Guitars

The Guitar is one of the most extensively played instruments, largely due to its infiltration into popular music.  The Guitar is a relatively easy instrument to pick up and learn, although as with all instruments it takes a lifetime to master.

Guitars come in various sizes, and their strings can be made of nylon or wire.  They are decended from Lutes and are believed to have been introduced to Europe from North Africa.  The tone of the instrument depends on its size and the strings with which it is strung, but unusually the material with which it is made is of little importance.  It is said the Torres, the great Spanish Guitar maker astounded people by the quality of sound from a Guitar made almost entirely out of papier mache.  It seems that only the soundboard needs to be made from high quality hardwood.

The Guitar works in much the same way as the violin family except that the 6 strings are plucked or strummed and the fingerboard contains raised frets which make playing accurately much easier. The Guitar is a complete intrument and feels equally at home singing out the melody or gracefuly accompanying another instrument, yet despite this it is rarely seen in an orchestra.  This is largely because, whilst the Guitar is a good all round instrument, it is not suited to specific tasks, and as a result there are more capable instruments already present within the orchestra.

Guitar concertos were relatively common in the 16th and 17th centuries, but the instrument fell into obscurity shortly afterwards and was only revived by modern composers and popular music.  Bach, Vivaldi and Boccherini all composed for guitar, but it is difficult not to hear the instrument in modern music.

Approximate Range	3 1/2 octaves
String Tuning (low to high)	E, A, D, G, B, E
Length	1m approx.