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 A classical guitar with additional strings is a nylon-string or gut-string classical guitar with more than six strings, in which the additional strings pass over a fingerboard so that they may be "stopped" or fretted with the fingers. These are ...

developed by Swedish

luthier A luthier ( ; AmE also ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments that have a neck and a sound box. The word "luthier" is originally French and comes from the French word for lute. The term was originally used for makers of ...

Georg Bolin Georg may refer to: * ''Georg'' (film), 1997 * Georg (musical), Estonian musical * Georg (given name) * Georg (surname) * , a Kriegsmarine coastal tanker See also * George (disambiguation) {{disambiguation ...

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 guitar The classical guitar (also known as the nylon-string guitar or Spanish guitar) is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor o ...

s 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 A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...

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

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

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 string ...

and

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

s who build 11-string alto guitars, primarily located in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

, includ
Heikki Rousu
an
Roger StrömbergErmanno Chiavi
in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

is known for his 13-string guitar built for

Anders Miolin Anders Miolin (born 28 May 1961) is a concert guitarist performing on the 13-stringed guitar "Chiavi-Miolin". Anders Miolin was born in Stockholm, Sweden, and entered the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen at the early age of 15. He stud ...

, but he builds 11-string guitars as well. Chiavi's guitar has the scale length of a normal

, 650mm, and is tuned in the same manner as

. Therefore, it is technically not an "alto" guitar.
Yoshimitsu Hoshino
in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

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 Paulo Martelli is a Brazilian classical guitarist. He received musical training in New York where he studied at The Juilliard School and The Manhattan School of Music. He has garnered awards and honors in prestigious national and international com ...

* Kozo Kanatani * Andreas Koch *

Moran Wasser Moran may refer to: Places Antarctica * Moran Bluff, Marie Byrd Land * Moran Buttress, Marie Byrd Land * Moran Glacier, Alexander Island Asia * Moran Town, Assam, India * Moran, Israel, a kibbutz * Moran Hill, North Korea * Moran Station, a s ...

References

External links

altoguitar.com
site dedicated to the Bolin altgitarr.

Peter Blanchette
11-string archguitar {{Guitars Classical guitar Guitars