Plan for Progress  

Music is said to be a path or a connection to numerous abstract concepts such as love, hate, God and so on. One of those concepts include patriotism. Patriotic music is one such concept. It has the potential to play a vital role in every citizen’s life. It is immaterial, which country a citizen may belong to. The music composed in this genre is is targeted specifically to arouse the nationalistic feelings of the native residents of a particular country. The music has a particular way of inducing certain feelings into soul which may enable a person to feel the spirit of triumph, or joy or hope or empowerment.

Patriotic music in America is no different. It has been a part of the history and cultural since the country originated in the 18th century. The music was put together as a way of endorsing sentiments of national pride and unity for the natives of America. The songs have been played in various forms such as military themes, hymns, national songs and so on. Most of the songs are inspired by the four major wars fought in the American history. They were the War of 1812, the American Civil War, the American Revolution and the Spanish American War. They are also played on major holidays such as Memorial Day, Independence Day and the Veteran Day.

During the American Civil War, both the North and South came up with numerous composition to rouse the feelings of patriotism and battle. A couple of wars fought on the American soil inspired memorable songs. For instance, the American Revolution, has provided inspiration for three songs- “God Save the King”, “Yankee Doodle” and “British Grenadiers”. The present day national anthem of America, “Star Spangled Banner” was composed during the War of 1812 by Francis Scott Key.

Like every other song or music, patriotic music has its own colorful and fascinating history. Most of these songs of patriotism have some history behind their composition. Listed below are some patriotic songs and their history:

Star Spangled Banner- This song was composed by Francis Scott Key post the War of 1812. There are four stanzas in this song, usually the first stanza is performed. The melody of the song is inspired from an English song “To Anacreon in Heaven”.

Rally Round the Flag- This song was composed by George F. Root in 1862. The song as composed for the Union Army and was widely sung in the North.

Battle Hymn of the Republic- This song was composed by Julia H. Howe 1861. The song was set to a camp meeting tune. The song was played at the funerals of Robert Kennedy, Winston Churchill and Ronald Reagan.

America (My Country ‘Tis of Thee)- This song was composed by Samuel F Smith in 1832. It gained popularity in Britain as “God Save the Queen” but later became bi-continental. A R&B rendition was performed by Ray Charles which made the song popular amongst the audience of this century.

Read here for more information on: Patriotic Quotes.

Playing and learning to play a guitar both require a certain level of commitment and natural talent, the same holds true for building a usable yet attractive guitar.To build a guitar, you will hence need to be fairly competent at doing wood work and also have a good ear for pinpointingvarious pitches and sounds. However, after you have finished your project to absolute satisfaction, you will undoubtedly obtain a strong sense of achievement. The following instructions should aid you in carrying out this undertaking, do not expect to necessarily finish your guitar the first day you choose to begin building, it will demand a lot of patience and therefore should not be hastened.

How To Build A Guitar

Required Tools

Drill and attachment

Bandsaw or jigsaw

Light sandpaper

Router

Required Materials

Two clamps

Three sheets of wood

Pre-made neck and bridge set

Wood glue

Lacquer or wood stain

No less than a dozen wood braces

Two small blocks of hard wood

Guitar strings

Two light weight pieces of a durable type of wood measuring 3 by 2 feet. These should be about ¼ of an inch thick.

Instructions

1)The first thing that you will need to do is create the front and back of the acoustic guitar. This will be done by using tracing paper to create the shape of the guitar. Use this tracing paper to make an outline of the shape on each guitar section that will be utilized on either side. Once the shape has been constructed cut the pieces of wood, for improved symmetry of both front and back you may clamp both pieces together and cut using the jigsaw or band saw.

2)Next you will need to create a sound hole for your guitar. This will be placed on the front section. The smaller the hole the more pronounced the bass or low pitched sounds while the bigger the hole the greater the treble or higher pitched sounds. The choice will comedown to on personal taste. To do this utilize a large round drill attachment for more accuracy.

3)Construct the sides of your guitar. This will necessitate two pieces of wood that are adequately long enough to wrap around the outer areas of the larger pieces with an excess of 5 inches. You can then mould the wood by hand by putting the sections in very hot boiling water for a few seconds. You may need to re-dip the sections of wood to obtain the prefered shape. This part of the process will ask that you be patient, though adept with your fingers while the wood is still able to be moulded.

4)Affix the two sides with blocks of very durable wood glue. When gluing the sections together you must be sure to let the blocks of glue remain on the inner areas of the guitar where they will be basically invisible. Ensure that they are glued firmly and use your clamps to hold the pieces in position while they dry.

5)You will then have to glue the body pieces to the guitar utilizing the wood glue. Like the assembling of the base sections, you will need to allow them time to dry thoroughly before making any more adjustments.

6)Once the glue has set you can then sand the guitar body, but lightly.

7)Put a lacquer or stain over the guitar body to infuse it with a nice finish. The stain or lacquer should have its own specific directions for staining.

8)You can now install your neck and bridge these are best purchased pre-made for increased accuracy. You will have to cut small grooves in your guitar to get these to fit properly, utilize a routing tool here. Take measurements while carrying this out for once again, precision. When you are done cutting you may then attach the neck and bridge using the wood glue and allow to dry.

9)Install your bridge using tiny screws and some glue, this should be affixed just below the sound hole.

10)Put on your strings as you would when changing strings on any guitar.

11)Test your guitar to ensure that it plays the notes as you would expect and be alert to pinpointing any potential flaws in the overall sound.

Tips and Warnings

The overall time to complete this project may take a few weeks to guarantee that the glue is dry.

You can utilize templates to increase the accuracy of the guitar’s shape.

Look on a professionally designed guitar to get some fundamental ideas and vital understanding of what your guitar should look like.

The fumes from the glue may be hazardous, therefore it is best that you work outdoors or in a well ventilated area.