Eleven-string alto guitar

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11-string alto guitar
Head of 11-string alto guitar

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.[1] The Bolin alto guitar most often has eleven strings, but Bolin also made a thirteen-string version.

The 11-string alto guitar is a

Bach 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 the Archguitar. The design and the body shape of this guitar is similar to the vihuela, and thus it is fundamentally different from the Bolin design.[3]

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 who made this instrument famous through his extensive usage of Bolin's 11-string alto guitar.[4][5]

guitar 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

minor third 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.[6]

Makers

Current luthiers who build 11-string alto guitars, primarily located in Sweden, include Heikki Rousu and Roger Strömberg. Ermanno Chiavi in Switzerland is known for his 13-string guitar built for Anders Miolin, but he builds 11-string guitars as well.[7] 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.[8] 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:

See also

References

  1. ^ Georg Bolin's 11-string alto guitar for sale by Kurosawa Gakki
  2. ^ 16-string guitar Archived 2013-12-31 at the Wayback Machine by Philip Woodfield Moore
  3. ^ Archguitar shape Archived 2013-12-28 at the Wayback Machine by Archguitar.com
  4. ^ Göran Söllscher's profile by allmusic.com
  5. ^ Göran Söllscher's discography by Deutsche Grammophon
  6. ^ 11-string alto guitar tuning Archived 2012-05-30 at the Wayback Machine by altoguitars.com
  7. ^ 11-string guitar by Ermanno Chiavi
  8. ^ Hoshino guitar no longer takes order for 11-string alto guitar Archived 2013-12-27 at archive.today Hoshino Guitar

External links

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