Geoff Duncan

I hadn't given this a great deal of thought, but the recent RMMGA CD III project got me thinking that modern American Guitar Culture is a funny thing.

We're at a weird juncture of history. A century ago, four-string banjos were all the rage - and they weren't much being used to play country music, since that wouldn't get semi-codified until the 20s and 30's (and bluegrass came later still). No: banjos were a dixieland and (later) jazz instrument, and tend to remain so in Europe. Walk down a street in Paris with a banjo, people will assume you play jazz, not country.

And now, banjos are largely an obscure curiosity to most Americans. Sure, there's the occasional Béla Fleck tune or Earl Scruggs tribute, but banjos seem to mainly cause flashbacks to episodes of Hee Haw seen in childhood, or perhaps a quick glimpse of an Opry telecast while channel surfing for Baywatch or Masterpiece Theatre reruns. But that's it.

Beginning in the '10s - but blossoming in the '20s and '30s - ukeleles were the thing. Small, portable, easy to play, easy to learn... there's even a bit of a uke renaissance underway right now. But beginning in the '50s, the popular view of ukes started to take on the same twittering and vague distaste currently enjoyed by banjos. And Tiny Tim didn't really help.

So, since Charlie Christian - or, perhaps more significantly, since Les Paul, Merle Travis, Elvis, Chuck Berry, and the Beatles - it's the guitar and the electric guitar. (Electric guitars tend to be seen as separate from the so-called acoustic guitar - and there are major differences, but the lines are blurrier than most folks think. Anyway.) By some estimates, there are 25 million guitar players in the United States, which I assume means people who say they can play a bit of guitar. Most of them seem to be male, and guitar seems to be the most common instrument among that much-sought demographic, 18-to-34 year olds.

Music stores, classified ads, closets, and attics everywhere are flooded with guitars, many of which were made in Japan, Taiwan, Korea, or China and cheaply imported to the US. (This isn't a knock on their quality: many are better quality than higher-priced instruments made in North America.) There have been (and continue to be) hundreds of guitar makers, ranging from mostly-name-only brands produced overseas as cheaply as possible to specialty hand-builders who have years-long waitlists for their one-of-a-kind instruments. Oddities and design changes are now commonplace: archtop and flattop, nylon and steel string, Kasha and small-bodied, peg-head and slot-head, seven-string guitars, eight-string guitars, so-called baritone guitars, vibrato and tremolo systems, pickup and amplification technologies, construction and design variations... and more recently a "vintage" movement favoring early guitar designs - re-issue Telecasters, 12-fret parlor acoustics, etc. The guitar has been the focus of modern commercialization and promotional practices like no other instrument, which probably accounts for its 50+ years and counting as a musical and cultural icon.

But I can't help but feel the wave has crested. I mean, I know why I play guitar (and it has never been about wanting to be a rock star or to "get the chicks"). I can't figure out why so many other people seem to want to play the instrument. There are some fabulous players out there and there's a universe of good music to be found in almost any guitar... but you know, ninety-eight percent or more of the guitar people hear is derivative, repetitive, overly-processed stuff. This isn't to say the guitar isn't a fabulous instrument, a great tool for songwriting, accompaniment, solo performance, or what-have-you... but I'm baffled why so many people seem to want to get started on guitar now?

And I admit, I'm kinda longing for an autoharp or zither fad.