A People's History of the Guitar

This episode is about Lutes.Not the Lute we know, but the Lutes we call Lutes that aren't the Lute we know, which came before the Lute we know, which is a Lute that led to the guitar...which is also a Lute. The episode spans a couple of thousand years, and thousands of miles, to paint a picture of ancestors of the guitar that were common among many ancient peoples, and which connected the musical cultures of the ancient middle east, the near east, and the far east, via the Silk Roads.There's a little sex, and a pinch of violence, and I had a ridiculous amount of fun making this episode, which is part of the reason it took me so f++king long to produce. Enjoy, and learn something in the process.Support the project here! This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy

In this episode we uncover the oldest existing examples of the kinds of string instruments that led to the guitar. They're called The Lyres of Ur, they're over 4,000 years old, and they were discovered in the 1930s by someone with the best name ever for a British archaeologist, alongside his extremely interesting wife. Filled with a couple of distractingly curious side-stories, this episode also speculates about how those ancient instruments might have introduced distortion to the sonic palette of string instruments. Trust me, you'll find it to be a fun and interesting way to spend 25 minutes of your life.Click here to support A People's History of the Guitar! Even $5/month, or a one-time contribution, goes a long way. If you want to see where this goes as much as I do, it'll help me build this project, create more episodes, license music, conduct interviews, and reach more people.No paywalls yet, but when exclusive content starts to appear, anyone contributing any amount in 2025 and 2026 (monthly or one-time) will have lifetime access to everything. Thanks for listening and for thinking about supporting A People's History of the Guitar.Get in touch at aphotguitar@gmail.comThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy

This episode goes off-road a little. I'm late to the party, but when I recently (finally) saw Ryan Coogler's Sinners, I couldn't not do an episode on this movie. Sinners is a cracking good vampire movie that also happens to be a micro-history of Black Music, with details that can tell us a lot about the history of string instruments in the United States. Its about the guitar, people and their guitars, and the guitar and its people...even if some of those people aren't people anymore. ----Learn about how to support the project here!Check out all previous episodes below. Episodes appear in order of publication (oldest first rather than newest first) because that's how I want it, ya know? Anyway, to get a clearer sense of what this thing is about and where its going, start with episode one, below, and listen in order. But feel free to bounce around as much as you like, because you can do that without any interference from me. But maybe at least listen to Episodes one and five, OK? Episode related playlist on the way!This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy

This is the first in a short series of episodes and interviews about how we turned cordage into chordage. According to the Hornbostel-Sachs System for Musical Instrument Classification, the guitar is in the Chordophone category. And it wouldn't be there if it weren't for something we found, and manufactured, over tens of thousands of years, called cordage.The story of cordage is under-told and overlooked, but it's everywhere, and it's one of our most important tools and materials. We take it for granted, but we shouldn't do that. It holds your shoes together. It's the stuff your clothes are made of. It's the thing that burns in the center of a candle. One type of cordage, called string, turns silent bows, boxes and slabs into stringed musical instruments, and that's why we're here. Here's a link to a complete interview with a scholar mentioned in the episode, which should make for good supplemental reading.Click here to support A People's History of the Guitar with a one-time or recurring contribution, or maybe both. If you want to see where this goes as much as I do, you can help me to produce unique new content and reach more people with a broader perspective on an instrument that changed the world. Go back and check out the previous episodes in order if you haven't already, and thanks for being curious about what I'm trying to do here. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy

This episode takes us from the evolution of human musicality into the realm of music itself, and its origins. That story is big, controversial, and messy. So, I've sorted it into easily digestible summaries of the ideas of Charles Darwin, Steven Brown, and Steven Pinker: three thinkers whose work is important for understanding how and why we started making music. It could have been really long, but I've cleverly limited it to under 25 minutes. Support the project!Here's a link to a brief and delightfully tension-filled conversation between Police drummer Stewart Copeland and Harvard Linguist/Psychologist Steven Pinker, referenced in the last third or so of the episode. Episode playlist here. I'll be tinkering with these playlists periodically, so feel free to add them to your library and revisit from time-to-time. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy

This episode is about one of the things that launched us on our journey toward making music, which would eventually get us to the guitar. That one thing is our feet. Which is really two things. When we began to walk upright, we introduced something new into our lives. Becoming bipedal, millions of years ago, gave us one of the foundations of music, and Disco, and CPR. It also helped to make our brains bigger, which made us smarter, and our walking feet and smarter noggins pointed us toward becoming musical beings. Support the project here!Episode playlist here. I'll be tinkering with these playlists periodically, so feel free to add them to your library and revisit from time-to-time. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy

A People's History of the Guitar is about people, the guitar, people and their guitars, and the guitar and its people.In this introductory episode, you'll find out about what the podcast is about, why I decided to do it in the first place, and who the podcast is for. Spoiler alert: it's for everybody.I'm just getting this going, and episodes are coming as I finish them. My goal is a minimum of three episodes each month. We'll get there, especially if you keep listening, and if you'll consider supporting the project, so support the project here!Episode playlist here. Some guitar-based music that means something to me. I'll be tinkering with these playlists periodically, so feel free to add them to your library, and revisit from time-to-time. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy