Acoustic Guitar

A Brief History of the Acoustic Guitar

The modern guitar is a decendant of the gittern, a small lute-like instrument that came to Europe via Moorish Spain in the second half of the 13th century. The modern six string guitar, with a wooden resonating chamber, incurved sidewalls and a flat back, began to make its appearance in the 18th century. Early guitars were much narrower and more elongated than those of today. In the 19th century the body was broadened and the internal bracing changed to a fan shape. Fixed metal frets were fitted to the neck and the bridge was raised. These innovations were largely the work of the Spanish guitar maker Antonio Torres Jurado (1817 - 92), who also standardized the string length to 26 inches.  Metal screws replaced the wooden tuning pegs and, during the 20th century, further modifications were made, including lenghtening the fingerboard downn to the sound-hole.