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History of Guitar

history-of-guitar
27 April 2019

Electric, bass or classical... Guitar is one of the most popular musical instruments of modern times and as musiconline , we decided to take a closer look at the history of it.

We have already given some tips about choosing strings for guitar. Now it is time to dig deeper and understand the backstory of this bad boy.

Where does guitar come from?

Being not quite clear, it is thought that guitar is originated in Babylonia. This idea is mainly backed by the tablets from the era. A human figure, playing a guitar-like musical instruments is seen in these tablets for the first time.

Guitar has had many changes in its shape over the time and reached to its final version step by step. Every source names a different person as 'founder of the modern guitar' but Vicente Espinel is the person who is being referred the most. He is also considered as a pioneer for basic tuning techniques for guitar.

The word 'Guitar' itself is known to be originated from Persian word 'Sihtar'. Linguists thought that it first adapted by Greeks as 'Kitara' and then Latin speaking communities as 'Chitara' or 'Guitarra'.

How did guitar get its shape?

During 17th century, especially in Europe, there have been many types of guitars but most of them lost their popularity over time. Baroque guitar was an exception, which was loved by many and popular among musicians.

Guitar structure

There have been many nameless heroes, working for guitar to reach its best shape. Spanish guitar maker Antonio Torres Jurado, has come up with a bigger body and standardized scale system for it. In addition to these features, Jurado implemented a new support system to make the design more durable.

This was the foundation of modern guitar.

What are guitar types?

Modern guitar is studied under two categories: acoustic and electronic. Acoustic guitars have many different sub-categories like classical guitar, flamenco guitar, 12-string guitar or acoustic bass guitar. Electronic guitars have even more!

Electronic guitars are generally used by modern genres like R&B, jazz, blues and rock.

Where to start playing guitar?

Well, you need:

  • A guitar,
  • Determination,
  • Solid musical foundation.

You can bypass this checklist, grab a guitar and start playing it immediately. But to be honest, hitting random notes and expecting a meaningful outcome, in terms of music, is quite a waste of time.

Thanks to internet, you can build musical knowledge online by online music courses, with musiconline ! As long as you have a computer and an internet connection, learning music is literally on your fingertips!

Knowledge increases as it is shared!

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