Skip to main content
  • Main menu
Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation
  • Home
  • Explore
    • Study
    • Try
    • About
    • Multimedia
  • Invention Stories
    • Blog
    • Places of Invention
    • Beyond Words
  • The Invention of the Electric Guitar

The History of the Electric Guitar

The Invention of the Electric Guitar

April 18, 2014

The electric guitar may be the most important and popular instrument of the last half-century in American music. Certainly its introduction brought a major change to American musical technology and has shaped the sound and direction of modern musical styles.

Twitter Facebook Tumblr Email Print

Is invention a flash of individual inspiration?

Sometimes, but typically it is a far more complex process. Amplifying the sound of a guitar by means of electricity, for example, involved many inventors and musicians working since the 1920s to develop, design, and popularize a louder instrument.

The electric guitar may be the most important and popular instrument of the last half-century in American music. Certainly its introduction brought a major change to American musical technology and has shaped the sound and direction of modern musical styles.

  • Continue To Invention
  • Introduction
  • Invention
  • Commercial Success
  • Innovative Design
  • The Guitars
  • How Guitars Work
  • Resources
  • Credits

Tags

  • Music (Relevance: 31%)

Related Stories

Lemelson Center Books

The Electric Guitar: A History of An American Icon

The Electric Guitar: A History of An American Icon (2004), edited by Andre Millard, explores the electric guitar's importance as an invention and its place in American culture.

Invention Stories

The Electric Guitar’s Long, Strange Trip

From its gentle 16th-century acoustic origins to the souped-up "Frankenstein"

VIEW 2711 Matching Results

Found 2711 Stories

  • Agriculture and horticulture (Relevance: 5.2379195868683%)
  • Air and space (Relevance: 6.7871634083364%)
  • Archives@NMAH (Relevance: 8.4101807451125%)
  • Chemistry (Relevance: 3.0984876429362%)
  • Food and drink (Relevance: 3.2091479158982%)
  • Industry and manufacturing (Relevance: 7.5617853190705%)
  • Medicine, health, and life sciences (Relevance: 4.6108447067503%)
  • Military technology (Relevance: 3.3566949465142%)
  • Mining and drilling (Relevance: 3.4304684618222%)
  • Patents and trademarks (Relevance: 11.434894872741%)
  • Photography, film, television, and video (Relevance: 3.8362227960162%)
  • Power generation, motors, and engines (Relevance: 3.4673552194762%)
  • Spark!Lab (Relevance: 3.4673552194762%)
  • Textiles and clothing (Relevance: 3.3935817041682%)
  • Transportation (Relevance: 6.0125414976024%)
  • Women inventors (Relevance: 3.1722611582442%)
❯
Go to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History website

About Menu

▼
Open menu
▲
Close menu
  • Explore
    • Blog
    • Invention Stories
    • Places of Invention
    • Beyond Words
  • Study
    • Research Opportunities
    • Archives
    • Lemelson Center Books
    • Lemelson Center Research
    • Symposia & Conferences
  • Try
    • DO Try This at Home!
    • Spark!Lab
    • Spark!Lab Network
    • Encouraging Innovative Thinking
  • About
    • Events
    • Exhibitions
    • News
    • Who We Are
    • FAQ
    • Donate
  • Multimedia
  • Tags
  • Surprise Me
  • Search
  • Open Drawer
Copyright 2022, Smithsonian Institution, All Rights Reserved
  • DONATE
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
Twitter Facebook Tumblr Email Print