Dictionary of Music - Birding America

170 guitarraguitarra (gē tär′rä).TAR.The Spanish word for GUI-gusle (goo s′lə). A one-stringed bowed instrumentused by folk musicians, mostly in the Balkans.The gusle has a long neck and a body carved froma single block of wood. The body is shaped like apear, a heart, or a bowl, the hollow part being coveredwith skin. The string, attached to the neck bya peg, is made of horsehair, as is the bow. There isno fingerboard, and the string must be stoppedfrom the side instead. The gusle is played by asinger (called a guslar) while singing traditionalepic songs.Guthrie (guth′rē), Woodrow Wilson(“Woody”), 1912–1967. An American singerand composer, remembered for songs that havebecome, by virtue of their popularity, folk songs.Some of Guthrie’s songs were new arrangements(with new words) of older folk songs. Many of themcelebrate the greatness of America, whereas othersinclude bitter comments on America’s social andeconomic problems. Among Guthrie’s best-knownsongs are “This Land Is Your Land,” “So Long, It’sBeen Good to Know You,” “Hard Traveling,” “RollOn, Columbia,” “Pastures of Plenty,” and “UnionMaid.” His son, Arlo Guthrie (1947– ), alsobecame a folksinger. His best-known song is“Alice’s Restaurant,” which inspired a 1969 motionpicture with the same name.gymel (ji′məl). Also spelled gemell, gimel. A fifteenth-and sixteenth-century term for counterpointthat results from the splitting of one voice-part intotwo voice-parts of equal range. Each part so producedis marked “gymel” in the score. The namecomes from the Latin gemellus, for “twin.”