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Guitolão
The ''Guitolão'' is a chordophone designed by Portuguese luthier Gilberto Grácio. It is a baritone version of the Portuguese guitar. Terminology The term ''Guitolão'', is a portmanteau word combining syllables from the two Portuguese words ''Portuguese guitar, guitarra'' and ''Classical guitar, violão''. The initial idea was to create an instrument similar to a Portuguese guitar but with a lower range, so that the soloist could dispense with the accompaniment of the ''violão'', as done traditionally in ''fado''. Background Grácio originally built a prototype for Carlos Paredes in 2001, and only three instruments were made. This solo instrument is rich in harmonics, largely due to the increased Scale length (string instruments), scale length of 24.4 inches (620 mm). Another important aspect is the dynamic response from the 12th fret of this instrument, unavailable from the normal Portuguese guitar. In essence, ''Guitolão'' is a baritone Portuguese guitar, tuned in ...
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Portuguese Guitar
The Portuguese guitar (, ) is a plucked string instrument with twelve steel strings, strung in six courses of two strings. It is one of the few musical instruments that still uses watch-key or Preston tuners. It is iconically associated with the musical genre known as fado. History The Portuguese guitar most diffused today has undergone considerable technical modification in the last century (dimensions, mechanical tuning system, etc.) although it has kept the same number of courses, the string tuning, and the finger technique characteristic of this type of instrument. The Portuguese Guitar is a descendant of the Medieval citole, based on evidence of its use in Portugal since the thirteenth century (then known as 'cítole' in Portuguese) amongst troubadour and minstrel circles and in the Renaissance period, although initially it was restricted to noblemen in court circles. Later it became popular and references have been found to citterns being played in the theater, in tave ...
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Gilberto Grácio
Gilberto Grácio (12 May 1936 – 1 November 2021) was a famous Portuguese guitar maker. He was born in Lisbon, the son of João Pedro Grácio Junior and the grandson of João Pedro Grácio, both renowned luthiers. He started working in his father's workshop at the age of twelve. The heir of a traditional art of Portuguese guitar making that has passed through generations of the Grácio family, he is the last of the Grácio luthiers, since his sons do not want to continue the tradition. The Grácio family is considered to be one of the most important traditional guitar makers in Europe, and their contribution has helped develop the Portuguese guitar over the years. Their work together with that of the Paredes family reinvented the Lisbon guitar and created the Portuguese guitar of Coimbra. Gilberto Grácio still worked in his workshop in Lisbon, and in the past years he has devoted most of his time to teaching his art. Two of his students kept making guitars according to his fa ...
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Fretboard
The fingerboard (also known as a fretboard on fretted instruments) is an important component of most stringed instruments. It is a thin, long strip of material, usually wood, that is laminated to the front of the neck of an instrument. The strings run over the fingerboard, between the nut and bridge. To play the instrument, a musician presses strings down to the fingerboard to change the vibrating length, changing the pitch. This is called '' stopping'' the strings. Depending on the instrument and the style of music, the musician may pluck, strum or bow one or more strings with the hand that is not fretting the notes. On some instruments, notes can be sounded by the fretting hand alone, such as with hammer ons, an electric guitar technique. The word "fingerboard" in other languages sometimes occurs in musical directions. In particular, the direction ''sul tasto'' (Ital., also ''sulla tastiera'', Fr. ''sur la touche'', G. ''am Griffbrett'') for bowed string instruments to pla ...
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Cavaquinho
The cavaquinho (pronounced in Portuguese) is a small Portuguese string instrument in the European guitar family, with four wires or gut strings. A cavaquinho player is called a ''cavaquista''. Tuning A common tuning in Portugal is C G A D (non-reentrant with C being the lowest pitch, or from lower to higher pitches). The standard tuning in Brazil is D G B D. Other tunings include: * D A B E – ''Portuguese ancient'' tuning, made popular by Júlio Pereira, reentrant with A being the lowest pitch * G G B D * A A C E * D G B E – used for solo parts in Brazil * G D A E – mandolin tuning * G C E A – ‘''cavacolele''’ tuning, the same as the soprano/tenor ukulele * D G B E – the same as the highest four strings in standard guitar tuning, often used by guitarists, and the same tuning used for the baritone ukulel ...
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Gaita Transmontana
The gaita de foles mirandesa is a type of bagpipe native to the Trás-os-Montes (region), Trás-os-Montes region of Portugal. Etymology There are different theories regarding the origins of the name . It bears similarities with eastern European names for bagpipes, such as the Bulgarian language, Bulgarian ''kaba gaida'' and the Slovak language, Slovak (plurale tantum). The linguist Joan Coromines has suggested that the Galician-Portuguese word likely derives from the Gothic language, Gothic word or , meaning "goat"; as the bag of a gaita is made from a whole, case-skinned goat hide. Gothic was spoken in Hispania from the fifth to the eighth century when the country was ruled by the Visigoths. The Visigoths originated in north-eastern Europe, which could explain some lexical similarities in old Galician-Portuguese. History The oldest records of this Aroephonde de monica date from the 18th century, mostly written. Its culture has been passed since then from father to son until ...
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Rabeca
The rabeca, also known as rabeca chuleira, is a type of fiddle originating in Portugal. It is commonly used in Portugal, Northeastern Brazil—where it is especially prominent in Brazilian forró music—and in Cape Verde. It is descended from the medieval rebec. History The rabeca is thought to have originated in the Entre-Douro-e-Minho region of northern Portugal, especially in the areas around Amarante during the 18th century. Rabeca have also sephardic origins. In the Portuguese tradition, the ''rabeca chuleira'' is a short-scale variation played in village bands alongside guitars or '' viola braguesa'', drums, triangle and, now occasionally, the ''gaita transmontana'' or the galician bagpipe. The repertoire consists of the 2/2 '' chula'' and 3/4 ''chamarrita''. In Portugal, the ''rabeca chuleira'' (also known as ''rabeca rabela'', ''chula de Amarante'', ''chula de Penafiel'' or ''ramaldeira'' depending on the region it is played with very little variation) is still widely ...
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Viola Braguesa
Viola braguesa is a stringed instrument from Braga in northwestern Portugal. It has 10 strings in 5 courses. The strings are made of steel. It is tuned C4/C3–G4/G3–A4/A3–D4/D4–G4/G4. The scale length is about . Requinta Many , such as the Viola braguesa, have smaller requinto versions also, called 'requinta'. The viola braguesa requinta is tuned: A4/A3–C5/C4–F5/F4–C5/C5–E5/E5. This tuning is a fifth above the standard Viola braguesa. See also * Viola caipira * Cavaquinho The cavaquinho (pronounced in Portuguese) is a small Portuguese string instrument in the European guitar family, with four wires or gut strings. A cavaquinho player is called a ''cavaquista''. Tuning A common tuning in Portugal is C G& ... * Bandolim * Guitarra portuguesa References External links The Stringed Instrument DatabaseATLAS of Plucked Instruments String instruments Portuguese musical instruments {{viola-stub ...
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Bandolim
A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of eight strings. A variety of string types are used, with steel strings being the most common and usually the least expensive. The courses are typically tuned in an interval of perfect fifths, with the same tuning as a violin (G3, D4, A4, E5). Also, like the violin, it is the soprano member of a family that includes the mandola, octave mandolin, mandocello and mandobass. There are many styles of mandolin, but the three most common types are the ''Neapolitan'' or ''round-backed'' mandolin, the ''archtop'' mandolin and the ''flat-backed'' mandolin. The round-backed version has a deep bottom, constructed of strips of wood, glued together into a bowl. The ''archtop'', also known as the ''carved-top'' mandolin, has an arched top and a shallower, arched back both c ...
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Rosette (design)
A rosette is a round, stylized flower design. Origin The rosette derives from the natural shape of the botanical rosette, formed by leaves radiating out from the stem of a plant and visible even after the flowers have withered. History The rosette design is used extensively in sculptural objects from antiquity, appearing in Mesopotamia, and in funeral steles' decoration in Ancient Greece. The rosette was another important symbol of Ishtar which had originally belonged to Inanna along with the Star of Ishtar. It was adopted later in Romaneseque and Renaissance architecture, and also common in the art of Central Asia, spreading as far as India where it is used as a decorative motif in Greco-Buddhist art. Ancient origins One of the earliest appearances of the rosette in ancient art is in early fourth millennium BC Egypt. Another early Mediterranean occurrence of the rosette design derives from Minoan Crete; Among other places, the design appears on the Phaistos Disc, r ...
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Bridge (instrument)
A bridge is a device that supports the strings (music), strings on a stringed instrument, stringed musical instrument and transmits the vibration of those strings to another structural component of the instrument—typically a Sound board (music), soundboard, such as the top of a guitar or violin—which transfers the sound to the surrounding air. Depending on the instrument, the bridge may be made of carved wood (violin family instruments, acoustic guitars and some jazz guitars), metal (electric guitars such as the Fender Telecaster) or other materials. The bridge supports the strings and holds them over the body of the instrument under tension. Explanation Most stringed instruments produce sound through the application of energy to the strings, which sets them into vibratory motion, creating musical sounds. The strings alone, however, produce only a faint sound because they Particle displacement, displace only a small volume of air as they vibrate. Consequently, the sound of ...
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String Gauge
In music, strings are long flexible structures on string instruments that produce sound through vibration. Strings are held under tension so that they can vibrate freely. The pitch (frequency) at which a string will vibrate is primarily related to its vibrating length (also called speaking length), its tension, and its mass per unit of length. A vibrating string produces very little sound by itself. Therefore, most string instruments have a soundboard to amplify the sound. There are two main kinds of strings; plain and wound. "Plain" strings are simply one piece of long cylindrical material, commonly consisted of nylon or gut. "Wound" strings have a central core, with other material being tightly wound around the string . Prior to World War II, strings of many instruments (including violins and guitars) were composed of a material known as catgut, a type of cord made from refined natural fibers of animal intestines. During the mid-twentieth century however, steel and nylon ...
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Fret
A fret is any of the thin strips of material, usually metal wire, inserted laterally at specific positions along the neck or fretboard of a stringed instrument. Frets usually extend across the full width of the neck. On some historical instruments and non-European instruments, frets are made of pieces of string tied around the neck. Frets divide the neck into fixed segments at intervals related to a musical framework. On instruments such as guitars, each fret represents one semitone in the standard western system, in which one octave is divided into twelve semitones. ''Fret'' is often used as a verb, meaning simply "to press down the string behind a fret". ''Fretting'' often refers to the frets and/or their system of placement. Explanation Pressing the string against the fret reduces the vibrating length of the string to that between the bridge and the next fret between the fretting finger and the bridge. This is damped if the string were stopped with the soft fingert ...
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