What is a guitar?

Hello again,



So you've decided the guitar is going to be your means of creative expression!



Excellent choice! But how did the guitar arrive on this planet and how did it get to look like all those you see hanging on the walls of your favourite musical instrument store?



The most widely held view is that the acoustic guitar is derived from the "viola" or "vihuela" described in the 15th century by Johannes Tinctoris, writing in Naples in about 1487 when he describe "a viola without a bow, flat and curving in on both sides and plucked with the fingers"



This same Johannes Tinctoris also describes an instrument called a "ghiterra" or "ghiterna" which he says was "invented by the Catalans and shaped like a tortoise" He is almost certainly describing the round-backed lute here.



From the beginning of the 17th century through to the end of the 18th century the guitar was gradually developed, principally in Spain, France and Germany, from the very small instrument with four pairs, or "courses" of strings, to the six string instrument that we recognise today.



Among hundreds of European luthiers who had an influence on the development of the guitar, two stand out as true innovators: Antonio de Torres in Spain and Christian Friedrich Martin in Germany.

These guitars were, of course, acoustic and mostly used to accompany the voice, but as they moved to America with the waves of immigration in the 19th and early 20th century, they began to be used for the rich diversity of music that was as varied as the people themselves and possibly the modern, steel strung "flat top" (and later arch-tops and electric) guitar had found it's true home!

Well that's enough of the history lesson! In my next posting I shall talk about how you can decide which type of guitar best suits the sort of music you are interested in.

'Bye for now.