Guitar 101: An Introduction

Turn on the radio and listen to just about any song. Did you hear the guitar? Be it rock, country, jazz, even classical, most music we hear today has a guitar playing along. It hasn't always been that way. Why, in its early history, the guitar was very different from what we see today. This week it seems appropriate to open this topic with a brief introduction and historic overview of what has become a world instrument.

Though stringed instruments can be found throughout man's history, the guitar's origin is generally traced back to fifteenth century Spain where its predecessor, much smaller and narrower, had four pairs of strings each called a course. Through the Renaissance period, the guitar was not viewed as a serious instrument because of its lack of volume. In time, however, more attention was given it in the form of compositions and players. Undergoing several changes, including the replacement of courses with single strings, the guitar began to look more as we now know it at the end of the Baroque era.

During the late 1800's, Francisco Tarrega composed and transcribed many pieces for the guitar, even writing a method for teaching it. He was an impressive musician, establishing the tradition of playing with the fingernails and influencing many guitarists. Still, the guitar was not yet viewed as an impressive instrument.

At this time, musician and guitar maker Manuel Torres began experimenting with the instrument's structure. He tried various bracings with a view to improving the sound and volume. Always an innovator, he even constructed a guitar with a paper maché back and sides to demonstrate how it was the top that mainly produced volume. His most significant contribution to the guitar's development was increasing its size. Torres and Tarrega did much in helping the guitar on its way to becoming a respected instrument.

Foremost of all is Andrés Segovia, who's dream to give the guitar a dignified place in the world of music was more than adequately met. As a young boy, Andrés came to love the guitar. Despite discouragement from his family, he never wavered in his studies. His vision, was to see the guitar played the world over on every prominent venue and taught at universities just as other classical instruments were.

Many years ago, I remember seeing him play on a PBS program. He had a zeal, a passion, a determination that could not be ignored. He truly made his instrument "sing". What a gift to share with the world!

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic