GUITAR COLLECTIONS

Renaissance and Baroque guitars are the graceful ancestors of the modern classical guitar. They are considerably smaller and more subtle than the classical guitar, and give a much quieter sound.

The strings are paired in courses as in a modern 12-string guitar, but they only have four or five courses of strings instead of six. They were more frequently used as musical rhythm instruments in ensembles than as solo instruments, and can oftentimes be seen in that role in former music performances.

Renaissance and Baroque guitars are easily differentiated because the Renaissance guitar is very plain and the Baroque guitar is very ornamented, with ivory or wood inlays all over the neck and body, and a paper-cutout upside-down “wedding cake” inside the hole.

The Gittern, English for Renaissance guitar, is a musical instrument resembling a small lute or guitar. The Gittern was sculptured from a single piece of wood with a arched pegbox. The Renaissance guitar had only 4 courses; the first was commonly single and the other three double.

Although no historical four-course instruments have survived, it is clear that their proportions were fairly small. During the Renaissance, the guitar may well have been used as it often is today, to provide a simple strummed support for a singer or a small musical group.

The Baroque guitar is a guitar from the baroque era (c1600-1750), an ancestor of the modern classical guitar. The instrument was smaller than a modern guitar, of lighter structure, and had gut strings.

The frets were commonly made of gut, and fastened to the neck. A typical instrument had five courses of which either four or five were double-strung making an overall of nine or ten strings. The transition of all courses to single strings and the addition of a bass E-string came during the epoch of the early romantic guitar.

Renaissance guitar, Baroque guitar

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS: Expression of Love for Music.

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