The guitar is one of the most recognizable musical instruments in the world and has been for centuries. It’s also one of the most versatile, and its evolution over time – check here a brief history of the guitar and also the evolution of guitar. Even though there have been several different designs through the ages, they all share certain commonalities that have helped set them apart from other instruments along the way. Here’s how the guitar has evolved over time.

Early guitars and their origins

The earliest guitars were most likely developed out of stringed musical instruments that were used in China and India thousands of years ago. The ancient Greeks and Romans most likely also played string-based instruments at some point, but historians are still not entirely sure knowing as little as they do about these early instruments. Guitar designs changed little over the centuries, with one exception: the 17th century saw the first use of metal strings for instruments, which was followed by the adoption of metal strings for the modern guitar in the mid-18th century.

Classical guitars and their development

The Classical guitar was probably not developed from a folk instrument, but instead was developed from the Spanish lute. Both of these stringed instruments are played using the same basic hand technique, but the classical guitar has a flat back and a neck that forms an arch. The history of the Classical guitar is a bit more complicated than the other types of guitars, as there was no clear or certain path to take as far as its development is concerned. Some argue that the Spanish lute was what gave way to the classical guitar, while others believe that the French lute was the first to be developed into the classical guitar we know today. There are even claims that the first guitars were actually invented in Italy, but the Spanish lute was the instrument that was the first to be developed in its present form by the Spaniards.

Steel-string acoustic guitars and the rise of the electric guitar

Although there were many early guitars that were designed for folk music, it was the invention of the steel-string acoustic guitar that really changed the way guitarists played music. The first steel-string guitars were developed in the late 19th century, and during the early part of the 20th century, makers like Martin and Gibson started exporting these guitars to the United States. With the rise of the electric guitar in the mid-20th century, steel-string acoustic guitars fell out of popularity, but they’re making a comeback thanks to manufacturers like Gibson who have re-discovered their beauty and created new models, like the Gibson Dove Pro.

Bass guitars – an overview and a bit more on their evolution

The bass guitar has become a staple of modern music, and while it is easy to see the origins of the instrument – the main body of the instrument is a series of low-pitched strings – it also underwent quite a bit of evolution and development. The pioneers of the bass guitar were some of the early pioneers of electric guitar, like Leo Fender, who developed the first commercially successful electric bass in the early 1950s. Today, there are two types of bass guitars: the fretted and fretless. Fretless basses are the most popular, with fretted models most often seen in jazz and bluegrass music. The fretted, or fingerboard-equipped bass guitar, is a far more versatile instrument, as it can be played with less difficulty than the fretless bass.

Electric guitars – how they evolved to become the dominant type

The electric guitar is perhaps the most recognizable and widely-known type of guitar in history. It was first developed in the early 20th century, but it wasn’t until the 1950s that it really rose to prominence. The electric guitar was one of the first instruments to use strings with metal frets – in fact, it was the first type of guitar to use frets. This made the guitar much easier to learn, as the hard work of learning chords could now be saved for learning notes and finger positions. While the electric guitar revolutionized music and popular culture, it’s also had an effect on the evolution of the guitar. In recent years, manufacturers have begun to incorporate other types of instruments into their designs, and some of these ‘hybrids’ are starting to gain popularity with guitarists

How did the guitar evolve from a folk and classical instrument to a rock and roll icon?

All of the aforementioned changes seem to show that the guitar has truly evolved over the centuries. It was first an instrument for the rich and famous, and then it was a popular instrument for folk and classical musicians. It was an easy instrument to learn, and it was also affordable enough for many people to purchase. Eventually, it became a pop and rock icon, thanks to the invention of the solid-body electric guitar in the 1950s and the development of the first amplifier and speakers in the mid-1920s.