Guitar exhibit opens at Bishop Museum

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Guitar exhibit opens at Bishop Museum

BY JOHN BERGER / jberger@staradvertiser.com

Try naming anything that had more impact on music in the 20th century than the development of the solid-body electric guitar.

What would rock ’n’ roll have been without it? Would the countless mutations of rock ’n’ roll that have emerged during the last six decades have been possible?

Bishop Museum addresses those questions from several perspectives with “Guitar: The Instrument That Rocked the World,” a national touring exhibit that runs through Labor Day. Expect a look at the modern electric guitar, its acoustic predecessors and various “relatives” and ancestor instruments.

The 5,000-square-foot exhibit covers the science of the guitar, its history and its cultural impact, with hands-on displays and special attractions for children.

Hawaii’s string instruments will be represented by items from Bishop Museum’s cultural collections and include the ukeke, the only indigenous Hawaiian string instrument, as well as guitars, steel guitars and early ukulele. The exhibit will also document Hawaii’s ki hoalu (slack-key) traditions.