THEHISTORYOFTHEGUITAR! THE MODERN GUITAR

The guitar as we know it was probably first played in Spain by the early 16th century It derived from the Guitarra Latina, a medieval musical instrument that had a waisted body and four strings

This guitar, however, was narrower and had a deeper body than the modern guitar, as well as a less obvious waist. The guitarra latina had four courses of strings, including three double strings, with the top one being a single string. These strings ran along from a pegbox that was similar to one found on a violin all the way to a tension bridge that was glued onto the soundboard. The bridge helped to keep the strings pulled tight. On the belly of these original guitars, you would find a circular sound hole, which was often designed with a beautiful carved, ornate wooden rose During the 16th century, this guitar would be tuned to C–F–A–D, which was like the lute and vihuela, which was a guitar-shaped instrument played in Spain.

Between the 16th and the 19th century, the guitar was improved upon greatly. By the turn of the 17th century, it gained another course of strings, making it five in total. Before the 19th century, a sixth course was added. In the 1800s, the double courses were switched out for single strings which were tuned to E-A-D-G-BE, which is the same modern tuning we use to this day.