Classical Guitar

An Introduction to the Classical Guitar

The classical guitar is traced back to an ancient instrument from Greece called the "Kittara". Of course the logical explanation of any development, the lute, harp, guitar etc is the initial sound
many hundreds of years ago of the sound of an arrow leaving a bow. If the bow were short the sound would be higher than a longer bow.

When the Moors had invaded Spain they brought with them the "Vihuela". This was the predecessor of the lute. At this time there was no standard tuning so all of the wandering minstrels had their own songs and in many different forms of rendition. At this point in England the great lutenist John Dowland more or less standardised a tuning, albeit the third string was tuned to F Sharp, not as it is today G Natural. We then progress through Dowland to William Byrd quite gently to the end of the 1800's to Carcassi and the huge step toward Fernando Sor and from then the turn of the 20th Century with the great composer Fransisco Tarrega.

Through all of these periods lutiers were developing the instrument even Stradivarius some years earlier made mandolins. Paginini the great violinist played the guitar. We now arrive at the great albeit little known Torres. This man with experimentation in the width of the fretboard (2 1/4") and the internal fan strutting gave us the guitar that we have today.
And the likes of Miguel LLobet, Andrés Segovia, Julian Bream and John Williams are proof of this romantic musical legacy.

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