, as advances in microphone technology raised the volume of the singer, the invention of the electromagnetic “pickup” allowed guitar players to turn up the volume as well. Situated on the body of the instrument just below the strings, the pickup created magnetic fields that converted the vibrations of the strings into electrical signals. Sent from the guitar through a cable, these signals were transmitted to an amplified loudspeaker (the “amplifier”), and the guitar became substantially louder.
In 1936, Gibson introduced the ES-150 model, a mass-produced guitar that included a mounted electromagnetic pickup. As guitarists embraced the electrified instrument, the perception and uses of the guitar began to change dramatically. For instance, Oklahoma musician Charlie Christian adapted the language of jazz soloing, previously performed mostly on woodwinds, brass and piano, to the electric guitar’s fretboard, moving the instrument to a featured spot on the bandstand.
As the electric guitar’s popularity increased in the 1940s and 50s, new musical styles emerged, including the Urban Blues performed by southern musicians who came north to industrial cities during the Great Migration. These musicians left rural regions such as the Mississippi Delta to seek better working conditions in large, northern metropolitan areas. Once in the North, musicians performed to larger and louder audiences, and the electric guitar helped them to be heard above the crowd.
In the early 1950s, “going electric” was more than just a pragmatic decision, it was an idea that reflected the spirit of the times. Commercial culture was littered with products promoting an emerging vision of “modernity” in which life was improved by the newest, the fastest and most advanced…of almost everything. Razors, toasters, automobiles and guitars: all were offered as a gateway to the future. In addition to turning up the guitar’s volume, electricity was touted as making cooking, shaving and woodworking easier, quicker and more precise. These advances were in a technology’s function but promoted through its design. For instance, the stylized curves of the 1952 Fender Telecaster—the first mass-produced solid-body guitar—bore some resemblance to the “modern” shapes of both jukeboxes and the Oldsmobile “Rocket 88” sedan, all designed for the contemporary experience. When a guitarist strapped on a Telecaster he was wearing the look of the “modern” and creating new, “electrified” sounds. By the late 1960s, sales of electric guitars rose to nearly 1.5 million per year, far beyond the number sold a decade earlier.
This lesson investigates how electrifying the guitar was a contributing factor to the emergence of a sound that came to define Rock and Roll and, to a large extent, mid-20th century American popular culture. Featuring content from the PBS Soundbreaking episode, “Going Electric,” which includes the guitar playing of luminaries Charlie Christian, Pete Townshend, Muddy Waters and Jimi Hendrix, this lesson examines the spirit of curiosity, adaptation and invention that characterized the early 1950s and in the 1960s led to the guitar’s emergence as a versatile and attractive instrument for musicians and as the quintessential Rock and Roll icon.
Objectives
Upon completion of this lesson, students will:
- Know (knowledge):
- About the technology used to transform the acoustic guitar into an “electric” instrument
- How electromagnetism can be used to transmit sound
- About the process through which an electromagnetic pickup amplifies the sound of a guitar
- How “electrifying” the guitar changed perceptions of the instrument as well as its role in American music ensembles
- How the emergence of the electric guitar relates to significant cultural shifts in mid-20th century America, such as the Great Migration
- How the marketing of the electric guitar fit in to 1950s commercial culture
- How the sounds of a popular instrument can reflect broader patterns in American culture
- Be able to (skills):
- Analyze the effects of technological advancement on popular culture and art
- Examine visual texts for information, point of view and argument
- Evaluate the effects of technology on history and culture
- Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media formats
Activities
Motivational Activity:
Display Image 1 – John Lee Hooker in Recording Studio and Image 2 – Freddie Mercury and Brian May.
Ask your students:
- How would you describe the guitar John Lee Hooker plays in Image 1?
- How would you describe the guitar Brian May plays in Image 2?
- Why do you think there is a “sound hole” below the strings on Hooker’s guitar but not on May’s guitar?
- Which musician do you think was making louder music? Why?
Procedure:
- Distribute Handout 1: The Guitar – From Acoustic to Electric. Read the handout out loud as a class and then ask your students:
- Why do you think guitarists wanted the guitar to become louder?
- In what ways might the volume increase of the guitar affect a musical group as a whole? (Possible answers may include that groups became louder or that they became smaller due to the instrument’s sound being capable of filling more space.)
- Play Clip 1, Soundbreaking – Charlie Christian & the Introduction of the Electric Guitar. Ask students:
- How does this clip suggest that the role of the guitar changed after it became amplified?
- How does this clip suggest that Charlie Christian changed the common perception of guitar players through his work with the Benny Goodman Sextet? What did he do that previous guitarists had not?
- Break students into small groups and distribute Handout 2: How the Guitar Pickup Works and Handout 3: The Solid-Body Guitar. Have students read the handouts together and then discuss the following questions as a class:
- In what ways do you think the electromagnetic pickup led to the guitar becoming a solid-body instrument?
- How do you think the solid-body guitar furthered the process of making the guitar a louder instrument? (Students should recognize that the reduced resonance in the body of the instrument allowed for a more direct capturing of the sound and eliminated feedback, which then allowed amplifiers to be turned up louder.)
- Who do you think might have been most interested in making louder music? What age group do you think they were?
- Looking at the diagram included on the advertisement in this handout, are there any ways in which you think the marketing of this instrument might have appealed to people interested in technology in general?
- Tell your students that you will now follow the guitar through its transition from acoustic to electric along with a group of musicians that made the same transition. Play Clip 2, Soundbreaking – Blues Musicians Migrate to Chicago. Ask your students:
- Why does this clip suggest it was uncommon for Blues musicians in the Mississippi Delta in the 1920s and 30s to use electric guitars?
- Why does Muddy Waters say that he, and so many other musicians moved from Mississippi and the Delta region to Chicago and other northern cities?
- How do you think moving from a rural to a metropolitan area may have affected musicians’ opportunities to perform? In which location do you think they performed to more people? Why?
- How does this clip suggest these migrant musicians made use of the new possibilities of the electric guitar?
- Thinking of a musician such as Muddy Waters, who moved from a rural community without electricity to a major city, what do you think a new instrument like the electric guitar might have represented? (Encourage students to consider how an electric guitar might be a symbol of wealth and sophistication to a person who grew up poor and without electricity.)
- In preparation for the Advertising in the Early 1950s Gallery Walk activity, display slides 3-11 each as a separate station throughout the classroom. Break your students into small groups, and have each group name a “scribe” who will take notes. Instruct the groups to walk the gallery, spending roughly a minute at each advertisement.
Have the scribe record the group’s notes using the following questions at each station:- What adjectives do you see used to describe this product?
- What does this advertisement suggest this product could do for you?
- What is the purpose of this product?
- Is this a completely new product, or an older product that has somehow been updated?
- Does this advertisement feature any references to something other than the product itself?
- Does this advertisement seem similar to any of the other advertisements you’ve seen today?
- Add any other notes about this advertisement that stand out to you.
- Have students return to their seats. Then discuss their notes from the Gallery Walk as a class and ask:
- Do you notice any recurring themes in these advertisements? What are they, and what do they seem to suggest about the products in general?
- In what ways is the advertising for Fender instruments similar to the advertisements for the other, non-musical items?
- Do you get any general feelings of what, in the broadest sense, these advertisements are suggesting about the mood of the time period?
- What do you think a Telecaster might have represented to a suburban teenager?
- Having seen these advertisements, what do you think a Fender Telecaster might have represented to a migrant musician such as Muddy Waters?
- Tell your students that in the years following the release of the Telecaster, guitarists and manufacturers created other ways to change the tone of the instrument. Have students return to their groups and open the Soundbreaking Guitar Effects TechTool. Allow students a short time to experiment with the TechTool and the three guitar effects it simulates. Then ask the class:
- How would you describe the sound of “distortion”? What do you think it means to “distort” a sound?
- Does distortion give you any emotional feelings that are different from a “clean” sound? (Encourage students to discuss whether distortion sounds “angry” or “mean” and also where they usual hear the effect.)
- Why do you think the “Fuzz” effect got its name? Does it sound different than the distortion to you?
- How does “chorus” affect the sound? Can you tell what is happening when you use it? (Students may suggest that the sound is “doubled” and chorusing is a process adding layers to the sound.)
- What adjective would you use to describe these effects? (Encourage your students to think if any of the sounds make the guitar “tougher” or “smoother” or “scary” for instance.)
- Play Clip 3, Soundbreaking – The Development of the Fuzz Tone. Ask your students:
- How do you think intentionally distorted guitar might have sounded to people invested in the ideas of “progress” offered by the products you saw on the gallery walk? (Encourage your students to reconcile the ideas of technology as a means of perfection and the deliberate use of something that sounds “broken.”)
- What connection do you notice between the song in this clip, “Rocket 88,” and an advertisement in the Gallery Walk? In what ways might the “distortion” or “fuzz” on the guitar also connect to the theme of that advertisement? (Students might answer that the “rocket” implies space travel, and to the ears of those only accustomed to guitar with a pure “clean” tone, the “fuzz” might have sounded “alien.”)
Summary Activity:
- In what ways do you think the development of the electric guitar might be related to American life more broadly in the 20th century? What do you think this new instrument might have represented to people beyond its direct musical implications?
- Can you think of any other instruments or types of music that are tied to technological developments?
- Are there any types of current music or instruments that you think represent a similar connection to technology in American culture?
Writing Prompts:
- Have students research the rise of the guitar as the dominant instrument of Rock and Roll in the years following the breakthrough success of The Beatles. Why did the guitar replace the piano as the genre’s “lead” instrument? Why did young people gravitate to the instrument? Have students research popular bands of the mid and late 1960s, sales figures of the guitar, and how the instrument was represented in popular culture. Students may also wish to view these other lessons on TeachRock: “The Birth of the Electric Guitar” and “The Rise of the Electric Guitar as Rock and Roll’s Dominant Symbol.”
- Conduct a brief discussion with the class about the historical and social context surrounding Jimi Hendrix’s ascension to popularity in the 1960s. Topics of discussion should include how during this time in the United States, the Civil Rights Movement was occurring, the President of the country was assassinated, Martin Luther King Junior was also assassinated, the U.S. began military operations in Vietnam and anti-war protests, as well as numerous social and counterculture movements, were taking place.
- Display Image 3 of Jimi Hendrix playing in Wilson Pickett’s band and Image 4 of the Jimi Hendrix Experience.
- Ask students to conduct research and write a brief essay addressing either of the following questions –
- How would you describe the change in Jimi Hendrix’s appearance from when he played backup in Wilson Pickett’s band to when he was the frontman of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and how does his look, along with his music, reflect the counterculture movement of the late-1960s?
- Given the social context of Jimi Hendrix’s mainstream success in the late-1960s, why do you think that his guitar playing was identifiable and appealing to many, despite being so radical, and how might it relate to Jeff Beck’s quote in Clip 3 about the guitar sounding “threatening”?
Extension Activites:
Students may conduct the following Science Experiments via Exploratorium
- Demonstration of sound being transmitted through electromagnetic fields, similar to how the guitar pickup functions – Modulated Coils Experiment
- Demonstration of how an electrical signal can produce sound through a speaker – Cup Speaker Experiment
© 2016 TeachRock
Standards
Common Core State Standards
College and Career Readiness Reading Anchor Standards for Grades 6-12 for English Language Arts
- Reading 1: Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text
- Reading 7: Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse formats and media, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words
- Reading 10: Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently
College and Career Readiness Writing Anchor Standards for Grades 6-12 in English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects
- Writing 1: Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence
- Writing 2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content
- Writing 4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience
- Writing 7: Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation
- Writing 8: Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism
- Writing 9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research
College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Speaking and Listening for Grades 6-12
- Speaking and Listening 1: Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively
- Speaking and Listening 2: Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally
- Speaking and Listening 3: Evaluate a speakers point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric
- Speaking and Listening 4: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience
- Speaking and Listening 5: Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information and enhance understanding of presentations
- Speaking and Listening 6: Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and communicative tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate
College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Language for Grades 6-12
- Language 1: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking
- Language 2: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing
- Language 3: Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening
- Language 4: Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate
- Language 5: Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings
- Language 6: Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression
Social Studies – National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS)
- Theme 1: Culture
- Theme 2: Time, Continuity, and Change
- Theme 3: People, Places, and Environments
- Theme 4: Individual, Development and Identity
- Theme 5: Individuals, Groups, and Institutions
- Theme 7: Production, Distribution, and Consumption
- Theme 8: Science, Technology, and Society
National Standards for Music Education
Core Music Standard: Connecting
Connecting 10: Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make music. Demonstrate how interests, knowledge, and skills relate to personal choices and intent when creating, performing, and responding to music..
Enduring Understanding: Musicians connect their personal interests, experiences, ideas, and knowledge to creating, performing and responding.
Essential Question: How do musicians make meaningful connections to creating, performing, and responding? Demonstrate how interests, knowledge, and skills relate to personal choices and intent when creating, performing, and responding to music?
Connecting 11: Relate musical ideas and works to varied contexts and daily life to deepen understanding. Demonstrate understanding of relationships between music and the other arts, other disciplines, varied contexts, and daily life..
Enduring Understanding: Understanding connections to varied contexts and daily life enhances musicians’ creating, performing, and responding.
Essential Question: How do the other arts, other disciplines, contexts and daily life inform creating, performing, and responding to music?
National Core Arts Standards
Responding
- Anchor Standard 7: Perceive and analyze artistic work.
- Anchor Standard 8: Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work.
- Anchor Standard 9: Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work.
Connecting
- Anchor Standard 10: Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art.
- Anchor Standards 11: Relate artistic ideas and work with societal, cultural and historical context to deepen understanding.
Career Technical Education Standards (California Model) – Arts, Media and Entertainment Pathway Standards
Design, Visual and Media Arts (A)
- A1.0 Demonstrate ability to reorganize and integrate visual art elements across digital media and design applications.
A1.1 View and respond to a variety of industry-related artistic products integrating industry appropriate vocabulary.
A1.5 Research and analyze the work of an artist or designer and how the artist’s distinctive style contributes to their industry production.
A1.7 Analyze and discuss complex ideas, such as distortion, color theory, arbitrary color, scale, expressive content, and real versus virtual in works of art.
A1.8 Compare how distortion is used in a variety of media to modify the message being communicated.
A1.9 Analyze the material used by a given artist and describe how its use influences the meaning of the work. ia, and Entertainment |
A3.0 Analyze and assess the impact of history and culture on the development of professional arts and media products.
A3.1 Identify and describe the role and influence of new technologies on contemporary arts industry.
A3.2 Describe how the issues of time, place, and cultural influence and are reflected in a variety of artistic products.
A3.3 Identify contemporary styles and discuss the diverse social, economic, and political developments reflected in art work in an industry setting.
A3.5 Analyze similarities and differences of purpose in art created in culturally diverse industry applications.
A4.0 Analyze, assess, and identify effectiveness of artistic products based on elements of art, the principles of design, and professional industry standards.
A4.2 Deconstruct how beliefs, cultural traditions, and current social, economic, and political contexts influence commercial media (traditional and electronic).
A4.3 Analyze the aesthetic value of a specific commercial work of art and defend that analysis from an industry perspective.
A4.4 Analyze the relationship between the artist, artistic product and audience in both an existing and self-generated project.
A4.5 Analyze and articulate how society influences the interpretation and effectiveness of an artistic product.
A5.0 Identify essential industry competencies, explore commercial applications and develop a career specific personal plan.
A5.1 Compare and contrast the ways in which different artistic media (television, newspapers, magazines, and electronic media) cover the same commercial content.
A5.2 Explore the role of art and design across various industry sectors and content areas.
A5.4 Predict how changes in technology might change the role and function of the visual arts in the workplace.
A5.7 Synthesize traditional art work and new technologies to design an artistic product to be used by a specific industry.
A8.0 Understand the key technical and technological requirements applicable to various segments of the Media and Design Arts Pathway.
A8.1 Understand the component steps and skills required to design, edit, and produce a production for audio, video, electronic, or printed presentation.
A8.2 Use technology to create a variety of audio, visual, written, and electronic products and presentations.
A8.3 Know the features and uses of current and emerging technology related to computing (e.g., optical character recognition, sound processing, cable TV, cellular phones).
A8.4 Analyze the way in which technical design (e.g., color theory, lighting, graphics, typography, posters, sound, costumes, makeup) contributes to an artistic product, performance, or presentation.
A8.7 Evaluate how advanced and emerging technologies (e.g., virtual environment or voice recognition software) affect or improve media and design arts products or productions.
Performing Arts (B)
- B2.0 Read, listen to, deconstruct, and analyze peer and professional music using the elements and terminology of music.
B2.2 Describe how the elements of music are used.
B2.5 Analyze and describe significant musical events perceived and remembered in a given industry generated example.
B2.6 Analyze and describe the use of musical elements in a given professional work that makes it unique, interesting, and expressive.
B2.7 Demonstrate the different uses of form, both past and present, in a varied repertoire of music in commercial settings from diverse genres, styles, and professional applications.
B5.0 Apply vocal and/or instrumental skill and knowledge to perform a varied repertoire of music appropriate to music industry application.
B5.4 Employ a variety of music technology to record, integrate, or modify a live or recorded performance to produce a new artistic product.
B5.7 Create melodic and rhythmic improvisations in a style or genre within a musical culture (gamelan, jazz, and mariachi).
B7.0 Analyze the historical and cultural perspective of multiple industry performance products from a discipline-specific perspective.
B7.1 Identify and compare how film, theater, television, and electronic media productions influence values and behaviors.
B7.3 Analyze the historical and cultural perspective of the musician in the professional setting.
B7.4 Analyze the historical and cultural perspective of the actor and performance artist in the professional setting.
B8.0 Deconstruct the aesthetic values that drive professional performance and the artistic elements necessary for industry production.
B8.1 Critique discipline-specific professional works using the language and terminology specific to the discipline.
B8.2 Use selected criteria to compare, contrast, and assess various professional performance forms.
B8.3 Analyze the aesthetic principles that apply in a professional work designed for live performance, film, video, or live broadcast.
B8.4 Use complex evaluation criteria and terminology to compare and contrast a variety of genres of professional performance products.