Guitar Importance

Suleman Lakhani

MUS 121 81PR

Prof. John Negri

Final Research Essay

The History of Guitar and Its Significance to Music

December 1, 2017.

The History of Guitar and Its Significance to Music The Guitar, a plucked stringed musical instrument originated in Spain early in the 16th century. It was derived from the guitarra latina, a late-medieval instrument with a waisted body and four strings. The guitar was first seen in the 1800-1900 B.C. The early guitar was identical to the vihuela played in Spain in place of the lute. The guitar is a major building block in music. The guitar consists of four to eighteen strings. The sound of a guitar is projected through electrical or acoustic amplification. It is played by plucking or strumming the strings using the right hand while fretting the strings with the left hand. The beginnings of the European guitar are unknown. It is impossible to establish the history of guitar before the Renaissance, but similar plucked-string instruments existed such as the long neck lute. The lute had a waisted sound box alike the guitar and survived from third to sixth century. During renaissance and medieval periods, a wide range of plucked stringed instruments can be found. The instruments include the citole, cittern, vihuela, mandore, gittern, the lute and its

The popularity of the guitar grew during the 17th century as the lute and vihuela declined. The lute and vihuela remained amateur’s instrument from the 17th to early 19th century. A few virtuoso guitarists, however, became known in Europe, among them Gaspar Sanz (flourished 1674), Robert de Visée (c. 1650–1725), Fernando Sor (1778–1839), and Joseph Kaspar Mertz (1806–56). Modern classical-guitar technique owes much to the Spaniard Francisco Tárrega (1852–1909), whose transcriptions of works by Bach, Mozart, and other composers formed the basis of the concert repertory. (The