Head of 11-string alto guitar by Heikki Rousu

The eleven-string alto guitar (also known as altgitarr, archguitar, or Bolin guitar) is an extended-range classical guitar developed by Swedish luthier Georg Bolin in the 1960s. Original Bolin instruments are now rare and valuable. The Bolin alto guitar most often has eleven strings, but Bolin also made a thirteen-string version. The 11-string alto guitar is a '' multi-string classical guitar'', which generally refers to classical guitars with more than six strings. Classical guitars with extra strings can have from seven to 13 or more strings. However, an 11-string is the most useful for performing lute music, particularly

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...

and Weiss. The first six strings are tuned in the same intervals as the normal classic guitar. Therefore, a musician can play with conventional fingering on those strings. In the United States, luthier Walter Stanul makes performance instruments ranging from 11 to 13-strings called th
Archguitar
The design and the body shape of this guitar is similar to the

vihuela The vihuela () is a 15th-century fretted plucked Spanish string instrument, shaped like a guitar (figure-of-eight form offering strength and portability) but tuned like a lute. It was used in 15th- and 16th-century Spain as the equivalent of t ...

, and thus it is fundamentally different from the Bolin design.

History

Georg Bolin first constructed 11-string alto guitar with collaboration with Swedish guitarist Per-Olof Johnson in the 1960s. Johnson is the teacher of a well-known guitarist

Göran Söllscher Göran Söllscher (born 31 December 1955) is a Swedish award-winning virtuoso classical guitarist known for his broad range of musical interpretations, ranging from Bach to the Beatles. Söllscher's international career began during his years of ed ...

who made this instrument famous through his extensive usage of Bolin's 11-string alto guitar.

Johnson Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...

was fond of lute music, but the difference in playing techniques between

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

and lute is significant, and he was looking for a way to play lute music using guitar playing technique. Thus, the design goal was specifically to allow guitarists to play renaissance lute music. This design introduced two main elements. The first was to provide conventional lute tuning by tuning the first six strings a

minor third In music theory, a minor third is a musical interval that encompasses three half steps, or semitones. Staff notation represents the minor third as encompassing three staff positions (see: interval number). The minor third is one of two com ...

higher (hence the name "alto guitar"). It is equivalent to putting a capo on the third fret of the normal prime guitar. The second element was to add five extra strings to accommodate low notes.

Tuning

The typical 11-string alto guitar tuning is (from low to high strings): Bb1 C2 D2 Eb2 F2 G2 C3 F3 Bb3 D4 G4.

Makers

Current luthiers who build 11-string alto guitars, primarily located in Sweden, includ
Heikki Rousu
an
Roger StrömbergErmanno Chiavi
in Switzerland is known for his 13-string guitar built for Anders Miolin, but he builds 11-string guitars as well. Chiavi's guitar has the scale length of a normal classical guitar, 650mm, and is tuned in the same manner as classical guitar. Therefore, it is technically not an "alto" guitar.
Yoshimitsu Hoshino
in Japan built 11-string alto guitars with the same specification with Bolin's design in 1980s. However, he no longer makes them.''Hoshino guitar no longer takes order for 11-string alto guitar''
Hoshino Guitar Based in Paris, Liberto Planas is considered as one of the leading experts of the 11-string guitar with more than 90 instruments with his signature.

Performers

Some of the guitarists who use the instrument are as follows: *

* Peder Riis * Paulo Martelli * Kozo Kanatani * Andreas Koch * Moran Wasser

References

External links