History of the Guitar

History of the Guitar

2. The Middle Ages in Europe

Instruments dating from the time of the Carolingian Dynasty could be either French or German. The Carolingian instrument is rectangular, the upper end of which is a wider rounded area containing small pegs for the attachment of strings. In some illustrations, these pegs appear to be four; on others, five. The strings are of a corresponding number and are plucked in two ways: either with a plectrum or with the fingers. The Carolingian instrument retained its form up to the 14th century.

	At the same time, another instrument began to exist side by side with the Carolingian type which affected the soundbox of the instrument, its straight sides now giving way to slight curves. Representatives of this new instrument can be found in a number of English cathedrals. Depictions of guitar-shaped instruments have been found in French and Spanish cathedrals prior to the fourteenth century.

Guitarra Latina and Guitarra Morisca

There was a distinction made between Guitarra Latina and Guitarra Morisca. The latter was brought by the Moors, hence, its name. Its soundbox was oval and it had many sound holes on its soundboard. The Arabs, passing through Egypt on their way to complete the great Muslim conquest of North Africa and Spain, may well have transmitted the cardinal features of this design to the instrument makers of Western Europe. However, it is equally possible that the first Spanish guitars were a European development.

The Guitarra Latina did have curved sides and was thought to have come to Spain from some other European country. It was this type that undoubtedly developed into the modern guitar.

The one thing we can be certain of is that the Arabic influence in Spain prepared the ground for the advent of the guitar.

The popularity achieved by the guitar can be attributed to the nomadic nature of the troubadours. The guitar could have arrived in Spain from Provence by way of Catalonia, and the guitar probably crossed Spain in the hands of itinerant Spanish troubadours.

In medieval Europe the travels and performances of these troubadours must have given great impetus to the spread of the guitar on the continent.

The illustration above, starting from left to right, shows the appearance of the Guitarra Morisca, the Guitarra Latina, the Vihuela the Arab Lute.