Early discovery

ses guitar

In Egypt a stringed instrument dating from 1500 BC was found in a tomb. This instrument strung with three strings and a plectrum hanging on a rope at the neck was made of cedar wood and animal skin. In the archaeological museum in Cairo, this instrument is exposed to the public. Stringed instruments were widely used in ancient Egypt and Greece. Where the lynce is seen as a precursor of the harp, the lute is seen as a precursor of the guitar. In ancient Greece they played the Pandoura (kind of lute). However, one is convinced that the lute was first used in ancient Egypt (since 2000 BC).

The development of the guitar

Renaissance guitar

The Renaissance guitar

The Renaissance guitar (16th century), with its 4 strings and short neck (8 frets above the body). The upper string sometimes is single and the three strings below are double. This system of double strings is used today, on the 12-string guitar. Also the double strings are common on lots of Arab instruments. One of the composers who specifically wrote music for the Renaissance guitar was Alonso Mudarra (around 1546).

During the Renaissance this guitar never had the same status as the Renaissance lute. The guitar was an instrument played by the 'normal' people while the lute was mostly played by the rich. The guitar slowly began to gain popularity as an instrument that was easier to play than a lute. Fortunately more and more music was written specially for the guitar.

Baroque guitar

The Baroque guitar

The Baroque Guitar (17th century) is the successor of the Renaissance guitar. This guitar has 5 double strings. The tuning also starts to look more like the tuning of contemporary guitars. Tuning: Aa-Dd-Gg-Bb-Ee. The modern guitar is tuned: E-A-D-G-B-E. The Baroque guitar produces a beautiful sparkling sound, almost like a young harpsichord. Music for the Baroque guitar was written for example, by Gaspar Sanz (around 1674).

Torres guitar

The Spanish guitar

The development of the Spanish guitar as we know it today, certainly has not taken place only in Spain, but also in Italy, France and Germany.

Examples of some builders:

• 1688 Italy - Stradivarius (yes...from the famous violins)
• 1825 France - Lacote
• 1876 Spain - Torres

Around the end of the eighteenth century people in Italy, France and Germany start building guitars with six strings more often. Lacote was one of the better known six-string guitar builders (around 1825). The only difference with the guitars build today, is the smaller body. Ultimately it was the Spaniard Antonio de Torres (around 1860) who adjusted the body, whereby the volume of the guitar considerably increased. The Spanish Guitar as we now know it nowedays is still based on the guitar Torres build.

Read more about the Spanish guitar:

classicalguitarcomposers.blogspot.com

thespanishguitars.blogspot.com


Check out this video of Menuet by Bach :

check out this one... Capriccio by Johann Anton Logy from the 17th century :