Today’s mainstream music is unimaginable with no guitar. Although there are many more instruments that are more appreciated than, the popularity and magic of this one instrument can’t be deprived of. As other instruments require many initial preparations and requirements, to play a guitar you just need to have a guitar. Take the piano for example, you will require music sheet stands, piano lamps and a bench to begin with. Playing under a piano lamp sounds very artistic, but imagine the convenience of taking your instrument anywhere you like.

The guitars are said to be originated from many European instruments of the 12th Century. These instruments also have long fret and flat soundboards that are almost similar to the recent guitar. However even before these, similar instruments were also used in Asia and India. Many of those instruments like the ‘sitar’ and ‘tambur’ are still used in these regions, but are said to have evolved a lot with time.

The word ‘Guitar’ itself is said to have moved across the centuries and continents. The fact most thought to be true is that it comes from an Old Persian word ‘Sihtar’ which means string. The word travelled to Rome where it was turned to ‘cithara’ in Latin. Afterward it became ‘qitara ’ for Arabs and evolved ‘guittara’ in Spanish. At last, English, French and German made it a ‘guitar’ with only a minor difference in spelling and pronunciations.

Yet, the main influence on modern guitar was from the 15th century instrument used in Spain and Italy called the ‘Vihuela’. The identical instrument is also said to be the main influence in the growth of a viol. The Vihuela also evolved through time and took the shape of a ‘Baroque Guitar’ which is still a popular instrument with the Spaniards.

The Baroque was later improved by adding single strings and making it six strings instead of five. It was during the classical period that guitars started to get some respect. Lots of well known composers added the instruments to their pieces. The structure of the instrument, however, is rather unlike than the modern guitar.

The first genre of music that really used the guitar as a basic instrument in its composition was the Blues. This made many violins makers step into the guitar making business. The structure of the guitar as we see these days is very much the work of Antonio de Torres. He was the first person to utilize Fan bracings. He did lots of enhancements including increasing the size of the guitar. So, we know him as the father of modern guitar.

The remaining of the story is not a great deal of a history. Nothing raised the popularity of this instrument more than Rock n Roll period. The advent of electronic guitar started an never ending period of Rock music. From cool blues to soft country to rock and roll and now heavy metal, the guitar has dominated every genre of modern music. We have seen legends such as Elvis, Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Slash, and we know that there are still a lot more to come.