Dr. Kasha defines a guitar as having "a long, fretted neck, flat wooden soundboard, ribs and a flat back, most often with curved sides". The name "guitar" comes from the ancient Sanskrit word for "string"-"tar". Many stringed folk instruments exists in Central Asia to this day which have been used in almost unchanged form for several thousand years, as shown by archaeological finds.
FROM FOUR-, TO FIVE-, TO SIX-STRING GUITAR
The early instrument had more often four strings; then it converted to five and six strings. The standard tuning is E, B, G, D, A, E like the top five strings of the modern guitar. The sixth string was added in the 17th century and guitar makes all over Europe followed the trend. An incredibly ornate guitar by the German master from Hamburg, Joakim Thielke (1641-1719), was crafted in this way. At the beginning of the 19th century one could see the modern guitar beginning to take shape. Bodies were still fairly small and narrow-waisted.
The modern classical guitar took its present form when the Spanish maker Antonio Torres increased the size of the body, altered its proportions, and introduced the revolutionary fan top bracing pattern, in around 1850. His design radically improved the volume, tone and projection of the instrument, and very soon became the accepted construction standard. It has remained essentially unchanged, and unchallenged, to this day.
FROM FOUR-, TO FIVE-, TO SIX-STRING GUITAR
The early instrument had more often four strings; then it converted to five and six strings. The standard tuning is E, B, G, D, A, E like the top five strings of the modern guitar. The sixth string was added in the 17th century and guitar makes all over Europe followed the trend. An incredibly ornate guitar by the German master from Hamburg, Joakim Thielke (1641-1719), was crafted in this way. At the beginning of the 19th century one could see the modern guitar beginning to take shape. Bodies were still fairly small and narrow-waisted.
The modern classical guitar took its present form when the Spanish maker Antonio Torres increased the size of the body, altered its proportions, and introduced the revolutionary fan top bracing pattern, in around 1850. His design radically improved the volume, tone and projection of the instrument, and very soon became the accepted construction standard. It has remained essentially unchanged, and unchallenged, to this day.
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