| The
guitar's roots are in Spain. Realistically,
it cannot be traced back further than the 15th
Century. It is thought to have been invented
by the people of Malaga. This early instrument
was a "four course" guitar, from which the ukulele
is derived. The first guitars were very small,
and were originally strung with four pair of
strings. Each pair was call a course.
During the Renaissance, the
guitar never had the respect the lute enjoyed.
It was not considered a serious instrument.
The first publication for guitar is thought
to have been Alonso Mudarra's "Tres Libros de
Musica en Cifras para Vihuela." Eventually,
the guitar began to attract players, more publications
and music began to appear.
During the During the Baroque
period, A fifth course was added. Even more
music became available. It's repertoire and
the complexity of the music increased.
The
fifth course was tuned in one of three ways.
-
A low "A" as it is now.
- A low "A" plus an octave
for the second part of the course
- Both strings an "A" an octave
higher than the modern guitar.
Five Course Guitars
If a modern player really wants
to have a complete, accurate repertoire of the
Baroque Guitar, it would be necessary to either
re-string for different pieces, or have at least
three instruments for the different tunings.
At the end of the Baroque period
two significant changes were made. The double
strings were replaced by single strings, and
instead of five pari, there were six single
strings.
During the Classical period
there were many publications, composers and
performers. Fernando Sor, Mauro Guilliani, Matteo
Carcassi, Fernando Carulli and many others wrote
music, published methods and performed concerts.
The guitar was very popular and guitar concerts
were common.
Sor played the guitar as a solo
instrument at the London Philharmonic Concert
in 1817. In memoirs, George Hogarth stated:
"He astonished the audience by his unrivaled
execution." Paganinni was also active, playing
and writing for the guitar as well as the violin.
Stradivarius made guitars as well as violins. |
At the end of
the 19th century, the guitar had fallen out
of favor, but was resurrected by Francisco Tarrega.
His best piece in my opinion is the now very
famous "Receurdos De La Alhambra." He did few
public performances and chose to perform for
friends at his home. He did compose, and he
wrote a method for teaching guitar. He also
transcribed many pieces of music for the guitar.
Segovia was one of many guitarists that were
influenced by him. Tarrega began the tradition
of playing with the fingernails.
Up until this point the instrument
itself was small and narrow. Manual Torres worked
with the design and construction of the guitar.
He increased the size and experimented with
anything that would improve the sound, and was
especially interested in volume. He was the
first maker to use "fan" bracing underneath
the top. He once built a Guitar with a spruce
top and paper mache back and sides to prove
his theory that it was the top that produced
most of the volume. He was the father of the
modern guitar.
Some well known composers who
played the guitar are Carl Maria Von Weber,
Rossini and his wife, Verdi, and for many years
Franz Schubert did his composing on his guitar
which hung over his bed. He didn't have a piano
at the time. Berlioz also composed the guitar.
Segovia performed, transcribed,
taught and discovered a tremendous amount of
music. He also encouraged many composers to
write for the guitar. He was the first person
to perform in a concert hall... Before Segovia,
people believed this could not be done.
Although Segovia did all these
things, the real debt that we owe to him is
that of making the guitar truly a world instrument.
By traveling and performing throughout the world,
he brought respect and recognition to the instrument.
Nylon strings were a big improvement
over gut strings. They replaced gut in 1946.
Today there are many concerts
of guitar music. There are many societies and
magazines devoted to the guitar. |
