Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Guitar, the multi-dimensional instrument

I have made the discovery that guitar is a multi-dimensional instrument. In order to explain what I mean by a multi-dimensional instrument I shall illustrate each of the dimensions one by one and compare them to the piano which in comparison is merely a one dimensional instrument.

The first dimension of the guitar is the frets. Every fret moves the note up by one semitone. This is equivalent to moving up one key on the piano. This first dimension is easy enough to understand.

The second dimension on the guitar exists between strings. By changing string the pitch can be shifted even though the fret pressed is the same. This means that playing the 7th fret of the lowest E string is equivalent to playing the 5th fret of the A string one string higher. This is impossible on a piano because a note can only be located on one location on the keyboard.

The next dimension which exists in the guitar is the bend. By bending the strings, the tension of the string is changed and thus the pitch rises through all the pitches in between the depressed note and the bent note. I would think sliding is SOMEWHAT similar but with a different effect.

Lastly, the fourth dimension of the guitar is the harmonics. Through harmonics, notes higher in pitch than the depressed note can be achieved.