Among all the different genres of music available today, country music still remains one of the most popular. Its roots stemming from the immigrants in the Maritime Provinces and the Southern Appalachian Mountains of North America, it has spread across countries far and wide. The distinct sound and melody of country, accompanied with the image of a performer with a cowboy hat, boots, and his country guitar strapped across his body is an image everyone, regardless of age, is familiar with.
You may associate the acoustic or steel guitar immediately to the country genre but its roots were slightly different. The original musical instruments that were most commonly used for this type of music were the Irish fiddle, the German dulcimer, the Italian mandolin, the Spanish guitar, and the West African banjo. Despite the different origins, the common denominator is that they all belong to the string family. Read the rest of this entry »
