Seven-string guitar - an excursion into history, classical tuning

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

The seven-string guitar is perhaps the most mysterious instrument with a hazy history. There are many disputes about the origin, but there is no obvious evidence yet. Who invented the seven-string guitar? What are the origins of its origin? Alas, the bright popularity of the instrument is gradually fading into oblivion.

According to historical data, the peak of popularity of the seven-string fell on the sixties of the last century. However, this instrument appeared thanks to A. Sikhra, the founder of guitar art in Russia.

Being a gifted musician and an excellent master of the six-string instrument, Sichra decided to add another string, thus making the guitar closer to the harp, an instrument that he also, it must be said, mastered perfectly.

On the one hand, the seven-string guitar really became close to the harp in arpeggio, and on the other hand, it was more convenient and more melodic than the harp.

In Dahl's dictionary, the role of the creator of the "G-major" system is questioned. The seven-string guitar, according to Dahl, was used in Russialong before Sichra (in 1799 a sonata for a seven-string guitar was published).

The version that the seven-string guitar appeared much earlier is also confirmed by the Petersburg Vedomosti newspaper, dated 1803, number 37. In the posted ad, a rather bright guitarist of that time Ganf offered the services of teaching the game on the seven-string guitar. It was Granff, who published his "School of Playing the 7-String Guitar", who referred to the new tuning, recognized as the best in France, and cited Schleider's article published in the Leipzig Gazette as evidence.

However, it must be admitted that the debunked Sichra, possessing brilliant insight, grasping the new system, made an undeniable contribution to the game's techniques.

The role of the creator of a special tuning (and the seven-string guitar in general) remains to be argued.

The mass distribution of the seven-string guitar was dictated by the general development of musical culture in Russia. And the first who could really claim a significant contribution to the promotion of playing this instrument was Ignaz Geld, a Czech composer and guitarist forgotten today, whose numerous compositions at one time enjoyed considerable popularity in Russia.

Be that as it may, history has left us great musicians and virtuosos of playing the seven-string guitar: Andrey Sikhra, Sergey Orekhov, Vladimir Vavilov, Vladimir Vysotsky, Sergey Nikitin, Bulat Okudzhava, Yuri Vizbor, Pyotr Todorovsky, Vladimir Lantsberg.

Tuning a seven-string guitar is carried out according to the principle:

• string 1 - note "re" (1st octave);
• string 2 - note "si" (small octave);
• string 3 - note "sol" (small octave);
• string 4 - note "re" (small octave);
• string 5 - note "si" (large octave);
• string 6 - note "sol" (large octave);
• string 7 - note "re" (large octave)

This tuning is classic. There may be other tunings, but we will focus on the most acceptable and common.

So, let's start with string 1 (the first, thinnest). Tune it to the sound of the note "re". Now let's move on to the second string. We press it on the 3rd fret, while the first string is open. By adjusting the sound of string 2, we achieve unison between the first strings (1 and 2). We press the third string already at the fourth fret and achieve unison with the second, also open. The fourth string is pressed already at the fifth fret, the fifth string - at the third, the sixth string - at the fourth, the seventh string - at the fifth (we achieve unison with the previous open string).