 Back to Main |
Although instruments with paired or tripled strings played together (technically called courses) date back at least to the medieval lute, the 12-string guitar seems to be a recent member of the guitar family. While Blind Willie McTell, a black blues singer of the 1930's, is credited as the first guitarist to have based his style on the 12-string, it was Huddie “Leadbelly” Ledbetter who really brought the 12-string guitar to national prominence. Pete Seeger picked up the 12-string from Leadbelly and passed it on to a generation of folkies who included Roger McGuinn, one of the founders of the Byrds, which introduced the sound of the electric 12-string to rock & roll and pop music. History: Origins of the 12-String An article by Michael Simmons, originally published in Acoustic Guitar Magazine, Nov. 1997. The Players: Huddie Ledbetter: Pete Seeger: Others: 
Border Music The guitar and a lot of other things that we now consider quintessentially American came to us by way of the Mexicans both in Mexico and in the USA. They were the first non-Native American explorers of the West, the first cowboys, miners, settlers, ranchers. The basic instruments of the border culture were the button accordian, introduced by German or Czech immigrants in the middle 1800's and the bajo sexto, a 12-string guitar tuned below the normal guitar and used to play rhythmic accompaniment. Although modern Tejano and Conjunto bands have added electric bass, synthesizers, drums and horns, the bajo sexto is still an integral part of the music. Conjunto and Tejano Gale Encyclopedia: An except from the Gale Groups' encyclopedias. Interestingly enough, some of the most innovative music coming out of the border region is being made by women. Here are links to sites for three very different stylists who are combining musical and cultural styles to create new sounds. Narco-corrido Elijah Wald: singer-songwriter who just published a book about his travels in Mexico discovering the music and the people involved in narco-corrido. |
