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The eleven-string alto guitar or altgitarr is an extended-range classical guitar developed by Swedish luthier Georg Bolin in the 1960s.
Original Bolin instruments are now rare and valuable.[1] The Bolin alto guitar most often has eleven strings, but a thirteen-string version also exists.
The 11-string alto guitar is one of the multi-string guitars which generally refers to types of guitars that have more than 6 strings. Multi-string guitars ranges from 7 to 13 strings. However, 11-string is the most often used for performance of lute music, particularly Bach.
It was first constructed by the Swedish luthier Georg Bolin with collaboration with the Swedish guitarist Per-Olof Johnson in the 1960's. Johnson is the teacher of a well-known guitarist Göran Söllscher who made this instrument famous through his extensive usage of Bolin's 11-string alto guitar.[2][3]
Johnson was very fond of lute music, but the difference in playing techniques between guitar and lute is significant and he was looking for a way to be able to approach lute music on the guitar playing technique. Thus the goal of the design was specifically to be able to play rennaisance lute music directly from original tabs using guitar playing technique.
This design goal introduced two main characteristics. The first is to tune the first 6 strings minor third higher (hence the name "alto guitar") in order to assimilate the lute tuning. It is equivalent to putting a capo on the third fret of the normal prime guitar. The second is to and 5 extra strings for lower notes.
The first 6 strings are tuned in the same interval with the normal classic guitars. Therefore, normal guitar music can be played on 11-string alto guitar as is.
The typical tuning of 11-string alto guitar is (from high to low strings): g d a f c G F Eb D C B. [4]
Current luthiers who builds 11-string alto guitars are mainly located in Sweden, such as Heikki Rousu and Roger Strömberg. Yoshimitsu Hoshino in Japan used to build 11-string alto guitars. However, he no longer makes them.[5]
Some Swedish guitarists who use the instrument is Peder Riis, Göran Söllscher and Anders Miolin.
In the United States, luthier Walter Stanul makes performance instruments ranging from 11 to 13-strings called the Archguitar.
Makers
- Georg Bolin
- Roger Strömberg
- Heikki Rousu
- Joel Jedström, MusikTeknik
- Asturias (Japanese instrument manufacturer)
Performers
- Göran Söllscher
- Stefan Östersjö
- Kozo Kanatani
- John Francis
Videos
- Coral Sunset by John Francis
- Youtube videos by Kozo Kanatani
- Youtune videos by Stefan Östersjö
See also
External links
- altoguitar.com, site dedicated to the Bolin altgitarr.
- Altgitarr Links.
- John Francis web page.
- Peter Blanchette, 11-string archguitar
References
- ^ Georg Bolin's 11-string alto guitar for sale by Kurosawa Gakki
- ^ Göran Söllscher's profile by allmusic.com
- ^ Göran Söllscher's discography by Deutche Grammophon
- ^ 11-string alto guitar tuning by altoguitars.com
- ^ Hoshino guitar no longer takes order for 11-string alto guitar Hoshino Guitar
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