Guitar History (10 Viewers)

[sonicboom]

Did Spain invent the guitar as we know it?

"The original shape of the guitar in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. A plucked string instrument that was first called a guitar appeared in Spain around the turn of the fifteenth century. The instrument was actually called a vihuela, and consisted of four double-strings (paired courses)."

"Antonio de Torres Jurado (13 June 1817 – 19 November 1892) was a Spanish guitarist and luthier, and "the most important Spanish guitar maker of the 19th century."[1]

It is with his designs that the first recognizably modern classical guitars are to be seen.[2] Most acoustic guitars in use today are derivatives of his designs."

Antonio de Torres Jurado - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

First steel string guitar was invented by a German immigrant.




Christian Frederick Martin

"Although steel-stringed acoustic guitars are now used all over the world, the person who is thought to have created the first of these guitars was a German immigrant to the United States named Christian Frederick Martin (1796-1867). Guitars at the time used so-called catgut strings created from the intestines of sheep."

 

[sfidc3]

Did Spain invent the guitar as we know it?

"The original shape of the guitar in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. A plucked string instrument that was first called a guitar appeared in Spain around the turn of the fifteenth century. The instrument was actually called a vihuela, and consisted of four double-strings (paired courses)."

"Antonio de Torres Jurado (13 June 1817 – 19 November 1892) was a Spanish guitarist and luthier, and "the most important Spanish guitar maker of the 19th century."[1]

It is with his designs that the first recognizably modern classical guitars are to be seen.[2] Most acoustic guitars in use today are derivatives of his designs."

Antonio de Torres Jurado - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

First steel string guitar was invented by a German immigrant.




Christian Frederick Martin

"Although steel-stringed acoustic guitars are now used all over the world, the person who is thought to have created the first of these guitars was a German immigrant to the United States named Christian Frederick Martin (1796-1867). Guitars at the time used so-called catgut strings created from the intestines of sheep."

Don't know if they've invented it, but they've likely become the closest to perfecting the playing of it.....I give you.....Paco De Lucia.....

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Ford or whomever 'invented' the car - but didn't really invent any particular aspect (as far as I know and I'm not going to google it), the inventor combined and updated those aspects
unless a Spaniard invented the idea of plucking a string over a piece of wood (and I don't think any Spaniard did), then what does it really mean to say they 'invented' the guitar?

 

[sonicboom]

Don't know if they've invented it, but they've likely become the closest to perfecting the playing of it.....I give you.....Paco De Lucia.....

It looks like Spain created the first guitar, Italy created the first 6 string/with standard tuning, Spain created the first modern shaped guitar, German/American created the first steel guitar, Swiss/American created the first electric guitar.

The exact origins of the guitar are unclear, but many people have contributed to its development over the centuries.



Early guitar development

• Early versions: Developed in Greece, Turkey, Persia, and Africa.
• Arabic oud: Brought to Spain by the Moors, Muslim inhabitants of Northern Africa. Europeans added frets to this instrument and called it a "lute".
  
  
• Greek lyre: Some scholars argue this is the beginning of the guitar family tree.

Modern guitar development

• Christian Frederick Martin: A German immigrant to the United States who created the first guitar that most resembles the acoustic guitars we still buy today in the 1930s.
• Gaetano Vinaccia: An Italian luthier credited for discovering the first six stringed guitar.
• Antonio Torres Jurado: Credited as one of the most important inventors in the history of guitar.
• Adolph Rickenbacker: Co-founded the famous company Rickenbacker guitars.

Other guitar inventors

• • Robert F. Flemming Jr. Invented the guitar-like instrument "Euphonica".
• Roger C. Field Designed and built an electric guitar with a folding neck called the "Foldaxe" for Chet Atkins.

"The first 6th string guitar was made in the year 1779. Almost 200 years later an Italian male, Gaetano Vinaccia, was working on something and then created the first ever six string guitar. Gaetano Vinaccia was a stringed instrument maker who was born in 1759 and died in 1831. Ever since that everyone ditched the four string and got the 6th string acoustic. There is one problem with it. It was way too fat and wide so that when you played it, it felt so uncomfortable. It looked like an hourglass. But it was better to play and then came standard tuning which is EADGBE. People at that point were playing it a lot to make folk songs."

"The first ever guitar was made in Spain way back in the 15th century. Made from wood they put four strings like a bass but two strings have the same tune and the other two strings have a different tune."

"After 58 years, Antonio de Torres Jurado, a Spanish guitarist was thinking of how he could make the guitar better than it originally was. In 1817, he made it the first modern acoustic guitar."

"Flash forward 115 years into the further from 1817. Flash forward 115 years into the further from 1817. Adolph Rickenbacker was an electrical engineer who immigrated from Switzerland in the year 1891 after his parents death. Who knew when he immigrated he would make one of the best inventions in the world. When he first made it, many of jazz bands would buy it because jazz was the most popular song genre during the 30s. But if Adolph didn’t make the electric guitar then ¨Thunderstruck,¨ ¨Smells Like Teen Spirit,¨ ¨All The Small Things¨ would not have ever happened. "

History of the Guitar

Guitars one of the oldest instruments and have been played since the 15th century. The CST looks back at the history of the guitar and some iconic songs everyone should know: from ¨Smells Like Teen Spirit¨ and ¨Thunderstuck¨ way back to Pink Floyd and The Beatles. The first ever guitar was made...

lindynews.org

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

It looks like Spain created the first guitar, Italy created the first 6 string, and German/American created the first steel guitar.

The exact origins of the guitar are unclear, but many people have contributed to its development over the centuries.



Early guitar development

• Early versions: Developed in Greece, Turkey, Persia, and Africa.
• Arabic oud: Brought to Spain by the Moors, Muslim inhabitants of Northern Africa. Europeans added frets to this instrument and called it a "lute".
  
  
• Greek lyre: Some scholars argue this is the beginning of the guitar family tree.

Modern guitar development

• Christian Frederick Martin: A German immigrant to the United States who created the first guitar that most resembles the acoustic guitars we still buy today in the 1930s.
• Gaetano Vinaccia: An Italian luthier credited for discovering the first six stringed guitar.
• Antonio Torres Jurado: Credited as one of the most important inventors in the history of guitar.
• Adolph Rickenbacker: Co-founded the famous company Rickenbacker guitars.

Other guitar inventors

• • Robert F. Flemming Jr. Invented the guitar-like instrument "Euphonica".
• Roger C. Field Designed and built an electric guitar with a folding neck called the "Foldaxe" for Chet Atkins.

"The first 6th string guitar was made in the year 1779. Almost 200 years later an Italian male, Gaetano Vinaccia, was working on something and then created the first ever six string guitar. Gaetano Vinaccia was a stringed instrument maker who was born in 1759 and died in 1831."

"The first ever guitar was made in Spain way back in the 15th century. Made from wood they put four strings like a bass but two strings have the same tune and the other two strings have a different tune."

History of the Guitar

Guitars one of the oldest instruments and have been played since the 15th century. The CST looks back at the history of the guitar and some iconic songs everyone should know: from ¨Smells Like Teen Spirit¨ and ¨Thunderstuck¨ way back to Pink Floyd and The Beatles. The first ever guitar was made...

lindynews.org

China
Historical accounts of the se begin in the Western Zhou period (1045–771 BC)

 

[sonicboom]

China
Historical accounts of the se begin in the Western Zhou period (1045–771 BC)

The guitar was introduced to China in the late 17th century by missionaries, but the guitar was not invented in China. The instrument was originally a five-string guitar, and was called the "gourd-shaped moon lute" or "foreign pipa"

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

The guitar was introduced to China in the late 17th century by missionaries, but the guitar was not invented in China. The instrument was originally a five-string guitar, and was called the "gourd-shaped moon lute" or "foreign pipa"

again the question is why are we focusing on this moment in time and the particular name and form given since strings over wood has been a musical instrument for 3000 years?

here's the first paragraph of the history section of the Wikipedia article on the snare drum
The snare drum seems to have descended from a medieval drum called the tabor, which was a drum with a single-gut snare strung across the bottom. It is a little bigger than a medium tom and was first used in war, often played with a fife (pipe); the player would play both the fife and drum (see also Pipe and tabor).[6][7] Tabors were not always double-headed[8] and not all may have had snares. By the 15th century, the size of the snare drum had increased and had a cylindrical shape. This simple drum with a simple snare became popular with the Swiss mercenary troops who used the fife and drum from the 15th to 16th centuries. The drum was made deeper and carried along the side of the body. Further developments appeared in the 17th century, with the use of screws to hold down the snares, giving a brighter sound than the rattle of a loose snare. During the 18th century, the snare drum underwent changes which improved its characteristic sound. Metal snares appeared in the 20th century. Today the snare drum is used in jazz, pop music and modern orchestral music.[9]

 

[sonicboom]

I think the mystery is solved, the first 6 string guitar with standard tuning was made in Naples, Italy by Gaetano Vinaccia.

​

Gaetano Vinaccia - The Earliest Extant Six-string Guitar

www.guitarhistoryfacts.com

 

[Arathrael]

again the question is why are we focusing on this moment in time and the particular name and form given since strings over wood has been a musical instrument for 3000 years?

Best guess: because guitars are cool, contemporarily.

Put it this way, no-one's out there compiling lists of the best oud solos.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Best guess: because guitars are cool, contemporarily.

Put it this way, no-one's out there compiling lists of the best oud solos.

and that's a bug not a feature
harpsichord is a bad*** instrument - it's our cultural loss that gawker is not running a top 10 list about it

 

[SystemShock]

Ford or whomever 'invented' the car - but didn't really invent any particular aspect (as far as I know and I'm not going to google it), the inventor combined and updated those aspects
unless a Spaniard invented the idea of plucking a string over a piece of wood (and I don't think any Spaniard did), then what does it really mean to say they 'invented' the guitar?

If that's the standard (string over piece of wood). then there is no difference between a violin and a guitar, or a bass, or a sitar, or a balalaika. To me, is like saying so-and-so didn't invent the trumpet because ancient people were blowing on ram horns 1000's of years ago.

 

[sonicboom]

For what it's worth, Leo Fender was a Greek/American, and started his company in 1946. Fender guitars and amps have been industry standard in modern rock. His company was founded in Fullerton, California. I was reading that he lost most of his hearing working on an amplifier.

Orville Gibson started Gibson guitars in 1902. English/American from Michigan.

Jim Marshall created Marshall Amps and Cabinets in 1962, and is from England.