by Carolyn Bednarski

Before the guitar gained respect as a classical instrument, it was a key instrument in the European folk tradition and other “low-brow” musical forms, and was thought of among the upper classes as a “common” instrument. As it evolved in Europe in the classical sense, European immigrants in the United States made developments in the design and construction of the guitar which re-created it’s popularity and significance in other musical genres such as country-western, jazz, rock, pop and folk. European settlers had brought oral storytelling to America, much of which was perfectly suited to be put to music, and from the late 19th century onwards, the guitar was at the heart of most new American folk music forms.

Two of the most significant figures in guitar history were Christian Frederick Martin (1796-1873), who designed the “flat-top” guitar, guitars with traditional flat sound boards, and Orville Gibson (1856-1918) who designed the “arch-top” models with curved fronts in the tradition of violin-making.

Already an accomplished instrument maker, CF Martin emigrated from his native Germany to America in 1833, and opened a workshop/music store in New York. His first American produced guitars were gut-string instruments, but largely due to the popularity of folk and country and western music by the early 1920s, the company started to make steel-string guitars. Martin’s instruments overshadowed those of other manufacturers by the ‘30s onward, and by the ‘60s demand for Martin guitars was so great that there was a waiting list of three years for new models. It was only then that rival companies such as Guild and Epiphone were able to step up to the plate and thrive during the ‘60s steel-string boom period.

It was during this period (the ‘50s and ‘60s) that folk music flourished. Martin Carthy, a pivotal figure of the English folk movement recorded a succession of albums displaying a fingerpicking style that combined American folk idioms with the phrasing of Celtic music. Following his work with the folk-rock group Steeleye Span and Albion, he has become one of the most respected folk guitarists in the world. Woody Guthrie, a left-wing activist who introduced politics and social commentary to music is reputed to have written over 1,000 songs. His work paved the way for ‘60s guitarists and folk singers like Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan and Phil Ochs.