History of Guitar.

Do we all know where really did guitar came from????
we always play this instrument....but we never wonder where are the roots of guitar...by far the most popular instrument in world today.......

so here is some histroy about the instrument we all love.....

The Ancient Roots of the Guitar:-

The guitar has a noble and ancient history. A plucked string instrument with the in-curving sides of the guitar is to be found on a tomb sculpture of the King of Thebes of the thirtyseventh century B.C., and a relief sculpture from Cappadocia of c. 1000 B.C. even shows an Egyptian guitar-like instrument with signs of frets. Evidence exists also of plucked instruments of extreme antiquity in Persia and Arabia.

Early Guitar Masters:-
In the Christian era, the guitar is mentioned in two forms in the thirteenth century: the
Latin guitar and the Moorish guitar. Both are illustrated in beautiful miniatures in the
Manuscript “Cantigas de Santa Maria” attributed to Alfonso the Wise of Spain. Of the two, the Latin guitar is closer to the figure-eight shape of the guitar as it developed in Spain and Italy.

In early sixteenth-century Spain, the vihuela became the instrument of choice for the serious musician. The vihuela was in fact an early form of the guitar, with six pairs of strings. Vihuela music may be played without alteration on the modern guitar. The only significant difference was the pairing of strings to produce a stronger sound, comparable to the 12-string guitar of today. The vihuela was played with the fingers, and a considerable repertoire of music existed for it in the notation form known as “tablature.” The tuning was like that of the Renaissance lute, which in the rest of Europe was considered the “King of Instruments” and whose music is now a fertile source for guitarists. At the same time, a smaller guitar, first with four and then with five sets of strings (known as courses), developed as a less sophisticated instrument for chording and the strumming style known as rasgueado used as accompaniment for the dance.

Surprisingly, at the end of the sixteenth century, the vihuela went out of favor and it was the humbler form of guitar that survived, now established with five courses. The name Spanish guitar became attached to this instrument, possibly to distinguish it from the earlier fourcourse variety, although guitars were also well known in Italy. Francesco Corbetta (c. 1615– 1681), a famous Italian player, published extensively in the finger style that went beyond simple chording. Corbetta’s playing was so popular that it soon became the rage among seventeenth-century courtiers in France and England, launching the guitar in those countries. In France the talented Robert de Visée (c. 1660–c. 1720) played frequently for Louis XIV, to whom he dedicated his collection of pieces published in 1682. Back in Spain, Gaspar Sanz’s famous 1674 instruction book included detailed technique instruction and a fine collection of pieces that are still widely played.

The history of the guitar includes periods of fantastic popularity followed by periods of decline. The eighteenth century proved a time of low ebb for the guitar, until at its end the double strings gave place to single ones, and the sixth string was added to create the familiar form of today’s guitar. Sheep’s gut was used for the first three strings. The basses were formed by winding silver-plated copper wire onto a core of silk thread.

With the sixth string came a new wave of popularity with the public, led and inspired by
virtuoso players who also composed and wrote instruction methods for the guitar in its new form. The main centers were Vienna and Paris, and great players such as Mauro Giuliani (1781–1829) from Italy and Fernando Sor (1778–1839) from Spain were drawn to emigrate to he north where enthusiastic audiences and students awaited them. Both composed extensively or the guitar, and laid the foundation for the solo repertoire. Ferdinando Carulli 1770–1841) produced a guitar method that is used to this day, and the “25 Melodious Studies” of Matteo Carcassi (1792–1853) are still part of the standard student repertoire. Following this great wave of popularity came a period of decline and neglect, and by the middle of the nineteenth century the guitar was little played and rarely heard in concert. It was really thanks to Francisco Tárrega (1852–1909) that public interest was again awakened.

Although not as active a performer as Sor or Giuliani, Tárrega’s reputation spread due to his wonderful compositions and his ability to produce an extremely beautiful and distinctive sound. This was due partially to his intimate knowledge of the guitar fingerboard and use of the higher positions on it to achieve a particular romantic quality. The general public tended to become familiar only with the first five frets or so of the guitar, and to favor student pieces that stayed within this limited range. Tárrega ignored these limitations to concentrate on works that exploited the whole guitar, and as a result founded a school of playing and composing that survives today.

Although not a student of Tárrega, Andrés Segovia (1893–1987) in a sense carried on the
tradition and played Tárrega’s works extensively in concert. Where Tárrega had been somewhat retiring as a player, and really preferred playing for intimate groups of friends and admirers, Segovia took the guitar to the world, and brought the world into his concerts with a hitherto unknown level of virtuosity and musicianship. It was due to him that the guitar is now recognized as an instrument worthy of serious study, and his interaction with composers inspired the bulk of the existing repertoire.

In parallel with the growth of composed music for the guitar came popular developments in the field of folk music. In Spain the guitar had been used since the earliest times as a
strummed accompaniment for dancing, and it had a long and respected history as an accompaniment for the voice. In the nineteenth century, the style known as flamenco evolved as accompaniment for the songs and dances of Andalusia. Inspired by the gypsies and deriving from their songs and dances as they blended with traditional folk music, the style developedinto a complex and vigorous art form.The guitar was the principal instrument of accompaniment, and the continuing search for variety combined with a spirit of competition among the players resulted in an elevation of guitar technique to its highest levels. Many flamenco guitarists do not read music, and the style evolved primarily through exchange of ideas and experimentation. The legendary Ramón Montoya (1880–1949) is credited as the originator of many of the best falsetas, the name given to the musical phrases used to intersperse the verses of the songs and to embellish the dance accompaniments. Traditionally flamenco has not been considered as a solo art for the guitarist, the player being essentially a skilled accompanist for the song and dance. However today flamenco guitarists appear in concert and play improvisations based on their accompaniment skills to the delight of the fans or aficionados.

In the academic world of today the guitar has achieved a level of recognition and respect that was certainly lacking 50 years ago. Today many universities and music conservatories offer a music degree with the guitar accepted as the major instrument. In the popular field, the guitar holds its own in spite of the comparative ease of playing of the synthesizer. Though the sound is electronically amplified and often deliberately distorted, the human touch is always apparent, and no keyboard can ever quite simulate the effect of fingers on strings.

The Guitar in America:-

The acoustic guitar came to America in the 1850s, thanks mainly to immigrants from Eastern Europe. Guitar maker Christian Friedrich (C. F.) Martin left his native Germany because of dissatisfaction with the restrictive guilds that oversaw all instrument making back home. Meanwhile, factories were built to turn out inexpensive guitars by the dozens, and mail order catalogs like Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Ward began selling five-dollar instruments. In the nineteenth century the guitar was promoted as a parlor instrument for young ladies to play. In the time before phonographs and radio, music-making was a favorite amateur activity. Young women were especially encouraged to learn music as an important social skill. While the piano was large and ungainly, the guitar was small and sweet-voiced; at the time, most guitars were far smaller than today’s jumbo models, and they were all strung with gut strings in the classical style. Because of this, the guitar was thought to be an ideal instrument for young ladies, and it soon became popular. As stage performers began taking up the guitar in the early twentieth century, they clamored for louder instruments that could fill a concert hall. Guitar makers responded by making bigger guitars; others began experimenting with different shapes for the guitar’s body to improve bass response and volume. The Martin company made an important contribution in the teens with the introduction of their so-called D or Dreadnought guitar. With a wider lower bout (or half of the body), and with construction strong enough to withstand the newly introduced steel strings, the instrument was immediately popular for its loud bass volume and carrying power. In the twenties and thirties, guitars began replacing banjos as the instrument of choice in
jazz bands. Jazz players needed guitars that were louder still. The Gibson company introduced jumbo-sized instruments with carved tops and f-holes that were ideally suited to the new jazz music. Soloists like Eddie Lang helped popularize the guitar in jazz, although it took a French gypsy musician named Django Reinhardt to really show the jazz potential of the guitar.

The search for louder guitars led to some odd hybrids, including all-steel-bodied guitars with built-in, cone-shaped resonators. But it was the experiments of player Les Paul that led to the biggest innovation of them all: an electric guitar featuring a solid wood body. Instrument maker Leo Fender was quick to pick up on Paul’s lead, introducing three solid-body models in the 1950s: the Broadcaster, the Telecaster, and the Stratocaster. The latter two instruments are still made today and remain favorites of rock players everywhere.

The Folk Revival:-

In the sixties, there was a veritable guitar renaissance, sparked by two different movements. One was the so-called “folk revival,” in which young people with guitars performed topical songs of the day. Bob Dylan was the best known and probably the greatest of these singer/guitarists, and his songs influenced hundreds of others.
The second big influence was the arrival of the Beatles in America, and the British Invasion. When the Beatles first appeared, everyone copied their hair styles, clothing (down to their boots), and—naturally—musical instruments. The Rickenbacker guitar, favored by John Lennon, and the Hofner bass, played by Paul McCartney, were soon the most in-demand instruments in music stores across America. Instrument makers rushed to give the Beatles free instruments so that they could benefit from the publicity.

The British Invasion also spawned guitar gods like Eric Clapton, influenced by American blues players. A veritable war broke out among partisans of the Fender Stratocaster versus the equally popular Gibson Les Paul—some defended one as the “holy grail”
of guitar sound, while others went for the other. Added “effects”— from wah-wah to fuzztone—were an additional arsenal in the guitar’s acoustic army. One of the first guitarists to use these effects in a truly musical way was Jimi Hendrix, whose flamboyant stage presence only added to his popularity.

Today the guitar is firmly ensconced as one of the most popular instruments among amateur musicians. Knock on somebody’s front door, and you’ll probably find a guitar in the house. It’s easy to play, portable, and adaptable to just about any style of music.