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JEFFREY J. NOONAN. The Guitar in America : Victorian Era to Jazz Age. Jackson MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2008. viii + 239 pp., illus. ISBN 978-1-934110-18-8 (hardback). Price: $50
Jeffrey Noonan argues that much of the documented history of the guitar in America has consistently portrayed the instrument as a tool of untrained musicians, and its music as having been passed on orally, with no formal tradition of notation. He also comments that it is often assumed that nineteenth-century instruments were much as their modern day counterparts, i.e. steel strung, played with a plectrum, and the instrument of choice for black blues players and country bands.
In his book, he is at pains to point out that, during the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century, there is an overlooked documented history of professional and amateur players. They considered the guitar a refined instrument and had traditions deeply rooted in European courts and salons. These musicians played published works and often performed in parlours alongside other classical instruments such as the piano and violin. The most accomplished players appeared in concert halls, frequently as solo performers, to appreciative audiences. In other words, during this period, the guitar was promoted and taught much as other serious instruments.
Noonan bases a large amount of the research in his book on the musical journals of the time, namely those of the BMG (Banjo, Mandolin and Guitar) movement. These magazines appeared from the 1880s until the 1930s, and included The FOG (named after its owner F.O.Gutman), Crescendo, Cadenza, and most influential of all, S.S.Stewart's Banjo and Guitar Journal....