The internationally-acclaimed exhibit, “Guitar: The Instrument that Rocked the World” will be on display at the Springfield Museums from Friday to April 21. It seems only fitting that a collection devoted to the history, science and cultural impact of the guitar be consigned to a multi-city museum tour. “The idea started backwards. We had made plans to create the...
Guitar: The Instrument That Rocked the World
Springfield Museums exhibit
The internationally-acclaimed exhibit, “Guitar: The Instrument that Rocked the World” will be on display at the Springfield Museums from Friday to April 21. It seems only fitting that a collection devoted to the history, science and cultural impact of the guitar be consigned to a multi-city museum tour.
“The idea started backwards. We had made plans to create the first permanent guitar museum in the world then wondered what would happen if we took parts of it and visited as many cities around the country as we could,” said HP Newquist, executive director of the National Guitar Museum.
The exhibit that has been “on the road” for a year and a half will rolled into Springfield from its home base in Fairfield, Conn., and took nearly a week to set up. Its scope is so massive that the collection fits over 5,000 square feet and must be split between two museum buildings.
The Science Museum will house modern and electric guitars in addition to over a dozen entertaining interactives, including the Guinness World Record-certified World’s Longest Playable Guitar, measuring 43.5 feet, and the 8-necked Rock Ock.
“We’ll have all the kid interactives and neat things to hear, watch and play with,” said Laura Hartman, Exhibit Designer and Chief Preparator at the Springfield Museums. “There will be a little bit of everything so visitors can learn the details of how a guitar is made, how they work, why they work and what makes them so interesting and special.”
Guitar fans of all ages can study the difference between acoustic and electric guitars, pick up the details of why amplifiers make music louder, and hear exactly how the different types of wood and strings used for guitars can change their sound.
“We like to see people come away with a sense of what it took to get the guitar to where it is today. Stringed instruments go back 5,000 years and we have replicas of instruments that are that old. We want people to see the origins of the species, as it were, and the critical instruments that brought the guitar into its current form,” said Newquist, noting that the first model electric guitar grew from Hawaiian roots.
The special exhibit gallery at the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum will display the storied history of the instrument along with many of its ancestors, including a Persian tanbur, the pipa, a Chinese instrument dating back to 220 BC, a 15th century European lute, a 17th century Caribbean banjo, and a 20th century Spanish guitar.
Rock music lovers will see instruments on loan from Johnny Winter, Steve Vai and Joe Bonamassa. guitar aficionados will covet iconic Gibson Les Pauls along with Fender Stratocasters and Telecasters while studying up on inventors and designers like Ted McCarty, Paul Bigsby, and George Beauchamp of Rickenbacker fame.
Historians can marvel at early electrics like the Rostov Stella from Russia made during the Cold War to suit Soviet youth and science geeks can gaze at guitars made from carbon fiber, aluminum, and an extraordinary one generated by a 3-D printer.
“There’s a little bit of something for everyone but we want them to see that it’s more than just a piece of wood with strings,” said Newquist. “The guitar has a lot of science and engineering behind it but has also affected everyone just in the music that it created. The exhibit is not about the people who play guitar but the evolution of the instrument, how it changed and why it became such a big part of pop culture.”
Coinciding with the guitar exhibit will be a fine art photography exhibition at the D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts that highlights eighty-four never-before-published images of The Beatles.
Taken during the early years of Beatlemania in the 1960s by CBS Television and LIFE photojournalist, Bill Eppridge, “The Beatles: Backstage and Behind the Scenes” will be on display from March 12 – June 2, 2013.
Eppridge will give a lecture on Sunday, April 21, about his pictorial work and talk about what it was like to chronicle the early lives of the “Fab Four”.
“We hope to be a magnet for a diverse crowd as our mission is to provide exciting exhibits for all audiences,” said Julia Courtney, Curator of Art at the Springfield Museums. “Many people who have an interest in music or guitars might not necessarily visit an art museum, so this is a way to invite them into the museums while providing an exciting interactive experience at the same time.”
Additional programs connected with the guitar exhibit will be a lively family fun event to kick off opening weekend with Northampton children’s musician, Mr. G, on Saturday, January 19.
A Culture and Cocktail program for adults will take place on Thursday, March 7, with signature cocktails, live music by the Charlie Galvin Band and an opportunity to explore the guitar exhibition.
A travel program on Friday, March 15, will take participants on a tour of the symphonic organ housed at Boston University. School programs and guided tours for all ages will also be available.
“Guitars are more than just a hobby, they spark a passion that resonates with people of any age,” said Hartman. “From little kids to teenagers just learning chords to classic rock junkies to jazz and blues lovers, they’re all going to enjoy this exhibit. It’s going to be fascinating and so much fun!”
For more information about the “Guitar: The Instrument that Rocked the World” at the Springfield Museums and its related programming, call 1-800-625-7738 or visit springfieldmuseums.org. To learn more about the National Guitar Museum and its traveling exhibit, visit www.nationalguitarmuseum.com