The History of Guitar

Guitar-like instruments have existed since ancient times (see the Guitar Museum), but the first written mention of the guitar proper is from the 14th century. In its earliest form it had three double courses (pairs) of strings plus a single string (the highest). The guitar probably originated in Spain, where by the 16th century it was the counterpart among the middle and lower classes of the aristocracy's vihuela, an instrument of similar shape and ancestry with six double courses.

A Brief Timeline

1265 Juan Gil of Zamora mentions the early guitar in "Ars Musica.
1283-1350 Guitarra Latina & Guitar Moresca are mentioned multiple times in the poems of the Archpriest of Hita
1306 A "gitarer" was played at the Feast of Westminster in England
1404 "Der mynnen regein" by Eberhard Von Cersne makes reference to a "quinterne."
1487 Johannes Tinctoris described the guitarra as being invented by the Catalans. This refers to the four course guitar. Each course represents one pair of double strings.
1546 "Tres Libros de Musica en Cifras para Vihuela" by Alonso Mudarra is the first publication to include music for guitar.
1551-1555 Nine books of tablature were published by Adrian Le Roy. These include the first pieces for 5 course guitar. The addition of the fifth course was attributed to Vicente Espinel
1600-1650 Many publications of tablature for the guitar. It's popularity begins to rival the lute.
1674 Publication of "Guitarre Royal" by F. Corbetta increased the guitar's popularity. It was dedicated to Louis XIV.
1770-1800 A sixth string was added to the guitar and the courses were replaced by single strings.
1800-1850 Guitar enjoyed a large popularity both in performances and publishing. Fernando Sor, Mauro Guiliani, Matteo Carcassi and Dioniso Aguado all performed, taught, wrote and had published their compositions.
1850-1892 Guitar maker Antonio de Torres develops the larger more resonant instrument we know today.
1916 Segovia performs at Ateneo, the most important concert hall in Madrid. Before this it was thought that the guitar did not have the volume for this type of venue.
1946 Nylon replaces gut as a string material

The electric guitar

The electric guitar, developed for popular music in the United States in the 1930s, usually has a solid, nonresonant body. The sound of its strings is both amplified and manipulated electronically by the performer. American musician and inventor Les Paul developed prototypes for the solid-bodied electric guitar and popularized the instrument beginning in the 1940s.

The word "guitar"

The guitar's roots are in Spain. Realistically, it cannot be traced back further than the 15th Century. It is thought to have been invented by the people of Malaga. This early instrument was a "four course" guitar, from which the ukulele is derived. The first guitars were very small, and were originally strung with four pair of strings. Each pair was call a course.

The word "guitar" was brought into English as an adaptation of the Spanish word "guitarra," which was, in turn, derived from the Greek "kithara." Tracing the roots of the word further back into linguistic history, it seems to have been a combination of the Indo-European stem "guit-," meaning music, and the root "-tar," meaning chord or string. The root "-tar" is actually common to a number of languages, and can also be found in the word "sitar," also a stringed musical instrument. Although the spelling and pronunciation differs between languages, these key elements are present in most words for "guitar" throughout history.