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In the early days of the guitar it had tied gut frets, it was microtonal by nature and you could move the frets for different temperaments. Then in the 19th century things changed and the guitar got fixed metal frets, ever since people have been trying to figure out how to have the benefits of both. 1852 is the first attempt that I know of.

https://collectionsdumusee.philharmoniedeparis.fr/search.asp...

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It is still worth noting that the microtones used by Angine de Poitrine are usually just transient notes, and could instead be played portamento with smooth transitions between the notes (eg on a fretless board) in most situations. It still sounds really cool, though, and certainly a technical and musical accomplishment. But the music itself still follows the usual patterns closely.
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A bit spotty, but alright; meanwhile the Italian instrument makers said guitar-harp? Hold our expressos, this'll take some discipline:

* https://www.delta-harp.com/

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdUztFVwi3I

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Never having played a harp, whats the advantage here (beyond cool factor) over an equivalent electric guitar?
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A harp can have more than 6 notes ringing out at a time. It's also a different instrument and if you've trained to play harp then a guitar is useless for you.
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That's the first time I've heard microtonal work in a rock setting. Pretty good!

I see your added frets, and raise "add frets on the fly using Lego":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPCEImSfCwc

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> That's the first time I've heard microtonal work in a rock setting. Pretty good!

Really? I highly recommend Flying Microtonal Banana.

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Awesome band. Most of their songs sound so familiar to me because they are actually influenced by our folk music. :)
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> Really?

Really? Most people's first intro to microtonal guitar is recent and brought to them by Angine de Poitrine.

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Why frets? Orchestral strings don’t use frets.
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For plucked instruments, besides ease of use, it adds clarity and sustain. Orchestra AFAIK only has Pizzicato where that would matter.
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Frets make chords possible.

You only have to put your finger somewhere in between two frets to get a particular note, so you can play more than the tiny handful of chords that can be played on something like a violin.

There are non-fretted guitars but they are rare, and I think early banjos were not fretted.

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Frets make chords easier
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It makes hard chords easy, and impossible chords possible (if not easy). Most barre chords, for example.
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Isn't it the curvature of the fretboard (to allow for bowing individual strings) that prevents chords on a violin rather than lack of frets?
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I can play chords on a violin or viola and strum them. Keeping a four-finger chord perfectly in tune in rapid changes is really hard (near impossible) without frets.
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> Frets make chords possible.

What do you think double-stops are?

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There are those who say it isn't a chord until you have 3 notes. I'm going to skip the complex music theory behind the arguments (I haven't studied them enough to understand much less form an opinion).

Of course in most music contexts there is more than one instrument playing and so the others can fill in the missing note making a full chord. Only a "one-man-band" really feels the loss.

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Power chords only have two notes (although more than two octaves, I don't know if you count that)
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It's self-consistent: those who say that a chord must have at least 3 notes also say that power chords are not technically chords
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What do you mean about more than two octaves? The basic power chord is 3 notes, for example E2 + B2 + E3. One of those is an octave.
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"Power chord" sounds cooler than "power dyad".
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Whimpy-ass chords. You need three or more notes for a serious(tm) chord.
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Five for the Hendrix Chord, E7♯9 ;-)

That's E, G♯, B, D, F

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Every jazz player knows you can drop the fifth, and the root too if the bass is filling it in. That gives your fingers room to add even crazier extensions
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Oh man have you seen the Adam Neely video "Seven Level of Jazz Harmony"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz3WR-F_pnM

If not, stop and watch it. But make a cup of tea to enjoy with it first, and maybe put a cloth over your keyboard for when you inevitably splutter tea all over it.

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I read a pretty good argument once that this chord should really be called a b10 (no one does though...)
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Sustain

in college a good friend was a very good Oud player (plucked, some number of strings.... more than 8? I forget), and it definitely sounds different from guitar due to less sustain. Clearer notes and chords, but they don't linger as long or loud.

Edit: apparently it's 11 strings? ok.

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What's the difference in sustain time between a cello played pizzicato and a plucked guitar string?
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On fingered strings the guitar sustains for about 10 seconds until the note is very quiet, but still ringing.

On a Cello a fingered string is gone in 2 seconds.

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