A Parley Of Instruments - A Short Summation of a longer History
Originally
guitars were instruments featuring double courses of strings tuned in unison
(4, 5, 6 and later evolving to 7 - perhaps in a desire to match the
ever-extending range of the lute). These were inevitably strung with gut as the
technology simply didn’t exist to create metal strings until the turn of the
17th Century.
The
introduction of more durable and above all louder metal
strings motivated luthiers of the time to simplify their instruments. Before
long guitars with 6 strings (no unison courses) became commonplace although
tuning was not at this time standardised.
Tunings
indeed varied based on the music being performed as using these new guitars to
play pieces written on other instruments (particularly the lute once again) was
prominent.
It
was around this period, and driven in part by a desire for ever increased
range, that a 7-string instrument began to emerge in a form we would
recognise today.
It was in in Russia, whose musicians employed
a DGBDGDB (Open G) tuning and referred to the instrument as semistrunnaya gitara (семиструнная гитара)
or the semistrunka (семиструнка) - the seven string guitar.
With simple chord forms and a straightforward approach to
alternating bass lines the instrument remained strong in gut until the 20th
Century when a “gypsy” (metal-stringed) version became popular.
The Great Debate
The invention and development of this instrument is a debated
topic amongst musical historians. It is most commonly associated with Russian
composer Andrei Sychra and there is documented evidence to support the theory
that the evolution may have proceeded in a parallel form in several other
cultures.
Certainly Sychra left us with a large volume of work (over 1000
pieces) but equally of note is the Mexican composer Antonio Vargas who
specifically penned pieces for the “Seventh guitar” (guitarra setima - with 7
courses equalling 14 strings).
Another conspicuous use of the 7 string guitar occurred in Brazil
from the early 20th Century when the metal-strung “Vialo de sete cordas” (seven-string
guitar) was introduced in both choro and samba music. Most commonly tuned
CEADGBE (although occasionally BEADGBE) the development of “baixaria”
(accompaniment and counterpoint technique) developed throughout the 1900’s
chiefly pioneered and exemplified by Dino 7 Cordas and Raphael Rabello.
Regardless of the exact date and point of origin the seven string
guitar had certainly arrived and was quickly accepted for it’s versatility and
range in several cultures.
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