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Contents

1 Classical guitar 1

1.1 Contexts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1.2 Historical perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1.2.1 Early guitars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1.3 Style periods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

1.3.1 Renaissance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

1.3.2 Baroque . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

1.3.3 Classical and Romantic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

1.3.4 Francisco Trrega . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

1.3.5 Modern period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

1.4 Background information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

1.5 History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

1.5.1 Overview of the classical guitars history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

1.5.2 Renaissance guitar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1.5.3 Vihuela . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1.5.4 Baroque guitar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1.5.5 Early romantic guitar or Guitar during the Classical music era . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1.5.6 Modern classical guitar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

1.5.7 Contemporary classical guitar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

1.6 Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

1.6.1 Plucking of the string . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

1.6.2 Direct contact with strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71.6.3 Fingering Notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

1.6.4 Alternation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

1.7 Repertoire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

1.8 Physical characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

1.8.1 Parts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

1.8.2 Sizes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

1.9 Tuning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

1.10 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

1.11 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

1.12 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

i

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ii CONTENTS

1.13 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

1.13.1 Guitar history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

1.13.2 Articles and Texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

2 Classical guitar technique 14

2.1 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

2.2 Posture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

2.3 Guitaristic Technique and Independence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

2.4 How are fingerings marked? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

2.5 Right hand technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

2.5.1 Tirando versus Apoyando . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

2.5.2 Right hand wrist/hand position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

2.5.3 Nails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

2.5.4 Strumming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202.6 Left hand technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

2.6.1 Slurs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

2.6.2 Vibrato . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

2.6.3 Harmonics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

2.6.4 Left-hand position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

2.7 Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

2.8 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

2.9 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

2.10 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

2.11 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

3 Baroque guitar 24

3.1 History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

3.2 Tuning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

3.3 Repertoire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

3.4 Makers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

3.4.1 Historic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

3.4.2 Modern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

3.5 Performers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

3.5.1 Historic performers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

3.5.2 Modern performers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

3.6 Gallery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

3.7 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

3.8 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

3.9 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

3.10 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

4 Romantic guitar 28

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CONTENTS iii

4.1 History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

4.2 Technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

4.3 Composers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

4.4 Gallery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

4.5 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294.6 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

4.7 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

5 Classical guitar repertoire 31

5.1 Repertoire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

5.1.1 Renaissance Era. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

5.1.2 Baroque era . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

5.1.3 Romantic era . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

5.1.4 Modern era . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325.1.5 Contemporary classical guitar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

5.1.6 New perspectives for the classical guitar repertoire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

5.2 Transcriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

5.3 Guitarists for whom many pieces have been composed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

5.4 Reviewed compositions for guitar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

5.5 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

5.6 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

5.7 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

5.7.1 Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365.7.2 Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

5.7.3 Content license . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

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Chapter 1

Classical guitar

The classical guitar(or Spanish Guitar) is the mem-ber of theguitarfamily used inclassical music. It is anacoustical wooden guitar with sixclassical guitar stringsas opposed to the metal strings used in acoustic and elec-tric guitars designed for popular music.

In addition to the instrument, the phrase classical guitarcan refer to two other concepts:

The instrumental finger technique common to clas-sical guitarindividual strings plucked with the fin-gernails or, rarely, fingertips

The instruments classical music repertoire

The shape, construction, and material of classical gui-tars vary, but typically they have amodern classical guitarshape, orhistoric classical guitarshape resembling early

romantic guitars from France and Italy. Classical guitarstringswere once made ofcatgutand nowadays are madeof polymers such asnylon, with a fine wire wrap on thebass strings.

A guitar family tree can be identified. Theflamenco gui-tarderives from the modern classical, but has differencesin material, construction and sound.[1][2]

The term modern classical guitaris sometimes used todistinguish the classical guitar from older forms of guitar,which are in their broadest sense also calledclassical, ormore specifically: early guitars. Examples of early gui-tars include the 6-string early romantic guitar (c. 1790

1880), and the earlier baroque guitars with 5courses.Todays modern classical guitarwas established by thelate designs of the 19th-century Spanishluthier AntonioTorres Jurado.

1.1 Contexts

The classical guitar has a long history and one is able todistinguish various:

instruments repertoire (composers and their compositions,

arrangements, improvisations)

Both instrument and repertoire can be viewed from acombination of various perspectives:

Historical(chronological period of time)

baroque guitar 1600 to 1750 CE early romantic guitars 1750 to 1850 CE (for mu-

sic from theClassicalandRomanticperiods)

modern classical guitars

Geographical

Spanish guitars (Torres), and French guitars (RenLacte, ...), etc.

Cultural

baroque court music, 19th century opera and its in-fluences, 19th century folk songs, Latin Americanmusic, etc.

1.2 Historical perspective

1.2.1 Early guitars

While classical guitar is today mainly associated withthe modern classical guitar design, there is an increasinginterest in early guitars; and understanding the link be-tween historical repertoire and the particular period gui-tar that was originally used to perform this repertoire.The musicologist and author Graham Wade writes:

Nowadays it is customary to play this reper-toire on reproductions of instruments authen-tically modelled on concepts of musicologicalresearch with appropriate adjustments to tech-niques and overall interpretation. Thus overrecent decades we have become accustomed tospecialist artists with expertise in the art of vi-

huela (a 16th-century type of guitar popular inSpain), lute, Baroque guitar, 19th-century gui-tar, etc.[4]

1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Torres_Juradohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romantic_musichttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_period_(music)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romantic_guitarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrangementhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_repertoirehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Torres_Juradohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Torres_Juradohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luthierhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Course_(music)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamenco_guitarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamenco_guitarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nylonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catguthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_guitar_stringshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_guitar_stringshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_guitar_stringshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_musichttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar

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2 CHAPTER 1. CLASSICAL GUITAR

Baroque Guitars from the MuseumCit de la Musiquein Paris(which houses almost 200 classical guitars[3])

Guitars from the MuseumCit de la Musiquein Paris (whichhouses almost 200 classical guitars[3])

Different types of guitars have different sound aesthetics,e.g. different colour-spectrum characteristics (the waythe sound energy is spread in the fundamental frequencyand theovertones), different response, etc. These differ-ences are due to differences in construction, for examplemodern classical guitars usually use a different bracing(fan-bracing), than was used in earlier guitars (they had

ladder-bracing); and a different voicing was used by theluthier.

It is interesting to note the historical parallel between mu-sical styles (baroque, classical, romantic, flamenco, jazz)and the style of sound aesthetic of the musical instru-ments used, for example: Robert de Viseplayed on abaroque guitar with a very different sound aesthetic thanthe guitars used byMauro Giulianiand Legnani- theyused 19th century guitars. These guitars in turn sounddifferent from the Torres models used by Segovia, thatare suited for interpretations of romantic-modern workssuch asMoreno Torroba.

When considering the guitar from a historical perspec-tive, the musical instrument used is just as importantas the musical language and style of the particular pe-

riod. As an example: It is impossible to play a histori-cally informedde Viseeor Corbetta (baroque guitarist-composers) on a modern classical guitar. The reasonis that the baroque guitar used courses, which are twostrings close together (in unison), that are plucked to-gether. This gives baroque guitars an unmistakable sound

characteristic and tonal texture that is an integral part ofan interpretation. Additionally the sound aesthetic of thebaroque guitar (with its strong overtone presence) is verydifferent from modern classical type guitars, as is shownbelow.

Todays use of Torres and post-Torres type guitars forrepertoire of all periods is sometimes critically viewed:Torres and post-Torres style modern guitars (with theirfan-bracing and design) have a thick and strong tone,very suitable for modern-era repertoire. However, theyare considered to emphasize the fundamental too heav-ily (at the expense of overtone partials) for earlier reper-

toire (Classical/Romantic: Carulli, Sor, Giuliani, Mertz,...; Baroque: de Visee, ...; etc.). Andrs Segovia pre-sented the Spanish guitar as a versatile model for all play-ing styles,[5] to theextent, that still today, many guitaristshave tunnel-vision of the world of the guitar, coming fromthe modern Segovia tradition.[6]

While fan-braced modern classical Torres and post-Torres style instruments coexisted with traditional ladder-braced guitars at the beginning of the 20th century; thetraditional forms eventually fell away. Some attribute thisto the popularity ofSegovia, considering himthe cata-lyst for change toward the Spanish design and the so-called

'modern' school in the 1920s and beyond.[5] The stylesof music performed on ladder-braced guitars were be-coming more and more unfashionable; and, e.g. in Ger-many, musicians were in part turning towards folkstylemusic (Schrammel-music and theContraguitar), but thisonly remained localized in Germany and Austria and be-came unfashionable again. On the other hand, Segoviawas playing in concerts around the world, popularizinghis modern classical guitar, as well as a new style of mu-sic in the 1920s: Spanish romantic-modern style, withguitar works byMoreno Torroba, de Falla, etc. Somepeople consider it to have been this influence of Segovia,

which eventually led to the domination of the Torres in-strument - factories all over the world began producingthem in large numbers.

It was the 19th century classical guitarist Francisco Tr-regawho first popularized the Torres design as a classicalsolo instrument.

Characteristics

Vihuela, renaissance guitars and baroque guitarshave a bright sound - rich in overtones - and theircourses(double strings) give the sound a very partic-ular texture.

Early guitars of the classical and romantic period

http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/%EE%BF%80http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/%EE%BF%80https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federico_Moreno_Torrobahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contraguitarhttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/%EE%BF%80http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/%EE%BF%80https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federico_Moreno_Torrobahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi_Legnanihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauro_Giulianihttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/%EE%BF%80https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overtoneshttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/%EE%BF%80http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/%EE%BF%80

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1.3. STYLE PERIODS 3

(early romantic guitars) have single strings but theirdesign and voicing are still such that they have theirtonal energy more in the overtones (but withoutstarved fundamental), giving a bright intimate tone.

Later in Spain a style of music emerged that favored

a stronger fundamental:With the change of music a stronger fundamentalwas demanded and the fan bracing system was ap-

proached. ... the guitar tone has been changed froma transparent tone, rich in higher partials to a morebroad tone with a strong fundamental.[7]

Thus modern guitars with fan bracing (fan strutting)have a design and voicing that gives them a muchmore thick heavy sound, with far more tonal energyfound in the fundamental.

1.3 Style periods

1.3.1 Renaissance

Composers of the Renaissance period who wrote for fourcourse guitar includeAlonso Mudarra,Miguel de Fuen-llana,Adrian Le Roy,Gregoire Brayssing,Guillaume deMorlaye, andSimon Golier.

Instrument

Four-course guitar

1.3.2 Baroque

Some well known composers of the baroque guitar wereGaspar Sanz,Robert de ViseandFrancesco Corbetta.

Examples of instruments

Baroque guitar by Nicolas Alexandre Voboam II:This French instrument has the typical design of the

period with five courses of double-strings and a flatback.[8]

Baroque guitar attributed to Matteo Sellas : ThisItalian instrument has five courses and a roundedback.[9]

1.3.3 Classical and Romantic

From approximately 1780 to 1850, the guitar had numer-ous composers and performers including:

Filippo Gragnani(17671820)

Antoine de Lhoyer(17681852)

Ferdinando Carulli(17701841)

Francesco Molino(17741847)

Fernando Sor(17781839)

Luigi Moretti (c. 17801850)

Mauro Giuliani(17811829)

Niccol Paganini(17821840)

Dionisio Aguado(1784 1849)

Luigi Legnani(17901877)

Matteo Carcassi(17921853)

Napolon Coste(18051883)

Johann Kaspar Mertz(18061856)

Hector Berlioz studied the guitar as a teenager,[10]

Franz Schubert owned at least two and wrote for theinstrument,[11] Ludwig van Beethoven, after hearing Giu-liani play, commented the instrument was a miniatureorchestra in itself.[12] Niccol Paganiniwas also a guitarvirtuoso and composer. He once wrote: I love the gui-tar for its harmony; it is my constant companion in all mytravels. He also said, on another occasion: I do not likethis instrument, but regard it simply as a way of helpingme to think [13]

1.3.4 Francisco Trrega

The guitarist and composerFrancisco Trrega (b. Vi-lareal, Spain in November 29, 1852-d. December 15,1909) was one of the great guitar virtuosos and teachersand is considered the father of modern classical guitarplaying. As professor of guitar at the conservatories ofMadrid and Barcelona he defined many elements of themodern classical technique and elevated the importanceof the guitar in the classical music tradition.

1.3.5 Modern period

At the beginning of the 1920s,Andrs Segoviapopular-ized the guitar with tours and early phonograph record-ings. Segovia collaborated with the composersFedericoMoreno Torrobaand Joaquin Turina with the aim of ex-tending the guitar repertoire withnewmusic.[14] Segoviastour of South America revitalized public interest in theguitar and helped the guitar music of Manuel Ponceand Heitor Villa-Lobos reach a wider audience.[15] ThecomposersAlexandre TansmanandMario Castelnuovo-Tedesco were commissioned by Segovia to write new

pieces for the guitar.[16] Luiz Bonfpopularized Brazil-ian musical styles such as the newly created Bossa Nova,which was well received by audiences in the USA.

http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/%EE%BF%80https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Castelnuovo-Tedescohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Castelnuovo-Tedescohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandre_Tansmanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Ponce_(composer)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federico_Moreno_Torrobahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federico_Moreno_Torrobahttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/%EE%BF%80http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/%EE%BF%80http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/%EE%BF%80https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethovenhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Schuberthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hector_Berliozhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Kaspar_Mertzhttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/%EE%BF%80https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matteo_Carcassihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi_Legnanihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionisio_Aguadohttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/%EE%BF%80https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauro_Giulianihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Sorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Molinohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinando_Carullihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_de_Lhoyerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filippo_Gragnanihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Alexandre_Voboam_IIhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Corbettahttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/%EE%BF%80https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaspar_Sanzhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Golierhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillaume_de_Morlayehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillaume_de_Morlayehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregoire_Brayssinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Le_Royhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_de_Fuenllanahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_de_Fuenllanahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alonso_Mudarra

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4 CHAPTER 1. CLASSICAL GUITAR

New music - avant-garde

The classical guitar repertoire also includes modern con-temporary works sometimes termed New Music such asElliott Carter's Changes,[17] Cristbal Halffter'sCodex I,[18] Luciano Berio's Sequenza XI,[19] MaurizioPisati's Sette Studi,[20] Maurice Ohana's Si Le JourParat,[21] Sylvano Bussotti's Rara (eco sierologico),[22]

Ernst Krenek's Suite fr Guitarre allein, Op. 164,[23]

Franco Donatoni'sAlgo: Due pezzi per chitarra,[24] etc.

Performers who are known for including modern reper-toire include Jrgen Ruck, Elena Csoli, Leo Brouwer(when he was still performing),John Schneider,ReinbertEvers, Maria Kmmerling, Siegfried Behrend, DavidStarobin,Mats Scheidegger,Magnus Andersson, etc.

This type of repertoire is usually performed by guitaristswho have particularly chosen to focus on the avant-garde

in their performances.Within the contemporary music scene itself, there arealso works which are generally regarded as extreme.These include works such asBrian Ferneyhough'sKurzeSchatten II,[25] Sven-David Sandstrm's away from[26]

andRolf Riehm'sToccata Orpheus,[27] etc. which are no-torious for their extreme difficulty.

There are also a variety of databases documenting mod-ern guitar workssuch as Sheer Pluck[28] and others.[29][30]

1.4 Background information

The evolution of the classical guitar and its repertoirespans more than four centuries. It has a history that wasshaped by contributions from earlier instruments, such asthe lute, the vihuela, and the baroque guitar.

The last guitarist to follow in Segovias

footsteps was Julian Bream and Julian Breamwill be 73 years old on July 15th 2006.Miguel Llobet, Andrs Segovia and JulianBream are the three performer personalitiesof the 20th century. Do not understand mewrong, we have many guitarists today thatare very excellent performers, but none withsuch a distinct personality in their tone andstyle as Llobet, Segovia and Bream. In allinstrumental areas, not just the guitar, there isa lack of individualism with a strong tendencyto conformity. This I find very unfortunatesince art (music, theatre or the pictorial arts)

is a very individual and personal matter.[31]Bernard Hebb, Interview

1.5 History

Guitarra Latina(left) andGuitarra Morisca (right)

History of guitars(exhibited atDeutsches Museum)Main article:History of the classical guitar

1.5.1 Overview of the classical guitars his-

tory

The ancestries of the modern guitar, like numerous otherchordophones, track back through many instruments andthousands of years toancient central Asia. Guitar likeinstruments appear in ancient carvings and statues recov-ered from the old Persian capital of Susa. This means thatthe contemporary Iranian instruments such as thetanburandsetarare distantly related to the European guitar, as

they all derive ultimately from the same ancient origins,but by very different historical routes and influences.

During the Middle Ages, instruments called guitarswith three and four strings were in use but their construc-tion and tuning was different from the modern guitars.TheGuitarra Latinain Spain, had curved sides and a sin-gle hole. TheGuitarra Morisca, which was brought toSpain by theMoorsor at least was heavily influenced byMoorish instruments, had an oval soundbox and manysound holes on its soundboard. By the 15th century, afour course double-string instrument called the vihuela demano, that had tuning like the later modern guitar except

on one string and similar construction, appeared in Spainand spread to Italy; by the 16th century, a fifth double-string had been added. During this time, composers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vihuela_de_manohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vihuela_de_manohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moorshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitarra_latinahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ageshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Setarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanburhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_India_and_Central_Asiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chordophonehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_classical_guitarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsches_Museumhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitarra_latinahttp://www.sheerpluck.de/https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolf%20Riehmhttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/%EE%BF%80https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Ferneyhoughhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnus_Andersson_(guitarist)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mats_Scheideggerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Starobinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Starobinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siegfried_Behrendhttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/%EE%BF%80https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinbert_Evershttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinbert_Evershttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Schneider_(guitarist)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Brouwerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco_Donatonihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Krenekhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvano_Bussottihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Ohanahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurizio_Pisatihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurizio_Pisatihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequenza_XIhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luciano_Beriohttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/%EE%BF%80https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliott_Carter

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1.5. HISTORY 5

wrote mostly in tablature notation. In the middle of the16th century, influences from the vihuela and the renais-sance guitar were combined and the baroque five stringguitar appeared in Spain.[32] The baroque guitar quicklysuperseded the vihuela in popularity in Spain, France andItaly and Italian players and composers became promi-

nent. In the late 18th century the six string guitar quicklybecame popular at the expense of the five string guitars.During the 19th century the Spanish luthier and playerAntonio de Torres gave the modern classical guitar itsdefinitive form, with a broadened body, increased waistcurve, thinned belly, improved internal bracing.[33] Themodern classical guitar replaced older form for the ac-companiment of song and dance calledflamenco, and amodified version, known as theflamenco guitar, was cre-ated.

Gittern(1450)

Vihuela(vihuela book by Luis Milan, 1536[34])

Baroque guitar[35] with rounded-back(engraving by Etienne Picart, 1680)

1.5.2 Renaissance guitar

See also:Renaissance music

Thegittern, often referred to as Renaissance guitar, is amusical instrument resembling a small lute or guitar. Itis related to but is not acitole, another medieval instru-ment. The gittern was carved from a single piece of woodwith a curved (sickle-shaped) pegbox. An example hassurvived from around 1450.

1.5.3 Vihuela

Main article:Vihuela

The written history of the classical guitar can be tracedback to the early 16th century with the development ofthevihuelain Spain. While the lute was then becomingpopular in other parts of Europe, the Spaniards did nottake to it well because of its association with the Moors.Instead, the lute like vihuela appeared with two more

strings that gave it more range andcomplexity. In its mostdeveloped form, the vihuela was a guitar-like instrumentwith six double strings made of gut, tuned like a mod-ern classical guitar with the exception of the third string,which was tuned half a step lower. It has a high soundand is rather large to hold. Few have survived and mostof what is known today comes from diagrams and paint-ings.

The Guitar Player (c. 1672), byJohannes Vermeer,guitar Voboam

Early romantic guitarby Jean-Nicolas Grobert (1830)

1.5.4 Baroque guitar

Main article:Baroque guitarSee also:Baroque music

1.5.5 Early romantic guitar or Guitar

during the Classical music era

Main article:Early romantic guitarSee also:Classical music era

The earliest extant six-string guitar is believed to have

seen built in 1779 byGaetano Vinaccia(1759 - after1831) inNaples,Italy; however, the date on the label isa little ambiguous.[36][37] The Vinaccia family of luthiers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napleshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaetano_Vinacciahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_music_erahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_romantic_guitarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque_musichttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque_guitarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_romantic_guitarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Vermeerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vihuelahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vihuelahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citolehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gitternhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_musichttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque_guitarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vihuelahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gitternhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamenco_guitarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamencohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_de_Torres

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6 CHAPTER 1. CLASSICAL GUITAR

is known for developing themandolin. This guitar hasbeen examined and does not show tell-tale signs of modi-fications from a double-course guitar.[38] The authenticityof guitars allegedly produced before the 1790s is oftenin question. This also corresponds to when Morettis 6-string method appeared, in 1792.

Spanish guitar byAntonio de Torres Jurado(1862)

Smallmanplayed by John Williams in 2008

1.5.6 Modern classical guitar

Main article:Modern classical guitarSee also: Antonio de Torres Jurado and HermannHauser, Sr.

1.5.7 Contemporary classical guitar

Main article:Classical guitar making

Contemporary concert guitars occasionally follow theSmallmandesign, which replaces fan braces with a muchlighter balsa brace attachedto theback of thesound boardwith carbon fiber. The balsa brace has a honeycomb pat-tern and allows the (now much thinner) sound board tosupport more vibrational modes. This leads to greatervolume and longer sustain but compromises the subtletonalities of the Spanish sound.

1.6 Performance

Main article:Classical guitar technique

The modern classical guitar is usually played in a seatedposition, with the instrument resting on the left lap - and

Popular song (public domain): Spanish Romance.

the leftfoot placed on a footstool. Alternatively- if a foot-stool is not used - aguitar supportcan be placed betweenthe guitar and the left lap (the support usually attachesto the instruments side withsuction cups). (There are

of course exceptions, with some performers choosing tohold the instrument another way.)

1.6.1 Plucking of the string

Right-handed players use the fingers of the right hand topluck the strings, with the thumb plucking from the topof a string downwards (downstroke) and the other fingersplucking from the bottom of string upwards (upstroke).The little finger in classical technique as it evolved in the20th century is used only to ride along with the ring fin-

ger without striking the strings and to thus physiologicallyfacilitate the ring fingers motion.

In contrast,Flamencotechnique, and classical composi-tions evoking Flamenco, employ the little finger semi-independently in the Flamenco four-finger rasgueado,that rapid strumming of the string by the fingers in re-verse order employing the back of the fingernaila fa-miliar characteristic of Flamenco.

Flamenco technique, in theperformance of the rasgueadoalso uses the upstroke of the four fingers and the down-stroke of the thumb: the string is hit not only with the

inner, fleshy side of the fingertip but also with the outer,fingernail side. This was also used in a technique of thevihuelacalleddedillo[39] which has recently begun to beintroduced on the classical guitar.

Some modern guitarists, such as tpn Rak andKazuhito Yamashita, use the little finger independently,compensating for the little fingers shortness by maintain-ing an extremely long fingernail.

tpn RakandKazuhito Yamashitahave also general-ized the use of the upstroke of the four fingers and thedownstroke of the thumb (the same technique as in therasgueadoof theFlamenco: as explained above the string

is hit not only with the inner, fleshy side of the finger-tip but also with the outer, fingernail side) both as a freestroke and as a rest stroke.[40]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamencohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasgueadohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazuhito_Yamashitahttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/%EE%BF%80https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazuhito_Yamashitahttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/%EE%BF%80https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dedillohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vihuelahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasgueadohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamencohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasgueadohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamencohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suction_cuphttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_guitar_techniquehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Smallmanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_guitar_makinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_Hauser,_Sr.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_Hauser,_Sr.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_de_Torres_Juradohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_classical_guitarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Smallmanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_de_Torres_Juradohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandolin

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1.7. REPERTOIRE 7

1.6.2 Direct contact with strings

As with other plucked instruments (such as the lute), themusician directly touches the strings (usually plucking)to produce the sound. This has important consequences:Different tone/timbre(of a single note) can be produced

byplucking thestringin different manners andin differentpositions.

1.6.3 Fingering Notation

In guitarscoresthe five fingers of the right-hand (whichpluck the strings) are designated by the first letter of theirSpanish names namely p = thumb (pulgar), i = index fin-ger (ndice), m = middle finger (mayor), a = ring finger(anular), c = little finger or pinky (chiquito)[41]

The four fingers of the left hand (which stop the strings)

are designated 1 = index, 2 = major, 3 = ring finger, 4 =little finger; 0 designates an open string, that is a stringthat is not stopped by a finger of the left hand and whosefull length thus vibrates when plucked. On the classicalguitar thumb of the left hand is never used to stop stringsfrom above (as is done on the electric guitar): the neck ofa classical guitar is too wide and the normal position ofthe thumb used in classical guitar technique do not makethat possible.

Scores (contrary totablatures) do not systematically indi-cate the string to be plucked (although in most cases thechoice is obvious). When an indication of the string is

required the strings are designated 1 to 6 (from the 1stthe high E to the 6th the low E) with figures 1 to 6 insidecircles.

The positions (that is where on the fretboard the first fin-ger of the left hand is placed) are also not systematicallyindicated, but when they are (mostly in the case of theexecution ofbarrs) these are indicated with Roman nu-merals from the first position I (index finger of the lefthand placed on the 1st fret: F-B flat-E flat-A flat-C-F) tothe twelfth position XII (the index finger of the left handplaced on the 12th fret: E-A-D-G-B-E; the 12th fret isplaced where the body begins) or even higher up to posi-

tion XIX (the classical guitar most often having 19 frets,with the 19th fret being most often split and not beingusable to fret the 3rd and 4th strings).

1.6.4 Alternation

To achieve tremolo effects and rapid, fluent scale pas-sages, the player must practice alternation, that is, neverplucking a string with the same finger twice in a row. Us-ingpto indicate the thumb,ithe index finger,mthe mid-dle finger andathe ring finger, common alternation pat-terns include:

i-m-i-m : Basicmelody line on thetreble strings. Hasthe appearance of walking along the strings.

p-i-m-a-i-m-a : Arpeggio pattern with a sextupletfeel (i.e. usually played on across five differentstrings).

p-a-m-i-p-a-m-i: Another tremolo pattern.

p-m-p-m: A way of playing a melody line on thelower strings.

1.7 Repertoire

Main article:classical guitar repertoire

Music written specifically for the classical guitar datesfrom the addition of the sixth string (the baroque guitarnormally had five pairs of strings) in the late 18th century.

A guitar recital may include a variety of works, e.g. workswritten originally for the lute or vihuela by composerssuch asJohn Dowland (b. Ireland 1563) andLuis deNarvez(b. Spain c. 1500), and also music written forthe harpsichord byDomenico Scarlatti (b. Italy 1685),for the baroque lute bySylvius Leopold Weiss (b. Ger-many 1687), for the baroque guitar byRobert de Vise(b. France c. 1650) or even Spanish-flavored music writ-ten for the piano byIsaac Albniz(b. Spain 1860) andEnrique Granados (b. Spain 1867). The most impor-tant composer who did not write for the guitar but whosemusic is often played on it isJohann Sebastian Bach(b.

Germany 1685), whose baroque lute works have provedhighly adaptable to the instrument.

Of music written originally for guitar, the earliest impor-tant composers are from the classical period and includeFernando Sor (b. Spain 1778) andMauro Giuliani(b.Italy 1781), both of whom wrote in a style strongly influ-enced by Viennese classicism. In the 19th century guitarcomposers such asJohann Kaspar Mertz (b. Slovakia,Austria 1806) were strongly influenced by the dominanceof the piano. Not until the end of the nineteenth centurydid the guitar begin to establish its own unique identity.Francisco Trrega(b. Spain 1852) was central to this,

sometimes incorporating stylized aspects of flamencosMoorish influences into his romantic miniatures. Thiswas part of late 19th century mainstream European mu-sical nationalism. Albniz and Granados were central tothis movement; their evocation of the guitar was so suc-cessful that their compositions have been absorbed intostandard guitar repertoire.

The steel-string and electric guitars characteristic to therise of rock and roll in the post-WWII era became morewidely played in North America and the English speak-ing world. Barrios composed many works and broughtinto the mainstream the characteristics of Latin Ameri-

can music, as did the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. Andrs Segovia commissioned works from Span-ish composers such as Federico Moreno Torroba and

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federico_Moreno_Torrobahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heitor_Villa-Loboshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heitor_Villa-Loboshttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/%EE%BF%80https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Kaspar_Mertzhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauro_Giulianihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Sorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bachhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrique_Granadoshttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/%EE%BF%80http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/%EE%BF%80https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvius_Leopold_Weisshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domenico_Scarlattihttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/%EE%BF%80http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/%EE%BF%80https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dowlandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_guitar_repertoirehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timbre

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8 CHAPTER 1. CLASSICAL GUITAR

Joaqun Rodrigo, Italians such as Mario Castelnuovo-Tedescoand Latin American composers such asManuelPonce of Mexico. Other prominent Latin Americancomposers are Leo Brouwer of Cuba, Antonio Lauroof Venezuela andEnrique Solaresof Guatemala. JulianBreamof Britain managed to get nearly every British

composer fromWilliam Waltonto Benjamin BrittentoPeter Maxwell Daviesto write significant works for gui-tar. Breams collaborations with tenorPeter Pearsalsoresulted insong cyclesby Britten,LennoxBerkeley andothers. There are significant works by composers suchasHans Werner Henzeof Germany,Gilbert BiberianofEngland andRoland Chadwickof Australia.

The classical guitar also became widely used in popularmusic and rock & roll in the 1960s after guitaristMasonWilliams popularized the instrument in his instrumen-tal hit Classical Gas. GuitaristChristopher Parkeningis quoted in the bookClassical Gas: The Music of Ma-

son Williamsas saying that it is the most requested gui-tar piece besides Malaguea and perhaps the best knowninstrumental guitar piece today. In the field ofNew Fla-menco, theworks andperformances of Spanish composerand playerPaco de Lucaare known worldwide.

Not many classical guitar concertos were written throughthe guitar history. Nevertheless, some guitar con-certos are nowadays wide known and popular, espe-cially Joaqun Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez (withthe famous theme from 2nd movement) and Fantasa

para un gentilhombre. Composers, who also wrote fa-mous guitar concertos are: Antonio Vivaldi (originally

for mandolin or lute), Mauro Giuliani, Heitor Villa-Lobos,Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco,Manuel Ponce,LeoBrouwer,Lennox Berkeley... Nowadays, more and morecontemporary composers decide to write a guitar con-certo.

1.8 Physical characteristics

The classical guitar is distinguished by a number of char-acteristics:

It is an acoustic instrument. The sound of theplucked string is amplified by thesoundboardandresonant cavity of the guitar.[42]

It has sixstrings, though some classical guitars haveseven or more strings.

All six strings are made from nylon, or nylonwrapped with metal, as opposed to the metal stringsfound on other acoustic guitars. Nylon strings alsohave a much lowertensionthan steel strings, as dothe predecessors to nylon strings, gut strings (made

from ox or sheep gut). The lower three strings('bass strings) are wound with metal, commonly sil-ver plated copper.

Because of the low string tension

--- The neck can be entirely of wood without asteel truss rod

--- The interior bracing can be lighter

Typical modern six-string classical guitars are 4854 mm wide at the nut, compared to around 42 mmfor electric guitars.

Classical fingerboards are normally flat and withoutinlaid fret markers, or just have dot inlays on thesideof the necksteel string fingerboards usually have aslight radius and inlays.

Classical guitarists use their right hand to pluck thestrings. Players shape their fingernails for ideal toneand feel against the strings.

Strumming is a less common technique in classicalguitar, and is often referred to by the Spanish termrasgueo, or for strumming patterns rasgueado,and uses the backs of the fingernails. Rasgueado isintegral toFlamencoguitar.

Machine headsat theheadstockof a classical gui-tar point backwardsin contrast to most steel-stringguitars, which have machine heads that point out-ward.

The overall design of a Classical Guitar is very sim-ilar to the slightly lighter and smallerFlamenco gui-tar.

1.8.1 Parts

Parts of typical classical guitars, numbered[43]

1Headstock

2Nut

3 Machine heads (or pegheads, tuning keys,tuning machines, tuners)

4Frets7Neck

8Heel

9Body

12Bridge

14Bottom deck

15Soundboard

16Body sides

17Sound hole, withrosetteinlay

18Strings

19Saddle (Bridge nut)

20Fretboard

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_guitar_stringshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosette_(design)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_holehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frethttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_headhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headstockhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamenco_guitarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamenco_guitarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headstockhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_headhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamencohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tension_(mechanics)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nylonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_(music)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_board_(music)https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/acoustichttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lennox_Berkeleyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Brouwerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Brouwerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Poncehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Castelnuovo-Tedescohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heitor_Villa-Loboshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heitor_Villa-Loboshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauro_Giulianihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Vivaldihttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/%EE%BF%80http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/%EE%BF%80https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concierto_de_Aranjuezhttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/%EE%BF%80http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/%EE%BF%80https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Flamencohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Flamencohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Parkeninghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_Gashttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mason_Williamshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mason_Williamshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Chadwickhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_Biberianhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Werner_Henzehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lennox_Berkeleyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_cycleshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Pearshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Maxwell_Davieshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Brittenhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Waltonhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Breamhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Breamhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrique_Solareshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Laurohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Brouwerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Ponce_(composer)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Ponce_(composer)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Castelnuovo-Tedescohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Castelnuovo-Tedescohttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/%EE%BF%80

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1.8. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS 9

Fretboard

The fretboard (also called the fingerboard) is a pieceof wood embedded with metal frets that constitutes thetop of the neck. It is flat or slightly curved. The cur-vature of the fretboard is measured by the fretboard ra-dius, which is the radius of a hypothetical circle of whichthe fretboards surface constitutes a segment. The smaller

the fretboard radius, the more noticeably curved the fret-board is. Fretboards are most commonly made ofebony,but may also be made ofrosewoodor of phenolic com-posite (micarta).

Frets

Main article:Fret

Frets are the metal strips (usually nickel alloy or stain-less steel) embedded along the fingerboardand placed

at points that divide the length of string mathemati-cally. The strings vibrating length is determined whenthe strings are pressed down behind the frets. Each fret

produces a different pitch and each pitch spaced a half-step apart on the 12 tone scale. Theratioof the widthsof two consecutive frets is thetwelfth root of two( 12

2

), whose numeric value is about 1.059463. The twelfthfret divides the string in two exact halves and the 24thfret (if present) divides the string in half yet again. Every

twelve frets represents one octave. This arrangement offrets results inequal temperedtuning.

Neck

Main article:Guitar neckSee also:Guitar strings

A classical guitars frets, fretboard, tuners, headstock, allattached to a long wooden extension, collectively consti-tute itsneck. The wood for the fretboard usually dif-

fers from the wood in the rest of the neck. The bend-ing stress on the neck is considerable, particularly whenheavier gauge strings are used.

Neck joint or 'heel'

This is the point where the neck meets the body. In thetraditional Spanish neck joint the neck and block are onepiece with the sides inserted into slots cut in the block.Other necks are built separately and joined to the bodyeither with a dovetail joint, mortise or flush joint. Thesejoints are usually glued and can be reinforced with me-

chanical fasteners. Recently many manufacturersuse bolton fasteners. Bolt on neck joints were once associatedonly with less expensive instruments but now some topmanufacturers and hand builders are using variations ofthis method. Some people believed that the Spanish styleone piece neck/block and glued dovetail necks have bet-ter sustain, but testing has failed to confirm this. Whilemost traditional Spanish style builders use the one pieceneck/heel block, Fleta a prominent Spanish builder useda dovetail joint due to the influence of his early trainingin violin making. One reason for the introduction of themechanical joints was to make it easier to repair necks.

This is more of a problem with steel string guitars thanwith nylon strings, which have about half the string ten-sion. This is why nylon string guitars often don't includea truss rod either.

Body

The body of the instrument is a major determinant ofthe overall sound variety for acoustic guitars. The gui-tar top, or soundboard, is a finely crafted and engineeredelement often made of spruce, red cedar, redwoodormahogany. This thin (often 2 or 3 mm thick) piece of

wood, strengthened by different types of internal brac-ing, is considered the most prominent factor in deter-mining the sound quality of a guitar. The majority of

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahoganyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequoia_sempervirenshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thuja_plicatahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprucehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neck_(music)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar_stringshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar_neckhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_temperamenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelfth_root_of_twohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratiohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fingerboardhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frethttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosewood_(timber)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebony

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10 CHAPTER 1. CLASSICAL GUITAR

the sound is caused by vibration of the guitar top as theenergy of the vibrating strings is transferred to it. Dif-ferent patterns of wood bracing have been used throughthe years by luthiers (Torres,Hauser,Ramrez, Fleta, andC.F. Martinbeing among themost influential designers oftheir times); to not only strengthen the top against collaps-

ing under the tremendous stress exerted by the tensionedstrings, but also to affect the resonation of the top. Somecontemporary guitar makers have introduced new con-struction concepts such as double-top consisting of twoextra-thin wooden plates separated by Nomex, or carbon-fiber reinforced lattice - pattern bracing. The back andsides are made out of a variety of woods such as ma-hogany, Indianrosewoodand highly regarded Brazilianrosewood (Dalbergia nigra). Each one is chosen for itsaesthetic effect and structural strength, and such choicecan also play a significant role in determining the instru-mentstimbre. These are also strengthened with internal

bracing, and decorated with inlays and purfling.The body of a classical guitar is a resonating chamber thatprojects the vibrations of the body through asound hole,allowing the acoustic guitar to be heard without amplifi-cation. The sound hole is normally a single round hole inthe top of the guitar (under the strings), though some havedifferent placement, shapes, or numbers of holes. Howmuch air an instrument can move determines its maxi-mum volume.

Binding, purfling and kerfing

The top, back and sides of a classical guitar body are verythin, so a flexible piece of wood calledkerfing(becauseit is often scored, orkerfedso it bends with the shape ofthe rim) is glued into the corners where the rim meets thetop and back. This interior reinforcement provides 5 to20 mm of solid gluing area for these corner joints.

During final construction, a small section of the outsidecorners is carved or routed out and filled with bindingmaterial on the outside corners and decorative strips ofmaterial next to the binding, which are called purfling.

This binding serves to seal off theendgrainof the top andback. Binding and purfling materials are generally madeof either wood or high quality plastic materials.

Bridge

The main purpose of the bridge on a classical guitar is totransfer the vibration from the strings to the soundboard,which vibrates the air inside of the guitar, thereby ampli-fying the sound produced by the strings. The bridge holdsthe strings in place on the body. Also, the position of the

saddle, usually a strip of bone or plastic that supports thestrings off the bridge, determines the distance to the nut(at the top of the fingerboard).

1.8.2 Sizes

The modern full size classical guitar has ascale length[44]

of around 650 mm (25.6 inches), with an overall instru-ment length of 9651016 mm (38-40 inches). The scalelength has remained quite consistent since it was chosen

by the originator of the instrument, Antonio de Torres.This length may have been chosen because its twice thelength of a violin string. As the guitar is tuned to one oc-tave below that of the violin, the same size gut could beused for the 1st strings of both instruments.

Smaller-scale instruments are produced to assist childrenin learning the instrument as the smaller scale leads to thefrets being closer together, making it easier for smallerhands. The scale-size for the smaller guitars is usually inthe range 484578 mm (19-22.5 inches), with an instru-ment length of 785915 mm (31-36 inches). Full-sizeinstruments are sometimes referred to as 4/4, while the

smaller sizes are 3/4, 1/2 or 1/4.[45]

These sizes are not absolute, asluthiersmay choose vari-ations around these nominal scale-lengths;

Guitars can be described in size from largest to smallestas:[46] - Contra or Octave bass; - Bass baritone or Quintbass; - Prime or Quart bass; - Terz treble; - Alto Requinto;- Quart; - Quint; - Soprano, Octave or Piccolo.

1.9 Tuning

Main article:Guitar tuning

A variety of different tunings are used. The most com-mon by far, which one could call the standard tuningis:

eI - b - g - d - A - E

The above order, is the tuning from the 1st string (highest-pitched string e'spatially the bottom string in playingposition) to the 6th string - lowest-pitched string E

spatially the upper string in playing position, and hencecomfortable to pluck with the thumb.

The explanation for this asymmetrical tuning (in thesense that the maj 3rd is not between the two middlestrings as say in the tuning of the viola da gamba) is prob-ably that the guitar originated as a 4-string instrument (ac-tually an instrument with 4 double courses of strings, seeabove) with a maj 3rd between the 2nd and 3rd stringsand that it only became a 6-string instrument by gradualaddition of a 5th string and then a 6th string tuned a 4thapart:

extquotedblThe Evolution of tuningThe development of

the modern tuning can be traced in stages. One of the tun-ings from the 16th century is C-F-A-D. This is equivalentto the top four strings of the modern guitar tuned a tone

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar_tuninghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luthierhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Torres_Juradohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scale_(string_instruments)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endgrainhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purflinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timbrehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosewoodhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomexhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C.F._Martin_&_Companyhttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/%EE%BF%80https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_Hauser_Sr.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Torres_Jurado

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1.11. SEE ALSO 11

lower. However, the absolute pitch for these notes is notequivalent to modern concert pitch. The tuning of the

four-course guitar was moved up by a tone and towardthe end of the 16th century, five-course instruments werein use with an added lower string tuned to A. This producedA-D-G-B-E, one of a wide number of variant tunings of

the period. The low E string was added during the 18thcentury. extquotedbl[47]

This tuning is such that neighboring strings are at most 5semitones apart. There are also a variety of commonlyusedalternate tunings.

1.10 Bibliography

The Guitar and its Music (From the Renaissanceto the Classical Era) (2007) by James Tyler, Paul

Sparks.ISBN 0-19-921477-8 Cambridge Studies in Performance Practice (No. 6):

Performance on Lute, Guitar, and Vihuela (2005)edited by Victor Anand Coelho. ISBN 0-521-45528-6

The Guitar: From the Renaissance to the Present Dayby Harvey Turnbull; published by Bold Strummer,1991.ISBN 0-933224-57-5

The Guitar; by Sinier de Ridder; published by Edi-zioni Il Salabue;ISBN 88-87618-09-7

La Chitarra, Quattro secoli di Capolavori (The Gui-tar: Four centuries of Masterpieces) by Giovanni Ac-cornero, Ivan Epicoco, Eraldo Guerci; published byEdizioni Il Salabue

Rosa sonora - Esposizione di chitarre XVII - XX se-coloby Giovanni Accornero; published by EdizioniIl Salabue

Lyre-guitar. toile charmante, between the 18th and19th centuryby Eleonora Vulpiani

Summerfield, Maurice, The Classical Guitar: Its

Evolution, Players and Personalities since 1800 - 5thEdition, Blaydon : Ashley Mark Publishing Com-pany, 2002.

Various,Classical Guitar Magazine, Blaydon : Ash-ley Mark Publishing Company, monthly publicationfirst published in 1982.

Wade, Graham, Traditions of the Classical Guitar,London : Calder, 1980.

Antoni Piz:Francesc Guerau i el seu temps(Palmade Mallorca: Govern de les Illes Balears, Conselleria

d'Educaci i Cultura, Direcci General de Cultura,Institut d'Estudis Balerics, 2000)ISBN 84-89868-50-6

1.11 See also

Chordophones

Guitar

1.12 References

[1] Classical vs. Flamenco Guitar Construction (FernandezMusic)

[2] FAQ about Classical Guitars and Flamenco Guitars.Zavaletas La Casa de Guitarras.

[3] Cit de la Musique:Les guitares classiques du Muse dela musique (almost 200 classical guitars);Catalog: Instru-ments et oeuvres d'art - use search-phrase: Mot-cl(s) :

guitare

[4] SEGOVIA, Andres: 1950s American Recordings, Vol.4. Graham Wade.

[5] Early Classical Guitar and Early Romantic Guitar TimePeriodby earlyromanticguitar.com

[6] Early Romantic Guitar Period Techniqueby earlyroman-ticguitar.com

[7] Function, Construction and Quality of the Guitar; 1983

[8] Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: Collection Search Results

[9] ref Guitar | Matteo Sellas|All|Musical Instruments

[10] The Hector Berlioz Website - La Cte Saint-AndrBerliozs birthplace

[11] The myth of Schubert and the Guitar, An article seekingto clarify what relationship Schubert may - or may not -have had with the guitar

[12] A. Segovia,The Romance of the Guitar, ETUDE May1930, volume XLVIII number 5, page 317318, 367, re-producedhere as of June 2011

[13] PAGANINI: Guitar Music

[14] The Guitar (From The Renaissance To The Present Day)by Harvey Turnbull (Third Impression 1978) - Publisher:Batsford (ISBN 0-7134-3251-9) - p112 (Chapter 3 - TheTwentieth Century) -In Spain Fallas lead was followedby Joaquin Turina (18821949) and Federico MorenoTorroba (b. 1891), who began to produce works in col-laboration with Segovia.

[15] The Guitar (From The Renaissance To The Present Day)by Harvey Turnbull (Third Impression 1978) - Publisher:Batsford (ISBN 0-7134-3251-9) - p113 (Chapter 3 - TheTwentieth Century) - Segovias visits to South Americaalso inspired new music. The Mexican composer ManuelPonce (18821948) responded by producing a greaternumber of extended works than Turina and Torroba hadachieved.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0713432519https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0713432519http://www.naxos.com/mainsite/blurbs_reviews.asp?item_code=8.557598&catNum=557598&filetype=About+this+Recording&language=Englishhttp://digitalguitararchive.com/index.php?result=30&name=archive&table=etude&search=mandolin&field=keyword&sort=author&rows=10http://www.jacaranda-music.com/Schubert.htmlhttp://www.jacaranda-music.com/Schubert.htmlhttp://www.jacaranda-music.com/Schubert.htmlhttp://www.hberlioz.com/LaCote/BerliozLacote.htmlhttp://www.hberlioz.com/LaCote/BerliozLacote.htmlhttp://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/collection_database/musical_instruments/guitar_matteo_sellas/objectview.aspx?page=2&sort=0&sortdir=asc&keyword=guitar&fp=1&dd1=18&dd2=0&vw=1&collID=18&OID=180015154&vT=1http://www.mfa.org/collections/search_art.asp?recview=true&id=51471&coll_keywords=&coll_accession=&coll_name=&coll_artist=&coll_place=&coll_medium=&coll_culture=&coll_classification=&coll_credit=&coll_provenance=&coll_location=&coll_has_images=&coll_on_view=&coll_sort=0&coll_sort_order=0&coll_view=0&coll_package=10095&coll_start=11http://www.speech.kth.se/music/publications/kma/papers/kma38-ocr.pdfhttp://www.earlyromanticguitar.com/erg/periodtechnique.htmhttp://www.earlyromanticguitar.com/erg/timeperiod.htmhttp://www.earlyromanticguitar.com/erg/timeperiod.htmhttp://www.naxos.com/mainsite/blurbs_reviews.asp?item_code=8.111092&catNum=8111092&filetype=About%20this%20Recording&language=Englishhttp://www.naxos.com/mainsite/blurbs_reviews.asp?item_code=8.111092&catNum=8111092&filetype=About%20this%20Recording&language=Englishhttp://mediatheque.cite-musique.fr/masc/?INSTANCE=CITEMUSIQUE&URL=/clientbooklineCIMU/toolkit/p_requests/FSFormulaire.asp?GRILLE=CIMUINSTRUMENTAVANCEE_0&TYPEMENU=catalogue-instrumentoeuvre-bandeau.asp?TYPESOUSMENU=2http://mediatheque.cite-musique.fr/masc/?INSTANCE=CITEMUSIQUE&URL=/clientbooklineCIMU/toolkit/p_requests/FSFormulaire.asp?GRILLE=CIMUINSTRUMENTAVANCEE_0&TYPEMENU=catalogue-instrumentoeuvre-bandeau.asp?TYPESOUSMENU=2http://mediatheque.cite-musique.fr/MediaComposite/CMDM/CMDM000000700/guitare_musee_00.htmhttp://mediatheque.cite-musique.fr/MediaComposite/CMDM/CMDM000000700/guitare_musee_00.htmhttp://www.zavaletas-guitarras.com/files/faq.htm#What%20are%20the%20differences%20between%20a%20classical%20and%20a%20flamenco%20guitar?http://www.fernandezmusic.com/Flamencovsclassical.htmlhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chordophonehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/8489868506https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/8489868506https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/8887618097https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0933224575https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0521455286https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0521455286https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0199214778https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar_tuning

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12 CHAPTER 1. CLASSICAL GUITAR

[16] Secrets From The Masters (Edited by Don Menn) - (Pub-lished by GPI Books) (ISBN 0-87930-260-7) - p236 ex-tquotedbl... he performed a more important task by com-missioning material by some of the 20th centurys greatestcomposers, including Heitor Villa-Lobos, Manuel Ponce,Federico Moreno Torroba, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco,

and Alexander Tansman.

[17] Changesby Elliott Carter Boosey & Hawkes

[18] Codex Iby Cristbal Halffter Universal Edition (scoresample)

[19] Sequenza XIby Luciano Berio Universal Edition

[20] Sette Studiby Maurizio Pisati Ricordi (score sample)

[21] Si Le Jour Paratby Maurice Ohana Billaudot

[22] Rara (eco sierologico) by Sylvano Bussotti Ricordi;Rara (eco sierologico) of 1967 is one of a series of otherRara works that include Rara (film) of 196770, TheRara Requiem of 196970 and Ultima rara (Pop Song)of 1970.ref

[23] Suite fr Guitarre, Op. 164by Ernst Krenek DoblingerMusikverlag (score sample)

[24] Algo: Due pezzi per chitarraby Franco Donatoni Edi-zioni Suvini Zerboni (Analysis)

[25] Kurze Schatten IIby Brian Ferneyhough Edition Peters(score sample)

[26] away fromby Sven-David Sandstrm Gehrmans Musik-frlag

[27] Toccata Orpheusby Rolf Riehm Ricordi Mnchen (seealso)

[28] Sheer Pluck Database of Contemporary Guitar Music

[29] Sound and Music

[30] Australian Music Center

[31] Interview with Bernard Hebb.

[32] The first incontrovertible evidence of five-course instru-

ments can be found in Miguel Fuenllanas Orphenica Lyreof 1554, which contains music for a vihuela de cinco or-denes. In the following year Juan Bermudo wrote in hisDeclaracion de Instrumentos Musicales: We have seena guitar in Spain with five courses of strings. Bermudolater mentions in the same book that Guitars usually havefour strings, which implies that the five-course guitar wasof comparatively recent origin, and still something of anoddity. Tom and Mary Anne Evans Guitars: From theRenaissance to Rock. Paddington Press Ltd 1977 p.24

[33] The guitars built by Antonio de Torres still had frictionpegs (see for example Richard Chapman The New Com-plete Guitarist, p. 13 top)

[34] Luis Milan (1536). Libro de msica de vihuela de manointitulado El maestro.

[35] Alexander Batov (20 April 2006). The Royal CollegeDias - guitar or vihuela? extquotedbl. (The talk given atthe Lute Society meeting in London on 16 April 2005). ex-tquotedblA rather small sized vaulted-back guitar in theengraving by Etienne Picart (c. 1680) after the painting byLeonello Spada Concert (c.1615), Muse du Louvre, Paris

extquotedbl[36] The Classical Mandolinby Paul Sparks (1995)

[37] Early Romantic Guitar

[38] Stalking the Oldest Six String Guitar

[39] Mastering the Dedillo

[40] A 1992 interview of tpn Rak by Graham Wade

[41] The little finger whose use is not completely standardizedin classical guitar technique can also be found designatedby e or x. There are several words in Spanish for the littlefinger: dedo meique, dedo auricular, dedo pequeo, but

their initials conflict with the initials of the other fingers;c is said to be the initial of the dedo chiquito which is notthe most common name for the little finger; e and x arenot initials but letters that were picked, either with its ownrationale, by people who didn't know what else to pick

[42] Guitar acoustics, University New South Wales

[43] Fretted instrument terminology: An Illustrated Glossary

[44] Guitar scale lengthHampshire guitar orchestra

[45] How to Choose the correct size & type of Guitar for aChild

[46] http://www.hago.org.uk/guitars/other/

[47] Richard Chapman, The New Complete Guitarist, p. 10left

1.13 External links

Thematic essay: The guitarJayson Kerr Dobney,Wendy Powers (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Brazilian Guitar Player Abdallah Harati, Choro andSamba

Classical & FingerStyle Guitar

1.13.1 Guitar history

Historical classical guitars(index on top of page)

Guitar and Lute chronological table - 16h to 18thcentury

Stringing and Tuning the Renaissance Four-CourseGuitar: Interpreting the Primary Sources

The stringing of the 5-course (baroque) guitar

Early Romantic Guitar Homepage A History of the Guitar in Spain presented by Julian

Bream

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atGFfb8HCMMhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atGFfb8HCMMhttp://www.earlyromanticguitar.com/http://www.monicahall.co.uk/pdf/Stringing.pdfhttp://www.lgv-pub.com/Essays/Fink_-_Tuning_paper.pdfhttp://www.lgv-pub.com/Essays/Fink_-_Tuning_paper.pdfhttp://g.rebours.free.fr/6E/6.The_lute_aint2.htmlhttp://g.rebours.free.fr/6E/6.The_lute_aint2.htmlhttp://web.mac.com/hortense1/iweb/The%20Guitar%20Museum/Introduction.htmlhttp://www.chitarrafingerstyle.it/http://www.abdallahharati.com/http://www.abdallahharati.com/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/guit/hd_guit.htmhttp://www.hago.org.uk/guitars/other/http://reviews.ebay.com/How-to-Choose-correct-size-amp-type-of-Guitar-for-Child_W0QQugidZ10000000000907264http://reviews.ebay.com/How-to-Choose-correct-size-amp-type-of-Guitar-for-Child_W0QQugidZ10000000000907264http://www.hago.org.uk/faqs/scale-length.phphttp://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/General/Glossary/glossary.htmlhttp://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/music/guitar/http://www.egta.co.uk/content/rakinterviewhttp://www.ralphmaier.com/index_files/Page318.htmhttp://www3.uakron.edu/gfaa/stalking.htmlhttp://www.earlyromanticguitar.com/http://www.vihuelademano.com/rcmdias.htmhttp://www.vihuelademano.com/rcmdias.htmhttp://www.v4m.net/GuitarFestivalRust/Interviews/InterviewBernardHebb.htmhttp://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/search?q=Solo+Guitar+Works&x=0&y=0http://soundandmusic.org/thecollection/resources/collection_advanced_search_results/%2B/E/%2B/0/0/all/0/0/all/0/0/all/0/0/0/0/alt/1/1_gui%252C/Exact/%2B/%2B/1http://www.sheerpluck.de/http://english.ricordi.de/riehm-rolf-werke.0.htmlhttp://www.ricordishop.de/artikel/modus/2/volltext/Toccata+Orpheushttp://www.gehrmans.se/en/shop/instruments-ensemble/away-from-n10412http://soundandmusic.org/thecollection/files/scores/6634w.pdfhttp://www.edition-peters.com/search.php?keyword=Kurze%20Schatten%20II&searchby=Kurze%20Schatten%20IIhttp://ethesis.siba.fi/showrecord.php?language=en_EN&ID=396930&http://www.esz.mgsdcc.com/en/sc_edz.lasso?-Search&-Database=edz_esz&-Table=base&id=42545http://classicguitarmethod.com/blog/?page_id=474http://www.doblinger-musikverlag.at/Komp/cmp_detail.php?compID=88&sp=2http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/webseries/insights.htms?ID=20-21&PRODUCT_NR=4715892&BORDER=1&objRank=28http://www.ricordi.it/http://www.billaudot.com/en/catalog.php?cs=1&dox=Maurice%20Ohanahttp://contemporaryguitarsblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/interview-with-maurizio-pisati-second.htmlhttp://www.ricordi.it/pubblicazioni/pubblicazioni/import/archive/pisati-maurizio/7-studi-per-chit/?searchterm=Maurizio%20Pisatihttp://www.universaledition.com/BERIO-SEQUENZA-X1-Gtr-for-Guitar-Luciano-Berio/sheet-music-and-more/detailview/UE19273/kid/310013http://www.spanisharts.com/musica/ampliaciones/chalfcg.htmhttp://www.spanisharts.com/musica/ampliaciones/chalfcg.htmhttp://www.universaledition.com/HALFFTER-CODEX-1-S-Gtr-guitar-Cristobal-Halffter/sheet-music-and-more/detailview/UE13991/kid/310013http://www.boosey.com/cr/music/Elliott-Carter-Changes/5117https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0879302607

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1.13. EXTERNAL LINKS 13

1.13.2 Articles and Texts

The guitar and mandolin : biographies of celebratedplayers and composers for these instrumentsPhilipJames Bone (1914)

The Memoirs of Makaroff Continuo for lutenists and guitarists: a tutor and

music theory supplement Thesis by Roland H.B.Stearns

Guitar And Lute Issues(Matanya Ophee)

The 19th-Century Italian Guitar

Guitar Articles(European Guitar Teachers Associ-ation)

http://www.egta.co.uk/content/topicshttp://www.justclassicalguitar.com/pen&nail/800/http://www.guitarandluteissues.com/http://etd.lib.ttu.edu/theses/available/etd-02262009-31295007087462/http://etd.lib.ttu.edu/theses/available/etd-02262009-31295007087462/http://www.dosamigos-homepage.nl/pdf_docs/makaroff_memoirs.pdfhttp://www.archive.org/details/guitarmandolinbi00bonehttp://www.archive.org/details/guitarmandolinbi00bone

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Chapter 2

Classical guitar technique

This article is about the Contemporary classical guitartechnique. For the baroque guitar technique seeBaroqueguitar and for the romantique guitar technique, seeRomantic guitar.

Amongfingerstyle guitartechniques, a particular robusttradition exists forclassical guitar.

2.1 General

Classical guitar technique can be organized broadly intosubsections for the right hand, the left hand, and miscel-laneous. In guitar performance elements such as musicaldynamic and tonal variation are mostly determined by thehand that physically produces the sound. In other words,

the hand that plucks the strings defines the musical ex-pression. Historically, this role has been assigned to thedominant hand which, for the majority of players, is theright hand. Similar reasoning is behind string players us-ing the right hand for controlling the bow. In the follow-ing discussion the role of the hands should be reversedwhen consideringleft-handedplayers.

An introductory overview of classical guitar techniqueis given in the articleClassical guitar (Section: Perfor-mance).

For items such as accessories and construction, see theClassical guitar portal.

2.2 Posture

The classical guitar is generally held on the left leg, whichis supported by a foot stool or some other device to bringit to a position central to the players body. The foot stoolis most commonly oriented pointing slightly to the leftof the audience (from the performers perspective), andslanting upward toward the audience. However, as it isa goal to eliminate general muscular tension (see below),

the foot stool can be placed slanting downward toward theaudience. This lessens the tension in the legs.

Basic considerations in determining a chosen playing po-

John Williams

sition include:

the physical stability of the instrument

ensuring the freedom of both hands such that theyhave free access to the instrument and can meet alltechnical demands without having to be occupiedwith support the instrument or keeping the instru-ment upright

elimination of general muscular tension in the as-sumed body position

14

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Williams_(guitarist)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Classical_guitarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_guitar#Performancehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-handedhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_guitarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fingerstyle_guitarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romantic_guitarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque_guitarhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque_guitar

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2.4. HOW ARE FINGERINGS MARKED? 15

2.3 Guitaristic Technique and In-

dependence

Over the history of the guitar, there have been manyschools of technique, often associated with the current

popular virtouso of the time. For example, Mauro Giu-liani (1781-1829) is associated with arpeggio playing andhis compositions are largely based on broken chords,or arpeggios. Giulianis solution to achieving indepen-dence between the fingers (evening out constraints ordifferences between the fingers) in the right hand wasplaying his 120 Right Hand Studies. By contrast, thegreat Andres Segovia maintained that playing scales twohours a day will correct faulty hand position (1953)and, for many years, this was the accepted practice. Inboth schools -- one being all free-stroke (Giuliani arpeg-gio practice) and the other rest-stroke(Segovia scale prac-

tice) -- the basis for learning the technique is hours ofrepetition.

In 1983, Richard Provost published the first edition ofClassic Guitar Technique (Professional Guitar Publi-cations, West Hartford, Conn.), outlining modern princi-ples of scale and arpeggio technique based on a knowl-edge and understanding of the anatomy, and making theinherent kinesthetic tendencies of the human body (i.e.our limitations) work for the player. Rather than work-ing around them, our goal in order to produce a musical,articulated sound within our physical limitations. A sec-ond, revised edition of Provosts work, reflecting how our

understanding has changed, was published in 1992. Theyare published in three volumes: Vol. 1 - Scale SourceBook (Scale Technique & Studies); Vol. 2 - Basic Arpeg-gios & theTremolo (Arpeggio Technique & Studies); andVol. 3 - Advanced Arpeggios (Advanced Arpeggio Tech-nique & Excerpts).

This modern approach to acquiring technique, namelyunderstanding our constraints and making them work forus, acknowledges the need to play scales and studies in or-der to develop a technique that is suitable for the modernclassical guitar. In this way, the guitarist is able to playthe complete repertoire, which spans many centuries, ge-

ographical regions, and historically different instruments.And, instead of two hours a day of repetitions, scales orarpeggios, one is able to learn the guitar within the av-erage persons schedule. Rather than learning techniqueby sheer repetition, this approach seeks to find the sim-plest and most direct path to connecting with the musicthrough the guitar. The result is a robust technique thatholds up under performance conditions, requires mini-mum warm-up time, makes acquiring and retaining newrepertoire simple, and is easy to maintain, given our busylives.

The basis of this technique is what is referred to by

Charles Duncan, in his book The Art of Classical Gui-tar Playing (Summy-Birchard) as the awareness of therelease of tension.

2.4 How are fingerings marked?

In guitarscoresthe five fingers of the right-hand (whichpluck the strings) are designated by the first letter of theirSpanish names: p = thumb (pulgar), i = index finger (in-dex), m = middle finger (mayor), a = ring finger (annular),c = little finger or pinky (chiquito).[1]

The four fingers of the left hand (which stop the strings)are designated 1 = index, 2 = middle, 3 = ring finger, 4= little finger; 0 designates an open string, that is a stringthat is not stopped by a finger of the left hand and whosefull length thus vibrates when plucked. On the classicalguitar thumb of the left hand is never used to stop stringsfrom above (as is done on the electric guitar): the neck ofa classical guitar is too wide and the normal position ofthe thumb used in classical guitar technique do not makethat possible.

Scores (contrary totablature) do not systematically indi-cate the string to be plucked (although in most cases thechoice is obvious). When an indication of the string isrequired the strings are designated 1 to 6 (from the 1stthe high E to the 6th the low E) with figures 1 to 6 insidecircles.

The positions (that is where on the fretboard the first fin-ger of the left hand is placed) are also not systematicallyindicated, but when they are (mostly in the case of theexecution ofbarrs) these are indicated with Roman nu-merals from the first position I (index finger of the lefthand placed on the 1st fret: F-B flat-E flat-A flat-C-F) to

the twelfth position XII (the index finger of the left handplaced on the 12th fret: E-A-D-G-B-E; the 12th fret be-ing placed where the body begins) or even higher up toposition XIX (the classical guitar most often having 19frets, with the 19th fret being most often split and notbeing usable to fret the 3rd and 4th strings).

2.5 Right hand technique

Popular song (public domain). Spanish Romance.

The thumb and three largest fingers of the right hand

pluck the strings. The normal position is for the handto be shaped as if it were loosely holding an apple withthe wrist slightly bent, the forearm resting on the upper

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tablaturehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheet_Music

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16 CHAPTER 2. CLASSICAL GUITAR TECHNIQUE

large bout of the guitar, and the fingers near the strings.

The thumb is held at the side of the other fingers, so that itcan work independently of them. The height of the wri