21st Century Guitar

In the 21st Century, the guitar, as both a material object and tool for artistic expression, continues to be reimagined and reinvented. From simple adaptations or modifications made by performers themselves, to custom-made instruments commissioned to fulfil specific functions, to the mass production of new lines of commercially available instruments, the extant and emergent forms of this much-loved musical instrument vary perhaps more than ever before. As guitars sporting multiple necks, a greater number of strings, and additional frets become increasingly common, so too do those with reduced registers, fewer strings, and fretless fingerboards. Furthermore, as we approach the mark of the first quarter-century, the role of technology in relation to the guitar's protean nature is proving key, from the use of external effects units to synergies with computers and AR headsets. Such wide-ranging evolutions and augmentations of the guitar reflect the advancing creative and expressive needs of the modern guitarist and offer myriad new affordances.
21st Century Guitar examines the diverse physical manifestations of the guitar across the modern performative landscape through a series of essays and interviews. Academics, performers and dual-practitioners provide significant insights into the rich array of guitar-based performance practices emerging and thriving in this century, inviting a reassessment of the guitar's identity, physicality and sound-creating possibilities.

Richard Perks is senior lecturer in music performance at the University of Kent, UK, and associate professor of music at the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance, UK. He is a leading exponent of the fretless electric guitar and has performed all over the world. Recent publications have explored the extended performance possibilities of the fretless electric guitar, guitar-focused musicology/analysis, the combination of composition with improvisation, and intercultural collaboration. John McGrath is senior lecturer in music at the University of Surrey, UK, and deputy director of the International Guitar Research Centre (IGRC). He is the author of Samuel Beckett, Repetition and Modern Music (2018) and is also an active guitarist; recent appearances include a solo set at Kings Place, London, while his compositions have been aired and screened internationally.

Contributors Acknowledgements Foreword Introduction Richard Perks and John McGrath 1. The Well-Tuned Guitar John Schneider 2. Transforming the Microtonal Fingerboard: 'Small' Frets, LEGO and Robots - Interview with Tolgahan Çogulu Richard Perks 3. The Expanding Fretless Guitarscape: Practice and Progress Richard Perks 4. Touching the Apple Without Gloves - Interview with Cenk Erdogan Richard Perks 5. Extended Range Instruments: Towards a New Organology of the Guitar Tom Williams 6. I Should Have Just Learned How to Play the Organ - Interview with Charlie Hunter Richard Perks 7. The Transformed Space of the Ligeti Guitar Katalin Koltai 8. Grains, Glitches and Infinite Space: Guitar Effects Pedals, Digitization and Textural Guitar Aesthetics Robert Strachan 9. The Sonic Maelstrom - Interview with Nels Cline John McGrath 10. "Something Seems Wrong, Should That Be Happening?": Avantfolk Guitar and Glitch Aesthetics, a Practice-Based Perspective John McGrath 11. A Field of Reactivity: Moog Guitar and Experimental Systems - Interview with Bill Thompson John McGrath 12. The Digital Fretboard: Remapping and Relearning the Guitar's Pitch Matrix with MIDI and Max/MSP Milton Mermikides 13. Augmented Reality Guitars: Extended Instruments and Notation for a 21st Century Practice Amy Brandon Index