Overview of the Classical Guitar Guitar Lesson

Chapter 1: (02:04) Lesson Series Overview Welcome to the Phase 2 Classical Guitar series with Danny Voris! In this lesson series, Danny will cover the following topics:

-Origin of the classical guitar

-Anatomy of the classical guitar

-Installing nylon strings

-Proper posture and playing position

-Shaping the nails

-Essential right hand techniques including tone production, free strokes, rest strokes, tremolo, rasgueados, arpeggios and much more

- Essential left hand hand techniques including hammer-ons, pull-offs, finger independence, finger stretches, trills, mordents, and much more

-Famous classical guitarists and recordings

-A vast array of repertoire from each of the prominent style periods (Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic and 20th / 21st Century)

-Arranging popular melodies for solo classical guitar

-World music styles Chapter 2: (03:54) Overview of the Classical Guitar I. Origins of the Classical Guitar

A. The Roman Cithara

Around 40 AD, the Romans entered Hispania (modern day Spain). They introduced the Spaniards to an instrument called the cithara (sometimes spelled "kithara"). This instrument had a wooden sound box. The sound box or body consisted of two tables connected by ribs. The strings were stretched from a tuning bar to a bridge-like tailpiece on the body.

B. The Arab Lute

It is not known whether the early descendents of the guitar were invented by Romans or Arabs. The long necked lute was first produced in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq, northeastern Syria, and southeastern Turkey) around the 4th century BC. The lute is typically associated with the ancient Arab kingdom.

In the 8th century AD, the The Moors brought an instrument called the oud from Africa to Spain. The oud was a tear-shaped lute. It was flat in front and round on the back. Ouds were typically made with four strings and did not have frets.

C. Short Necked Lutes

The European "guitar" was classified with short neck lutes. Short necked lutes appeared centuries after long necked lutes. These instruments had gut frets that were tied to the neck. They either had flat or round, carved backs. The lute originally had four courses of strings. Courses were invented in the 14th century. A course is a pairing of two strings tuned in octaves.

D. The Vihuela

In Spain, an instrument called the vihuela replaced the once prominent lute.
The Spanish vihuela is the closest instrument to the modern classical guitar. This instrument was created in the fifteenth century during the Renaissance period. Some of its features include a smaller and thinner body in comparison to the modern guitar. The original vihuela featured four courses of strings. A fifth course was added in the 15th century. The 6th bass course was added later in this century. The third string was tuned to F#. For this reason, many Renaissance pieces arranged for classical guitar require the third string to be tuned to this pitch. The tuning of the first string varied from E up to an A depending upon the piece.

There are 8 books of music written for the vihuela. These are the first publications of guitar music.

1. Luis Milan – El Maestro (1536)
2. Luis de Narvaez – Los Seys Libros del Delphin (1538)
3. Alonso de Mudarra – Tres Libros de Musica en Cifra para Vihuela (1546)
4. Enrique de Valderrabano – Silva de Sirenas (1547)
5. Diego Pisador – Libro de Musica de Vihuela (1552)
6. Miguel de Fuenllana – Orphenica Lyra (1554)
7. Juan Bermudo – Declaracion de Instrumentos(1555)
8. Esteban Daya – El Parnaso (1576)


II. The Modern Classical Guitar

The first modern classical guitar was built in Italy around 1779. The body of this guitar was slightly smaller than guitars produced today. By the middle of the nineteenth century, the size of the body was increased to expand the volume range of the instrument. In addition, the bracing within the body was changed to the modern fan style.

III. Comparison with Steel String Guitars

There are many notable differences between classical guitars and steel string acoustic guitars. Classical guitars are strung with nylon strings. Most acoustic guitars are either strung with phosphor / bronze strings or steel strings. Nylon produces a softer, slightly more expressive tone compared to steel. Unlike steel strings, nylon strings do not feature a ball end that is held in place by a bridge pin. Instead, nylon strings are tied to the bridge. Also, the tuning keys face backwards on a classical guitar. On steel string acoustics and electrics, the tuners extend directly outward from the headstock. In terms of the neck, the classical neck is wider and does not taper. This will definitely take some getting used to if you are a traditional acoustic or electric player. Lastly, a pickguard is typically not installed on classical guitars. Nylon string guitars with pickguards are called Flamenco guitars. Rapid strumming and percussive sounds are important to the Flamenco style. Over time, these techniques eventually wear away the protective finish applied to the wood. The pickguard is glued to the top of the body to prevent damage to the finish and wood.

Preview of Next Lesson

The classical guitar is held in a different fashion from traditional acoustics and electric guitars. Danny will explain the proper way to hold the classical guitar in the following lesson.

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