Prepared guitar

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A prepared guitar is a guitar which has had its timbre altered by placing various objects on or between the instrument's strings, including other extended techniques.

The method was probably developed in the late 1960s by Keith Rowe, in imitation of John Cage's prepared piano. More recent composers for the prepared guitar include Nikita Koshkin, using cork, matches and foam mutes and Phillipe Drogoz using wire and knitting needles.

Fred Frith and Sonic Youth have also utilized prepared guitars, as have classical guitarists such as the Elgart/Yates Duo, who have also written a pamphlet on the subject entitled "Prepared Guitar Techniques".