Guitars
Background
The guitar's roots are in Spain. Realistically, guitars
cannot be traced back further than the 15th Century. The
guitar musical instrument is thought to have been invented
by the people of Malaga. This early instrument was a "four
course" guitar, from which the ukulele is derived.
The first guitars were very small, and were originally
strung with four pair of strings. Each pair was call a
course.
During the Renaissance, the guitar never had the respect
the lute enjoyed. It was not considered a serious instrument.
The first publication for guitar is thought to have been
Alonso Mudarra's "Tres Libros de Musica en Cifras
para Vihuela." Eventually, the guitar began to attract
players, more publications and music began to appear.
During the During the Baroque period, A fifth course
was added. Even more music became available. It's repertoire
and the complexity of the music increased.
The fifth course was tuned in one of three ways:
A low "A" as it is now.
A low "A" plus an octave for the second part
of the course
Both strings an "A" an octave higher than the
modern guitar.
If a modern player really wants to have a complete, accurate
repertoire of the Baroque Guitar, it would be necessary
to either re-string for different pieces, or have at least
three instruments for the different tunings. At the end
of the Baroque period two significant changes were made.
The double strings were replaced by single strings, and
instead of five pari, there were six single strings.
During the Classical period there were many publications,
composers and performers. Fernando Sor, Mauro Guilliani,
Matteo Carcassi, Fernando Carulli and many others wrote
music, published methods and performed concerts. The guitar
was very popular and guitar concerts were common.
Sor played the guitar as a solo instrument at the London
Philharmonic Concert in 1817. In memoirs, George Hogarth
stated: "He astonished the audience by his unrivaled
execution." Paganinni was also active, playing and
writing for the guitar as well as the violin. Stradivarius
made guitars as well as violins. At the end of the 19th
century, the guitar had fallen out of favor, but was resurrected
by Francisco Tarrega. His best piece in my opinion is
the now very famous "Receurdos De La Alhambra."
He did few public performances and chose to perform for
friends at his home. He did compose, and he wrote a method
for teaching guitar. He also transcribed many pieces of
music for the guitar. Segovia was one of many guitarists
that were influenced by him. Tarrega began the tradition
of playing with the fingernails.
Up until this point the instrument itself was small and
narrow. Manual Torres worked with the design and construction
of the guitar. He increased the size and experimented
with anything that would improve the sound, and was especially
interested in volume. He was the first maker to use "fan"
bracing underneath the top. He once built a Guitar with
a spruce top and paper mache back and sides to prove his
theory that it was the top that produced most of the volume.
He was the father of the modern guitar.
Some well known composers who played the guitar are Carl
Maria Von Weber, Rossini and his wife, Verdi, and for
many years Franz Schubert did his composing on his guitar
which hung over his bed. He didn't have a piano at the
time. Berlioz also composed the guitar. Segovia performed,
transcribed, taught and discovered a tremendous amount
of music. He also encouraged many composers to write for
the guitar. He was the first person to perform in a concert
hall... Before Segovia, people believed this could not
be done. Although Segovia did all these things, the real
debt that we owe to him is that of making the guitar truly
a world instrument. By traveling and performing throughout
the world, he brought respect and recognition to the instrument.
Nylon strings were a big improvement over gut strings.
They replaced gut in 1946. Today there are many concerts
of guitar music. There are many societies and magazines
devoted to the guitar.
Guitars Timeline
1265 Juan Gil of Zamora mentions the early guitar in
"Ars Musica.
1283-1350 Guitarra Latina & Guitar Moresca are mentioned
multiple times in the poems of the Archpriest of Hita
1306 A "gitarer" was played at the Feast of
Westminster in England
1404 "Der mynnen regein" by Eberhard Von Cersne
makes reference to a "quinterne."
1487 Johannes Tinctoris described the guitarra as being
invented by the Catalans. This refers to the four course
guitar. Each course represents one pair of double strings.
1546 "Tres Libros de Musica en Cifras para Vihuela"
by Alonso Mudarra is the first publication to include
music for guitar.
1551-1555 Nine books of tablature were published by Adrian
Le Roy. These include the first pieces for 5 course guitar.
The addition of the fifth course was attributed to Vicente
Espinel
1600-1650 Many publications of tablature for the guitar.
It's popularity begins to rival the lute.
1674 Publication of "Guitarre Royal" by F.
Corbetta increased the guitar's popularity. It was dedicated
to Louis XIV.
1770-1800 A sixth string was added to the guitar and
the courses were replaced by single strings.
1800-1850 Guitar enjoyed a large popularity both in performances
and publishing. Fernando Sor, Mauro Guiliani, Matteo Carcassi
and Dioniso Aguado all performed, taught, wrote and had
published their compositions.
1850-1892 Guitar maker Manual Torres develops the larger
more resonant instrument we know today.
1916 Segovia performs at Ateneo, the most important concert
hall in Madrid. Before this it was thought that the guitar
did not have the volume for this type of venue.
1946 Nylon replaces gut as a string material
