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Resonator guitar

Musical Instrument
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A guitar with metal cones amplifying sound, known for its bright, metallic tone

Detailed Definition
The resonator guitar’s cutting voice appears in blues and folk poetry to symbolize resilience, innovation, and the amplification of marginalized voices; its invention during the Great Depression links it to themes of resourcefulness and lyrical survival in hard times.
Example
Example in poetry:
Delta blues poets praise resonator guitar: “Metal belly / howls like hound in moonlight”; Its spun cones amplify sorrow; “Resonator rings—sharecropper’s truth cuts through lies”; In road verse, the resonator’s twang maps highways: “Dust bowl, but resonator sings green fields ahead.”
Additional Notes
The resonator guitar uses metal cones to amplify sound acoustically, producing a bright, metallic tone central to blues and bluegrass; its invention solved volume issues before electric amplification—ideal for poems about technological adaptation, the metallic cry of Delta blues, or the guitar as working-class voice resonating through spun metal.
Also Known As
Dobro (brand-specific but commonly used) resonator
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