A Brief History of the Guitar

4 The Guitar in Classical Times

These guitars were the forerunners of the modern-day concert guitar. They had six gut strings tuned EADGBE as a modern guitar, and although they were smaller in scale and in body size they produced a sweet sound. They lacked the volume and variety of tone available from today's top concert guitars.

Dionisio Aguado, Fernando Sor and Mauro Guiliani were the foremost virtuosi of the time and their works are still performed today.

5 The Classical Guitar After Torres

Antonio Torres built guitars in the late 19th century. His design was the foundation of the modern concert guitar and the prototype for the famous makers of the 20th Century. The most important and innovative of these new makers were Herrmann Hauser, Ignacio Fleta and Manuel Ramirez.