Guitar (Classical)

In modern parlance the word "guitar" usually connotes an electric guitar; qualifiers like "classical" or "acoustic" are necessary to indicate the original instrument. The guitar, distinguished from other lute-type instruments by its characteristic combination of flat-backed resonating chamber, fretted neck, and indented side walls, is of great antiquity; terminologically and perhaps historically it is related to the Greek kithara lyre. Repertory directly associated with the classical guitar began to appear early in the Renaissance era, although the modern instrument with six strings dates only from the late eighteenth century. Five was a common number of strings (sometimes doubled) for the Baroque guitar, examples of which were made by Antonio Stradivari. The earliest six-string guitars were made in France or Italy, but soon the instrument became associated above all with Spain, where to this day there flourishes a unique tradition of classical guitar music, marked by strong quasi-improvisatory elements and a variety of exotic influences. Spain is also the home of the fiery gypsy-born guitar style known as flamenco. It was Spanish classical instrument makers of the nineteenth century who created the classical guitar we know today, with its generally standard shape and size. Popular usage distinguishes between "classical" and "folk" acoustic guitars. The distinction is not a hard and fast one, but the latter term generally refers to a guitar that follows one of several technical innovations, developed by twentieth-century American manufacturers, that had the purpose of increasing the instrument's volume. The modern classical guitar and its growing contingent of concertizing players are rooted in Spanish traditions, although top instrument builders flourish all over the world -- with Japan a center of special importance.

Strings Instruments