G is for Guitar

The evolution of the modern guitar can be traced right back to the stringed instruments played across Central Asia and India at least 5,000 years ago. The oldest picture of an instrument is a 3,300-year-old carving of a Hittite bard playing an instrument.

The name ‘guitar’ dates back to the Latin word cithara. By the year 1200 we get the Guitarra Moresca (Moorish Guitar, with a rounded back, multiple sound holes and wide fingerboard) and Guitarra Latina (Latin Guitar, with a more narrow neck, a flat back and one sound hole). Both were four-string guitars.

The earliest six-string guitar dates back to 1779, and is believed to have been made by Gaetano Vinaccia, a member of the family of Italian luthiers (stringed instrument builders). The dimensions of the modern classical guitar were first introduced in the 19th century by Antonio de Torres Jurado, a Spanish luthier.

The electric guitar was first made by George Beauchamp in 1936.