The Guitar in America: Victorian Era to Jazz Age

From parlor instrument to jazz electric, a study of musical evolution in Americas progressive era The Guitar in America offers a history of the instrument from Americas late Victorian period to the Jazz Age. The narrative traces Americas BMG (banjo, mandolin, and guitar) community, a late nineteenth-century musical and com-mercial movement dedicated to introducing these instru-ments into Americas elite musical establishments. Using surviving BMG magazines, the author details an almost unknown history of the guitar during the movements heyday, tracing the guitars transformation from a refined parlor instrument to a mainstay in jazz and popular music. In the process, he not only introduces musicians (including numerous women guitarists) who led the movement, but also examines new techniques and instruments. Chapters consider the BMG movements impact on jazz and popular music, the use of the guitar to promote attitudes towards women and minorities, and the challenges foreign guitarists such as Miguel Llobet and Andres Segovia presented to Americas musicians. This volume opens a new chapter on the guitar in America, considering its cultivated past and documenting how banjoists and mandolinists aligned their instruments to it in an effort to raise social and cultural standing. At the same time, the book considers the BMG community within Americas larger musical scene, examining its efforts as manifestations of this countrys uneasy coupling of musical art and commerce. Jeffrey J. Noonan, associate professor of music at Southeast Missouri State University, has performed professionally on classical guitar, Renaissance lute, Baroque guitar, and theorbo for over twenty-five years. His articles have appeared in Soundboard and NYlon Review.