When was the very first guitar invented?

The History of the Guitar begins thousands of years ago. Since ancient times, the guitar has gone through numerous changes, from its origins until it reaches the form it currently has; This is a stringed musical instrument that has spread all over the world.

The origin of the guitar is not very clear, as some scholars say the instrument that preceded the guitar arrived in Spain in the 8th century during the invasion of the Arabs. Others say that its origins belong to the time of the Greeks, who designed an instrument with some similarities to the current guitar but straight edges. It had four strings, but in reality, there is no detailed history of the guitar.

History of the Guitar

The Guitar comes from the classical instrument called the lyre used in classical antiquity, invented by the Hittites around 1500 BC. The Greek poets used it to accompany their verses with this instrument. On some occasions, they used picks to play it, the same way with guitars.

Around 3,400 years ago, the first signs of a guitar-like instrument appeared in Asia Minor and the Middle East. Later, in the year 1000 a. C in Syria, the kettarah was born, a stringed musical instrument made up of a wooden box with an oval shape, but it did not have a neck.

In India, this instrument was called sitar, and it originated the term guitar. Around the 13th century, the first version of the guitar appeared, which had three pairs of strings and an additional one responsible for providing a little more acute sounds.

By the 14th century, medieval musicians of French origin, such as Eustache Deschamps and Guillaume de Machaut, did musical works using the term Guiterna, which when translated was the guitar.

In the 16th century, especially in Spain, many compositions for guitar started to show up. In addition, this instrument became popular and widely used by musicians as an accompaniment to other musical instruments.

Around this time in history, the Arabs added the neck to it and called it Laúd, which means “wood,” and then the Spanish turned it into a lute. Next, they developed the guitar strumming technique, straightened the neck to give way to the vihuela.

At the beginning of the 18th century, Jacob Otto made a critical modification to the guitar model that existed, adding one more string. For this reason, this instrument has six strings; in addition, there is a change in the modern tuning and in the way of playing it, as well as changes in the structure that made it the classical guitar.

In 1850, Antonio Torres Jurado created the first Spanish guitar; Torres Jurado based its design on the mandolin´s modification made by Gaetano Vinaccia in 1779. The instrument created by Jurado served as building blocks of the modern guitar as it is known today.

In the 19th century, the guitar was adapted for the plucking and strumming technique, becoming a concert instrument. It also arrived in the United States, introducing changes to its structure and the flamenco guitar emerged.

At the turn of the 20th century, it became one of the most important and most used instruments globally because it adapts to any environment and is very easy to use.

Thanks to technological advances, in this part of history, the American Leo Fender created the first electric guitar, becoming the protagonist of jazz, rock & roll, blues, funk, punk, pop, and metal.

Through the years, the guitar has suffered variations in its shape and the number of strings. It has been adapted to the needs of the interpreter until it reaches its current form.

The instrument has been made almost entirely of wood. Different types of wood are used today, including mahogany, Indian rosewood, spruce, Canadian cedar, cypress, ebony, and pine.

The Spanish Guitar

The Spanish guitar, classical guitar, or Creole guitar, known in some Latin American countries, has a very ancient origin that begins to have importance from the Renaissance. This musical instrument belongs to the chordophone family.

During the Renaissance, the contrapuntal repertoire of plucked string instruments appeared; the vihuela was used in Spain and America, and the lute in Europe. According to history, these would be the origins of the classical guitar.

In the fourteenth century, the Spanish guitar prototype appears; people played this instrument in Spain to accompany popular dances and songs. By this time, the vihuela became the favorite string instrument of court musicians.

The rise of the Spanish guitar occurred during the 15th century, when the first books of music for vihuela, trendy for that time, began to be printed. After that, this instrument was played in many locations, such as in the Christian kingdoms of Europe and Spain.

In this century, an instrument known as a guitar appeared with four pairs of strings, a rounded shape, and a dome-shaped soundbox, very similar to the vihuela.

In the Muslim kingdoms of Spain, musicians used the Moorish guitar or guitar, which had three pairs of strings and is considered the direct precursor of the Spanish guitar.

By the 16th century, a fifth string was added by the Andalusian poet Vicente Espinel for being a scholar and a fan of this instrument. During this century, the guitars of four and five orders were present.

The five-order guitar was established as a model throughout Europe by the work “Spanish five-order guitar” by the Catalan Joan Carles Amat, published in 1596. This musical piece teaches strumming and tempering.

Throughout the 16th century, the heyday of the vihuela in Spanish instrumental music was intense. Still, at the end of this century, the vihuela was replaced in the courts by the famous guitar, a time when Renaissance culture gave way to the Baroque.

In the 17th century, the Spanish guitar became the most used instrument in the different musical circles of almost all of Europe, and the use of the guitar began to strengthen right from this moment.

In the 18th century, a series of physical changes were made to the Spanish guitar improving its sound and technical conditions, acquiring many of the essential characteristics that the guitar currently has.

At this time, a sixth string is added by replacing the double orders with simple ones, the size of the instrument increased while the notches in the case are reduced.
The metal headstock is attached, and the frets are extended down to the soundhole of the guitar. All these changes happened progressively during this century and the beginning of the 19th century. Finally, at the end of this century, the Spanish guitar began to be used in chamber music.

As it is known today, the Spanish guitar began to be manufactured in 1874 in Seville by Antonio Torres workshop, who manufactured them following the regulations established for this instrument.

The Flamenco Guitar

With the inclusion of flamenco guitar in this art, flamenco singing was structured and regulated, creating entrances and exits; gaining new tunes.

This question is one that brings great confusion when asked. This is because it’s difficult it all depends on what the individual that is asking calls a guitar.

In this article, we will be giving you quite a number of answers to the question “when was the guitar invented?” You would have to pick the one best suited to what you think the word “guitar” should encompass.

The Lute

Now if your definition of the guitar also encompasses guitar-like instruments like the “lute”, then it is very difficult to trace the year of the invention. Those instruments have been around for over 3000 years now. 

Do you want to see what a lute looks like and how it sounds? Watch the video below:

From the video, however, you can tell that although this is made from wood and has six strings, it is not a guitar, at least not by modern-day standards. They have completely different looks and the sounds even make them farther apart from each other. 

So while we can say that the guitar got its inspiration from instruments like this, we can’t call this a guitar, because of how different the two instruments are. 

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The Vihuela

Most scholars believe that the invention of this instrument should be looked at, closely, when you’re discussing the topic of guitar invention. This is because, unlike the lute, this instrument bears a lot of similarities to the modern-day guitar in both looks and sound. 

The vihuela makes use of 6 courses (these are double strings), a lute tuning system, and a very thin top. They are a lot bigger than the Lute, resembling the guitar more in terms of size. 

If you want to see what the vihuela looks like and sounds like, then watch the video below:

You can already tell from the sound that we are getting much closer to a modern-day guitar. So, if your definition for “guitar” can fit this instrument, then the answer to your question “when was the guitar invented?” should be the early 1500s. 

Something to note, though, is that this instrument later involved to what is known as the Baroque guitar. It uses the same double strings and tuning mechanism as the vihuela, but it’s a lot slimmer with a thinner neck. Also, it often comes with a 5-course string set. 

Below is a video of what that looks and sounds like. You should definitely check it out:

From the name “Baroque guitar” this modded version of the vihuela should definitely enter your list for guitars and would date its creation to the 1600s. 

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Early 19th Century Guitar

This is where the name guitar is firmly used to name the instrument. Most of the features that you have in the modern-day guitar are present in this guitar. You have six single strings, the same tuning system, metallic frets,  and so on. 

They were widely produced by a small town in France called “Mirecourt”. This town was also responsible for creating and supplying many of Europe’s violins at the time. So you could say they were quite skilled. 

You could even get this as an 8-stringed guitar with two extra bass strings. Out of all the instruments we’ve talked about today, this is one that you can look at and within a glance, call it a guitar. 

It can play all you classical music effortless and even some guitar songs, especially with those two extra bass strings. 

This is the sweet-spot for most people. Because apart from the instrument itself, there are many other references that point to the existence of “the guitar” around the same time. 

C.F Martin opened his U.S shop in the U.S in 1833 in which he made “guitars”. However, it dates further back from there when you consider the fact that he was an apprentice in Germany before owning his shop. 

Another reference to the modern-day guitar is Mateo Carcassi’s opus “Method for Guitar” which is still used today. He wrote the book in 1836 and it would be pretty difficult to write a book called “Method for Guitar” if there was no such thing. 

The final reference we are going to point to is Fernando Sor. He was known as the “Beethoven of Guitar” and made a living as a traveling guitarist in the early 19th century.

The Most Popular Answer — When Was The Guitar Invented?

1852. 

When this question is asked oftentimes, it is asked with reference to the classical guitar. So, most times the answer is dated to 1852 when Antonio Torres Jurado made the design of the classical guitar which still remains popular till date. 

Torres altered the body dimensions of the guitar a bit which created better acoustics within the body, and he also made the top wood a lot thinner. The thinner the top, the more easy it is to vibrate, which helps to project the sound of the instrument better. 

Also, the guitar top needed to be stiff and responsive so Torres placed thin braces on the underside of the top. That gave the top the necessary stiffness and the ability to be shaped to get a better tonal response. 

All these little changes made the guitar a lot louder and a lot more versatile. Every luthier at that time, even till today, copied Torres. Some made some additional tweaks here and there, but you can trace the major change to what is the classical guitar today to 1852 in Sevilla, Spain. 

So which of these inventions do you think the modern-day owes the most to? The oldest Lute? The vihuela? The baroque guitar? The other early 19th century guitars? Or Torres’ classical guitar?

No answer is completely wrong, and no answer is completely right. Like we said at the beginning of this article, it all depends on what you decide to encompass with the definition “guitar”. 

Want to hear what Torres’ guitar sounds like? Then you definitely need to watch the video below. It’s a first look at one of Torre’s first guitars which he made in 1868: