The one stringed guitar, also known as a Unitar is a somewhat less known version of the standard
electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...
. Although rare, the one-string guitar is sometimes heard, particularly in
Delta blues, where improvised
folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Folk Plus or Fo ...
instruments were popular in the 1930s and 1940s.
History
Eddie "One String" Jones had some regional success with a Mississippi blues musician,
Lonnie Pitchford, who played a similar homemade instrument.
In a more contemporary style, Little Willie Joe Duncan, the inventor of the Unitar,
had a considerable
rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
instrumental
An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to inst ...
hit in the 1950s with "Twitchy", recorded with the
Rene Hall Orchestra.
Design
The home-made unitar often has a
piezoelectric sensor as a
pick-up, requiring an external
amplifier
An amplifier, electronic amplifier or (informally) amp is an electronic device that can increase the magnitude of a signal (a time-varying voltage or current). It may increase the power significantly, or its main effect may be to boost t ...
to be attached to produce a satisfactory sound.
[ PVC piping is a common neck material. As with a normal ]electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...
, the unitar does not require a reverberating body like an acoustic guitar.
Notable one string players
*Seasick Steve
Steven Gene Wold ( né Leach, 19 March 1951),/nowiki>freight_trains.html" ;"title="freight_trains.html" ;"title="/nowiki>freight trains">/nowiki>freight trains">freight_trains.html" ;"title="/nowiki>freight trains">/nowiki>freight trains/nowiki> f ...
* Brushy One String
See also
*Diddley bow
The diddley bow is a single-stringed American instrument which influenced the development of the blues sound. It consists of a single string of baling wire tensioned between two nails on a board over a glass bottle, which is used both as a brid ...
*Ektara
Ektara ( bn, একতারা, hi, एकतारा, ur, اِک تارا, ne, एकतारे, pa, ਇਕ ਤਾਰਾ, ta, எக்டரா; literally 'one-string', also called actara, iktar, ektar, yaktaro, gopichand, gopichant, ...
* Whamola
References
{{Reflist
Guitars