How does music evolve? Often times music undergoes dramatic changes alongside culture, but new technology can also influence how we experience and create music. Both of these factors were in play when the electric guitar was created and rose to popularity.
While I have never played the guitar, many of my favorite bands incorporate it heavily, such as Set It Off, Bastille, and Glass Animals. These artists range from punk to alternative rock, and each have very distinct sounds, but all of them incorporate this instrument.
The guitar itself predates written history and has seen several various evolutions since, but the electric guitar is notable for its widespread impact on global music and culture. When it was first created in the United States in 1931, the general culture was shifting away from agriculture and towards factory production, meaning a greater number of people were living in cities. Other electrical evolutions of common items, like toasters, were hitting the scene. However, in the world of music, many instruments were still acoustic, like the guitar. Often drowned out by louder instruments, the guitar was used in mainstream music but was not very popular. However, once the electric guitar was created, music genres shifted and allowed for this instrument to be the star of the band. In addition to this, the amount of people moving to cities allowed for more music to be experienced in concert, which the volume of the guitar helped with.
Now, many popular genres as we know it, like rock and punk, are bolstered by the volume of an electric guitar. The serendipitous creation of this instrument was timed perfectly with a cultural shift in the United States that led to its dramatic impact on music across the globe.
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