History of The Guitar

History of the Acoustic Guitar

The date the acoustic guitar was first created is unknown. However, there are ideas about the time period the instrument was created. Some historians believe it is of ancient history. Other historians it is only a few hundred years old. The historians who make claims the acoustic guitar is not an ancient instrument; have found that the earliest acoustic guitar, in the actual current state it is in. It was introduced in the early 16th century and is called a Vihuela, a four course (pairs) of strings, “the father of the guitar.” This guitar was similar to the six course 12-string guitar we use today.

  The guitar has its roots in Spain and technically cannot be traced any further back than the 15th century. The first guitars were very small, as the Ukulele derives from.

During the Renaissance period, the guitar was not taken seriously, nor given the respect it deserved. It was not until the Classical period that popularity for the guitar really took off. Again, by the end of the 19th century the guitar had fallen out of popularity, but only until Francisco Tarrega during the classical period, revived it. Then Manual Torres “Father of the Modern Guitar” (1850-1892), who developed a larger and more resonant guitar, as we know it today. He once built a guitar with a spruce top and paper mache sides so he could prove his theory of which, it is the top that produces most of the volume. Torres increased the size and experimented with anything that will improve the sound he was especially interested and focused in the volume of the guitar.

The acoustic guitar as we know it today came into play around the late 1700s. The word guitar comes from two words that are Indo-European roots: “guit” (meaning music) and “tar” meaning string or chord). This guitar another string (bass) is added, as steel string replaces the nylon strings of the acoustic guitar and there are either six or twelve string guitars. Since, the early days of the acoustic guitar, there have been many variations made such as acoustic-bass, electro-acoustic, resonator, and steel guitars. The United States takes the credit for the development of the steel-string guitar, such as Martin and Gibson guitars. In which, they are the two earliest and most influential guitar makers. Today, the guitar is one of the most loved and intriguing instruments to learn to play. Martin and Gibson guitars are still the top guitar makers followed closely by Taylor guitars.