Musical Instruments

Classical guitar

The classical guitar, also known as a Spanish guitar, is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. As an acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor of the modern steel-string acoustic and electric guitars, both of which use metal strings. Classical guitars derive from instruments such as the lute, the vihuela, the gittern (the name being a derivative of the Greek "kithara"), which evolved into the Renaissance guitar and into the 17th and 18th-century baroque guitar. Today's modern classical guitar was established by the late designs of a 19th-century Spanish luthier, Antonio de Torres Jurado. For a right-handed player, the traditional classical guitar has 12 frets that are clear of the body and is properly held up by the left leg, so that the hand that plucks or strums the strings does so near the back of the sound hole. This is called the classical, or sul ponticello, position. However, the right hand may move to the sul tasto position, closer to the fretboard, to achieve a different tonal quality (warmer), or closer to the saddle (more metallic). To position the classical guitar correctly, the player's left leg is typically raised on a foot rest or a support is used. The modern steel string guitar, on the other hand, usually has at least 14 frets clear of the body (see Dreadnought) and is commonly held with a strap around the neck and shoulder. Classical guitars are distinguished from electric and acoustic guitars, which are often considered easier to play, largely due to the less sophisticated right hand technique. The phrase "classical guitar" may refer to either of two concepts other than the instrument itself: The instrumental finger technique common to classical guitar—individual strings plucked with the fingernails or, less frequently, fingertips The instrument's classical music repertoire The term modern classical guitar sometimes distinguishes the classical guitar from older forms of guitar, which are in their broadest sense also called classical, or more specifically, early guitars.

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See also

• ▸El Gran Silencio
• ▸Hydrogen line
• ▸Maddy Prior

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