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{{Short description|Musical instrument}}
]
{{More citations needed|date=January 2018}}
]


There are several types of '''ten-string guitar''', including: There are many varieties of '''ten-string ]''', including:


* Both electric and acoustic guitars.
* The five-course '''baroque guitar''' which can have nine or ten strings.
* Instruments used principally for classical, folk and popular music.
* Both ] and uncoursed instruments.


== Uncoursed ten-stringed guitars ==
* The '''ten-string harp guitar''', including:
** The '''décacorde'''.
** Other harp guitars, particularly of the romantic period.


<!-- check Talk page: === Ten-stringed harp guitars ===
* The '''viola caipira''' of Brazilian folk music.
{{Main|harp guitar}}
'''Harp guitars''' are guitars to which extra strings have been added which are never fretted but may be plucked or strummed. These strings are therefore played in a manner similar to those of the ], while those of the principal neck are played as a ], hence the name.<ref name="what">{{cite web|last1=Miner|first1=Gregg|title=What is a Harp Guitar| url=http://www.harpguitars.net/history/org/hgorg.htm|website=Harp Guitars.net|access-date=18 September 2017|date=March 2015}}</ref>


Often a second neck, parallel to the fretboard, carries these extra strings. There have been many designs of harp guitar, but in the nineteenth century ten-string versions were particularly popular. Information on nineteenth-century harp guitars comes from three main primary sources:
* '''Ten-string steel guitars''' used in Hawaiian and Country and Western music.
* The modern '''ten-string extended-range classical guitar'''.

* '''Ten-string electric guitars''', including:
** The coursed versions of the ''Bich'' body shape.
** The uncoursed solid-body electric ten-string guitar.

* The '''ten-string extended-range jazz guitar'''.

__TOC__

]

Other close relatives of the guitar or members of the guitar family which also have ten strings include:

* The ], an ancestor of the guitar, which had several variations including a five-course ten-string version.

* The Peurto Rican ], a bass instrument most commonly having ten strings in five courses, although eight and twelve string versions also exist.

* The North Mexican ], which is a five-course ten-string baritone instrument used in ] and ] music.

* The ten-string ], a South American folk instrument which appears from the front to be a small guitar, and its larger relative the ]. The charango's body was traditionally made from an ] shell and is these days often a wooden bowl. Both instruments are from the ] family, rather than the guitar family.

* The electric ], which may have eight, ten or twelve strings.

* The name '']'' is given to a wide range of plucked instruments, including some modern guitar derivatives with ten strings.

==Baroque guitar==

{{main|baroque guitar}}

The baroque guitar is one of the earliest instruments considered a guitar, and the first to have significant surviving repertoire.

Surviving baroque guitars have (or originally had) nine or ten strings, in five ] <ref> at the ] (New York)</ref><ref> at the Metropolitan Museum of Art</ref>.

==Ten-string harp guitars==

]

{{main|harp guitar}}

Harp guitars typically feature a second neck, parallel to the fretboard, which carries extra strings which are never fretted but may be plucked or strummed. These extra strings are therefore played in a manner similar to those of the harp, while those of the principal neck are played as a guitar, hence the name ''harp guitar''<ref> gives both layman's and highly technical definitions</ref>.

There have been many designs of harp guitar, but in the nineteenth century ten-string versions were particularly popular. The unfretted bass strings of these added resonance to any guitar music, and were also strummed or plucked in music specifically arranged for harp guitar.

Information on nineteenth-century <ref>'''' by Len Verrett</ref> harp guitars comes from three main sources:


* Surviving instruments (and in some cases, copies of instruments) in museums and private collections. * Surviving instruments (and in some cases, copies of instruments) in museums and private collections.
* Surviving music, tablature and in at least one case a complete student method for the instrument. * Surviving music, tablature, and in at least one case a complete student method for the instrument.
* Paintings and drawings in which the instrument is visible. These must of course be treated with some suspicion, as the artist may not have considered the details of the instrument important, and in the case of portraits may have completed these details from memory rather than at sittings. * Paintings and drawings in which the instrument is visible. These must of course be treated with some suspicion, as the artist may not have considered the details of the instrument important, and in the case of portraits may have completed these details from memory rather than at sittings.


===Décacorde=== ==== Décacorde ====
In the early 19th century ] and René Lacôte developed a harp guitar they called the Décacorde (French for "ten-string").<ref name="Miner">{{cite web|last1=Miner|first1=Gregg|title=Lacote multi-course harp guitars| url=http://www.harpguitars.net/history/lacote/lacote.htm|website=Harp Guitars.net|access-date=18 September 2017|date=April 2013}}</ref> Carulli played this type of guitar and wrote a method for it titled ''Méthode Complète pour le Décacorde''.<ref name="Carulli1981">{{cite book|last=Carulli|first=Ferdinando|title=Méthode complète pour le décacorde| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xoQJAQAAMAAJ|access-date=17 September 2017|year=1981|publisher=Studio per Edizioni Scelte}}</ref> In it he describes the tuning as C-D-E-F-G-A-d-g-b-e' (strings 10 to 1), with the upper five strings A-d-g-b-e' fretted and the lower basses C-D-E-F-G not fretted. Carulli also wrote ]s for this instrument.

In the early 19th century ] and ] developed a harp guitar they called the '''Décacorde''' (French for ''ten-string'').<ref> by Gregg Miner</ref>

Carulli played this type of guitar and wrote a method for it titled ''Méthode Complète pour le Décacorde'' {{Fact|date=January 2009}}. In it he describes the tuning as C-D-E-F-G-A-d-g-b-e', with the upper five strings A-d-g-b-e' fretted and the lower basses C-D-E-F-G not fretted.

Carulli also wrote ]s for this instrument.

Two Décacordes by Lacôte are housed in the Music Museum of the Cité de la Musique in Paris: Two Décacordes by Lacôte are housed in the Music Museum of the Cité de la Musique in Paris:
* One circa 1826, with five fretted and five unfretted strings <ref> </ref>. * One circa 1826, with five fretted and five unfretted strings.<ref name="museum1826">{{cite web| title=Décacorde| url=http://collectionsdumusee.philharmoniedeparis.fr/doc/MUSEE/0130341| website=collectionsdumusee.philharmoniedeparis.fr |access-date=18 September 2017|language=fr-FR}}</ref>
* One circa 1830, with six fretted and four unfretted strings <ref></ref>. * One circa 1830, with six fretted and four unfretted strings<ref name="museum1830">{{cite web| title=Décacorde |url=http://collectionsdumusee.philharmoniedeparis.fr/doc/MUSEE/0130264| website=collectionsdumusee.philharmoniedeparis.fr |access-date=18 September 2017|language=fr-FR}}</ref>


There is also a Décacorde (attributed to Lacôte) that was in the workshop of Françoise Sinier de Ridder, which has 7 strings on the neck (fretted) and 3 sub-basses (unfretted strings).<ref name="unique">{{cite web|last1=Sinier de Ridder |first1=Françoise| last2=Miner|first2=Gregg|title=Harp Guitar of the Month - Lacote Decacorde|url=http://www.harpguitars.net/history/month_hg/month-hg-11-08a.htm|website=Harp Guitars.net|access-date=18 September 2017}}</ref>
===Other romantic harp guitars===


{{quote|Sinier and de Ridder have pointed out that the décacorde was made in three different string configurations. Those instruments that adhere to the Carulli patent have 5 strings on the fingerboard and 5 floating basses . Other specimens that do not bear the patent stamp are known with 6 strings on the fingerboard and 4 floating, and 7 strings on the fingerboard and 3 floating.<ref name="unique" /> I now speculate that these latter may have been configured, not as true Carulli Patent Décacordes, but as similar-appearing Lacôte ten-strings tuned more traditionally, and perhaps, played "professionally."<ref name="Miner" />}}
Period harp guitars built by ] survive. A copy of one of these, based on an original circa 1862, has six fretted and four unfretted strings <ref> </ref>.


] is known to have played ten-string harp guitars. ==== Other romantic harp guitars ====
Period harp guitars built by Johann Gottfried Scherzer<ref name="petz">{{cite web|last1=Miner|first1=Gregg|title=The Petzval-Scherzer Guitharfe by Gregg Miner|url=http://www.harpguitars.net/history/month_hg/month-hg-6-13.htm|website=Harp Guitars.net|access-date=18 September 2017|date=June 2013}}</ref> survive. A copy of one of these, based on an original circa 1862, has six fretted and four unfretted strings.
Based on surviving instruments and ]s of music written for it, the tuning was A<sub><small>I</small></sub>-B<sub><small>I</small></sub>-C-D-E-A-d-g-b-e'.


] is known to have played ten-string harp guitars. Based on surviving instruments and ] of music written for it, the tuning was A<sub>I</sub>-B<sub>I</sub>-C-D-E-A-d-g-b-e'. -->
==Viola caipira==


=== Yepes' ten-string guitar ===
]
{{Main|ten-string extended-range classical guitar}}
The extended-range classical guitar is a ] with additional strings, normally extra bass strings past the bass E string, that are available on the fingerboard.


Many configurations have been produced, but the ten-string classical guitar received a particular boost<ref name="Ramirez">{{cite book|last1=Ramirez III|first1=José|title=Things about the Guitar|date=1994|publisher=Soneto|location=Bold Strummer|isbn=8487969402|pages=137–141|chapter=The Ten String Guitar}}</ref> in 1964, when ] performed the ] with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aussieobserver.blogspot.com/2009/08/narciso-yepes-and-concierto-de-aranjuez.html|title=''Narciso Yepes and the Concierto de Aranjuez''}}</ref>
{{main|viola caipira}}
, using a ten-string guitar invented by Yepes in collaboration with ], with a specific tuning designed to supply sympathetic string resonance to all twelve notes of the ], in unison with any note played on the treble strings.<ref>| Narciso Yepes Plays and Explains his Guitar</ref> This was significant for two reasons:


* The endorsement of an artist of Yepes' calibre drew attention to the instrument, and demonstrated its capabilities. Starting in 1963, and for the rest of his life, Yepes used only the ten-string guitar in recording and performance.
The '''viola caipira''' is a guitar with ten light steel strings in five courses, played with the fingers rather than with a plectrum. It is particularly prevelant in the folk music of ], and is also played in ] where it was originally developed.
* The availability of high-quality ten-string classical guitars from the ] allowed and encouraged other performers to investigate the instrument.


The use of the ten-string classical guitar is similar to that of the harp guitar:
The '''violao braguesa''' is another ten-string Portuguese folk guitar <ref> See </ref>.


* Six-string guitar music can be played on the first six strings, but with added resonance from the extra strings. This was Yepes' original intention and the reason for the design.
==Ten-string steel guitars==
* Music specifically arranged for the instrument can make use of the extra strings directly, thus:
===Hawaiian guitar===
** Music originally written for instruments with more than six strings can be more faithfully transcribed. Music written by ] and his contemporaries for ] is of particular interest in this regard. The bass strings can be appropriately tuned.<ref>|Bach,Stephan Schmidt – Lute Works Original Versions, 10-string Guitar</ref>
** New music specifically written for the ten-string guitar can make use of the extra strings however the composer might wish.<ref>|About The Ten-String</ref>


Unlike the harp guitar, the extended-range classical guitar has a single neck and allows all strings to be fretted.
{{main|table steel guitar}}


While the six-string classical guitar remains the standard and most common instrument, since 1963 ten-string guitars in similar configuration to the original Ramírez have been adopted by many classical guitarists and produced by several first-class luthiers, using both Yepes' original tuning and others.
Hawaiian guitars are electric ] and ] guitars with six, eight or ten strings per neck, and one or two necks. The ten-string single-neck instrument is one of the standard configurations, not one of the most common but not unusual either.


In January 2009, Gadotti Guitars announced the 10 String Nylon King Electric, a solid body, nylon-stringed ten-string guitar, suitable for both Yepes and other tunings such as the Baroque.<ref name="Gadotti">{{cite web|title=Gadotti: The 10-string King Nylon Electric|url=https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/gadotti-the-10-string-king-nylon-electric-1|website=Premier Guitar| access-date=18 September 2017|language=en|date=9 April 2008}}</ref>
===Pedal steel guitar===


A ten-string ] by Mike Shishkov, based on the ten-string extended-range classical guitar, was demonstrated at the 3rd International Ten String Guitar Festival in October 2008. {{citation needed|date=May 2017}}
{{main|pedal steel guitar}}


=== Ten String Electric Guitar ===
Most pedal steel guitars have either one or two ten-string necks. Some but by no means all advanced players use necks with more than ten strings, but ten strings is the normal minimum.
These guitars are either custom-made or produced in small quantities due to the very niche market they are intended for.
Most of these instruments are tuned like nine string guitars with either an extra High A string or an extra Low G# string, in that arrangement for the latter : G# ,C#, F#, B, E, A, D, G, B, E.
]


== Five- and six-coursed guitars with ten strings ==
* The most common single-neck configuration is a ten-string neck with an ]. An instrument of this configuration is known as an S-10.


=== Baroque guitar ===
* The most common twin-neck configuration consists of two ten-string necks, the nearer tuned to a ] and the other tuned to an E9 tuning. An instrument of this configuration is known as a D-10.


{{Main|baroque guitar}}
The standard student pedal steel guitar is a single-neck ten-string instrument with three pedals and from one to five knee levers, tuned to E9 tuning <ref>, describes some models for beginner pedal steel guitarists</ref>.


The baroque guitar is one of the earliest instruments considered a guitar, and the first to have significant surviving repertoire.
The first step up from this is a professional S-10 with three or more pedals and four or five knee levers, and the most common next step up is to a D-10 with eight pedals and five knee levers. The D-10 is the most common configuration for professional players.


Surviving baroque guitars have (or originally had) nine or ten strings, in five ].<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Powers|first1=Wendy |first2=Jayson Kerr |last2=Dobney |title=The Guitar |website=Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/guit/hd_guit.htm|access-date=2023-08-20|publisher=] |language=en}}</ref> ] guitars (of which two, the ''Hill'' (1688) and ''Rawlins'' (1700) survive complete, plus a neck and several other fragments) all had ten strings in five courses.<ref>]</ref>
Some advanced players prefer to remain on an S-10 configuration, perhaps adding more pedals and/or knee levers. Other advanced players progress from the S-10 to a single neck instrument with twelve strings, either a U-12 which uses a ], or an S-12 which uses an extended E-9 tuning. Single neck instruments with more than twelve strings also exist, such as the fifteen-string universal tuning U-15, and double-neck with more than ten strings per neck, notably the D-12 with two twelve-string necks and various tunings most commonly based on extended E9 and extended C6 tunings.


=== English guitar ===
Professional instruments are normally custom-made to order. Even in the case of an S-10, while the first three pedals and five knee levers are fairly standard in function, there are variations to the order of these and many players add others. Advanced players of all configurations tend to design their own individual setups, known as ]s, specifying the exact string tunings and gauges and the actions of the pedals and levers.


{{Main|English guitar}}
==Ten-string extended-range classical guitar==


The '''English guitar''' is a type of cittern that was particularly popular in Europe from around 1750 to 1850. The English guitar has a pear-shaped body, a flat base, and a short neck. Its distinguishing feature is that it has ten strings in six courses, of which the highest eight are paired in four courses (duplicated strings) with the two lowest strings in two separate courses. This is the same stringing as was later used for the B.C. Rich Bich 10 Guitar, although the traditional tuning for the English guitar is a repetitive open C tuning (C E GG cc ee gg).
{{main|ten-string extended-range classical guitar}}


=== Viola guitar ===
The ] is a ] with additional strings, normally extra bass strings past the bass E string, that are available on the fingerboard.


]
Many configurations have been produced, but the ten-string classical guitar received a particular boost in 1964, when ] performed the ] with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, using a ten-string guitar developed for him by ] and a specific tuning designed to balance all resonances of the ]. This was significant for two reasons:


{{Main|viola caipira}}
* The endorsement of an artist of Yepes' calibre drew attention to the instrument, and demonstrated its capabilities. From 1963 for the rest of his life, Yepes used only the ten-string guitar in recording and performance.


The '''viola guitar''' is a guitar with ten light steel strings in five courses, played with the fingers rather than with a plectrum. It is particularly prevalent in the folk music of ], where it's called "viola caipira" (country guitar) or simply "viola." The ''']''' and ''']''' are other types of ten-string Portuguese folk guitars,<ref>See </ref> which are possibly predecessors of the Brazilian instrument.
* The availability of high-quality ten-string classical guitars from the ] allowed and encouraged other performers to investigate the instrument.


=== Bich 10 ===
The use of the ten-string classical guitar is similar to that of the harp guitar:
<!-- "Bich 10" redirects to this section heading. If the heading changes, please also fix the redirect --><!-- most content relocated to ]-->
The initial ] Bich design is a six-course instrument, with four two-string courses. The top E and B strings are strung as unison pairs, and the G and D strings as pairs with a principal and octave string, in the manner of the top four courses of a ]. The A and lower E strings are single-string courses. This unusual stringing was said to obtain the brightness of the twelve-string guitar, while allowing higher levels of distortion before the sound became muddy.


The Bich had a conventional six-string headstock for the six principal strings. The four additional strings are tuned by machine heads positioned in the body, past the ], with a large angled notch allowing access to the tuners. This radical body shape also countered the common tendency of coursed electric guitars to be head-heavy due to the weight of the extra machine heads.
* Six-string guitar music can be played on the first six strings, but with added resonance from the extra strings. This was Yepes' original intention and the reason for the design.


One notable guitar player who played a 10-string Bich was ] who played one during his early professional years with ]. Mustaine only used the regular six string configuration on the headstock and never used the other four strings. Mustaine also played the guitar during the early years of his band ].
* Music specifically arranged for the instrument can make use of the extra strings directly. There are two main uses for the extra strings:
** Music originally written for instruments with more than six strings can be more faithfully transcribed. Music written by ] and his comtemporaries for ] is of particular interest in this regard.
** New music specifically written the ten-string guitar can make use of the extra strings however the composer might wish.


The design was moderately successful, but many players bought it for the body shape alone, and removed the extra strings. B.C. Rich eventually released six-string guitars with the Bich body shape. All Bich variants are hardtail guitars with ]s and two ]s.
Unlike the harp guitar, the extended-range classical guitar has a single neck and allows all strings to be fretted.


== Guitar-like instruments with ten strings ==
While the six-string classical guitar remains the standard and most common instrument, since 1963 ten-string guitars in similar configuration to the original Ramírez have been adopted by many classical guitarists and produced by several first-class luthiers, using both Yepes' original tuning and others.
]
Close relatives of the guitar with ten strings include:


* The ], an ancestor of the guitar, which had several variations including a five-course version.
==Electric ten-string guitar==
* The Puerto Rican ], a bass instrument most commonly having ten strings in five courses, although eight and twelve string versions also exist.

* The Puerto Rican ], with ten strings in five doubled courses.<ref></ref>
===Bich 10===
* The North Mexican ], which is a five-course bass instrument used in ] and ] music.<ref></ref>

* The five-course ] and other members of its family (], ], ], ''et al'') have ten strings. This a South American folk instrument appears from the front to be a small guitar. It has a bowl-back, traditionally made from an ] shell, though these days it is often a wooden bowl. These instruments are from the ] family, rather than the guitar family.<ref></ref>
] produce three models of ] ten-string guitar, all of them strung and tuned in the same way. Unlike most types of ten-string guitar, these are six-course instruments; That is, they are played similarly to a six-string but with two-string ] in place of four of the single strings of the six-string<ref> at the B.C.Rich website</ref>.
* The electric ], which may have eight, ten or twelve <ref>]</ref>

* The name '']'' is given to a wide range of plucked instruments, including some modern guitar derivatives with ten strings.<ref></ref>]
This instrument was introduced as a custom order model with a new body shape known as the ''Bich'' at the 1978 ]. There were two innovative features:
]]

* The stringing. The top E and B strings were strung as unison pairs, and the G and D strings as pairs with a principal and octave string, all in the same way as the ]. However the A and lower E strings were single. This was claimed to give the brightness of the twelve, while allowing higher levels of distortion before the sound became muddy.

* The positioning of the machine heads. The Bich had a conventional six-string head for tuning the principal strings, with the four extra strings tuned by machine heads positioned in the body, past the tailpiece. This helped determine the radical shape of the body, and countered the tendency of coursed electric guitars to be head-heavy owing to the weight of the the extra machine heads.

The design was successful enough to be still in production as a ten-string, but many players also bought it for the body shape rather than the ten-string feature, and simply removed the extra strings. B.C.Rich recognised this by releasing six-string models of the Bich body shape.

All Bich variants are ] guitars with ]s and two ]s. The ten-string models differ from each other in finish and control details<ref> at the B.C.Rich website</ref>
<ref> at the B.C.Rich website</ref>
<ref> at the B.C.Rich website</ref>.

===Halo XS1===

The ] XS1 is a ] ten-string guitar with ten individual steel strings, two ] ten-string pickups, and a ] ten-string ] <ref> at the Halo Guitars website</ref>.

===Gadotti Guitars 10 String Nylon King Electric===

In January, 2009, ] announced the 10 String Nylon King Electric, a solid body, nylon-stringed ten-string guitar, suitable for both Yepes and other tunings such as the Baroque<ref> of the Gadotti 10 String Nylon King Electric</ref>.

==Ten-string jazz guitar==

A ten-string ] by ], based on the ten-string extended-range classical guitar, was demonstrated at the 3rd International Ten String Guitar Festival in October, 2008<ref> for a of a ten-string jazz guitar by Mike Shishkov</ref>.


== See also == == See also ==
*]
*]
*]
*]
*] *]
*]
*]s
*]


== References == == References ==
<references /> <references />



==External links==
* 's ] site links to various articles and other media related to the modern 10-string guitar, and enthusiastically supports the original Yepes tuning.
*, open archive and membership.
**, as used by ] for his of Bach's lute music.
* , Litchfield, Connecticut, July 7-10, 2005.
* with a performance video on ten-string guitar.


{{Guitars}} {{Guitars}}
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] ]
] ]
]
]

Latest revision as of 06:38, 19 May 2024

Musical instrument
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Ten-string guitar" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
A classical ten-string guitar

There are many varieties of ten-string guitar, including:

  • Both electric and acoustic guitars.
  • Instruments used principally for classical, folk and popular music.
  • Both coursed and uncoursed instruments.

Uncoursed ten-stringed guitars

Yepes' ten-string guitar

Main article: ten-string extended-range classical guitar

The extended-range classical guitar is a classical guitar with additional strings, normally extra bass strings past the bass E string, that are available on the fingerboard.

Many configurations have been produced, but the ten-string classical guitar received a particular boost in 1964, when Narciso Yepes performed the Concierto de Aranjuez with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra , using a ten-string guitar invented by Yepes in collaboration with José Ramírez III, with a specific tuning designed to supply sympathetic string resonance to all twelve notes of the chromatic scale, in unison with any note played on the treble strings. This was significant for two reasons:

  • The endorsement of an artist of Yepes' calibre drew attention to the instrument, and demonstrated its capabilities. Starting in 1963, and for the rest of his life, Yepes used only the ten-string guitar in recording and performance.
  • The availability of high-quality ten-string classical guitars from the Ramírez Company allowed and encouraged other performers to investigate the instrument.

The use of the ten-string classical guitar is similar to that of the harp guitar:

  • Six-string guitar music can be played on the first six strings, but with added resonance from the extra strings. This was Yepes' original intention and the reason for the design.
  • Music specifically arranged for the instrument can make use of the extra strings directly, thus:
    • Music originally written for instruments with more than six strings can be more faithfully transcribed. Music written by Bach and his contemporaries for lute is of particular interest in this regard. The bass strings can be appropriately tuned.
    • New music specifically written for the ten-string guitar can make use of the extra strings however the composer might wish.

Unlike the harp guitar, the extended-range classical guitar has a single neck and allows all strings to be fretted.

While the six-string classical guitar remains the standard and most common instrument, since 1963 ten-string guitars in similar configuration to the original Ramírez have been adopted by many classical guitarists and produced by several first-class luthiers, using both Yepes' original tuning and others.

In January 2009, Gadotti Guitars announced the 10 String Nylon King Electric, a solid body, nylon-stringed ten-string guitar, suitable for both Yepes and other tunings such as the Baroque.

A ten-string jazz guitar by Mike Shishkov, based on the ten-string extended-range classical guitar, was demonstrated at the 3rd International Ten String Guitar Festival in October 2008.

Ten String Electric Guitar

These guitars are either custom-made or produced in small quantities due to the very niche market they are intended for. Most of these instruments are tuned like nine string guitars with either an extra High A string or an extra Low G# string, in that arrangement for the latter : G# ,C#, F#, B, E, A, D, G, B, E.

Ten string Electric Extended-Range guitar.

Five- and six-coursed guitars with ten strings

Baroque guitar

Main article: baroque guitar

The baroque guitar is one of the earliest instruments considered a guitar, and the first to have significant surviving repertoire.

Surviving baroque guitars have (or originally had) nine or ten strings, in five courses. Stradivarius guitars (of which two, the Hill (1688) and Rawlins (1700) survive complete, plus a neck and several other fragments) all had ten strings in five courses.

English guitar

Main article: English guitar

The English guitar is a type of cittern that was particularly popular in Europe from around 1750 to 1850. The English guitar has a pear-shaped body, a flat base, and a short neck. Its distinguishing feature is that it has ten strings in six courses, of which the highest eight are paired in four courses (duplicated strings) with the two lowest strings in two separate courses. This is the same stringing as was later used for the B.C. Rich Bich 10 Guitar, although the traditional tuning for the English guitar is a repetitive open C tuning (C E GG cc ee gg).

Viola guitar

Viola guitar
Main article: viola caipira

The viola guitar is a guitar with ten light steel strings in five courses, played with the fingers rather than with a plectrum. It is particularly prevalent in the folk music of Brazil, where it's called "viola caipira" (country guitar) or simply "viola." The viola braguesa and viola amarantina are other types of ten-string Portuguese folk guitars, which are possibly predecessors of the Brazilian instrument.

Bich 10

The initial B.C. Rich Bich design is a six-course instrument, with four two-string courses. The top E and B strings are strung as unison pairs, and the G and D strings as pairs with a principal and octave string, in the manner of the top four courses of a twelve-string guitar. The A and lower E strings are single-string courses. This unusual stringing was said to obtain the brightness of the twelve-string guitar, while allowing higher levels of distortion before the sound became muddy.

The Bich had a conventional six-string headstock for the six principal strings. The four additional strings are tuned by machine heads positioned in the body, past the tailpiece, with a large angled notch allowing access to the tuners. This radical body shape also countered the common tendency of coursed electric guitars to be head-heavy due to the weight of the extra machine heads.

One notable guitar player who played a 10-string Bich was Dave Mustaine who played one during his early professional years with Metallica. Mustaine only used the regular six string configuration on the headstock and never used the other four strings. Mustaine also played the guitar during the early years of his band Megadeth.

The design was moderately successful, but many players bought it for the body shape alone, and removed the extra strings. B.C. Rich eventually released six-string guitars with the Bich body shape. All Bich variants are hardtail guitars with through body necks and two humbucking pickups.

Guitar-like instruments with ten strings

Vihuela de mano

Close relatives of the guitar with ten strings include:

  • The vihuela de mano, an ancestor of the guitar, which had several variations including a five-course version.
  • The Puerto Rican bordonua, a bass instrument most commonly having ten strings in five courses, although eight and twelve string versions also exist.
  • The Puerto Rican Cuatro, with ten strings in five doubled courses.
  • The North Mexican bajo quinto, which is a five-course bass instrument used in tejano and norteño music.
  • The five-course charango and other members of its family (hualyacho, charangon, ronroco, et al) have ten strings. This a South American folk instrument appears from the front to be a small guitar. It has a bowl-back, traditionally made from an armadillo shell, though these days it is often a wooden bowl. These instruments are from the lute family, rather than the guitar family.
  • The electric Chapman Stick, which may have eight, ten or twelve
  • The name cittern is given to a wide range of plucked instruments, including some modern guitar derivatives with ten strings.
    Cittern
Charango
Ten-string Chapman Stick

See also

References

  1. Ramirez III, José (1994). "The Ten String Guitar". Things about the Guitar. Bold Strummer: Soneto. pp. 137–141. ISBN 8487969402.
  2. "Narciso Yepes and the Concierto de Aranjuez".
  3. | Narciso Yepes Plays and Explains his Guitar
  4. |Bach,Stephan Schmidt – Lute Works Original Versions, 10-string Guitar
  5. |About The Ten-String
  6. "Gadotti: The 10-string King Nylon Electric". Premier Guitar. 9 April 2008. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  7. Powers, Wendy; Dobney, Jayson Kerr. "The Guitar". Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  8. Stradivarius#Guitars
  9. See Lark in the Morning
  10. A short history of the Puerto Rican cuatro and its music
  11. Bajo Quinto: The Instrument That Will Not Go Gently
  12. What in the World is a Charango?
  13. The 10 string Chapman Stick
  14. Cittern
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