Guitar
Plucked instrument with six strings tuned E–A–d–g–b–e¹.
What it means
The guitar is a plucked instrument with a fingerboard, frets, and usually six strings. The standard tuning is E–A–d–g–b–e¹, ascending from the lowest to the highest string. The guitar is notated in the treble clef but sounds an octave lower than the notes indicate.
Musical use
The guitar developed from Spanish and Italian instruments of the 15th and 16th centuries, which include the vihuela. In the 19th century composers and players such as Francisco Tárrega shaped its technique, in the 20th century Andrés Segovia, who established it as a concert instrument. One distinguishes the classical guitar with nylon strings, the steel-string acoustic guitar, and the electrically amplified electric guitar. It is equally at home in classical music, flamenco, folk, rock, and jazz.
The guitar should be distinguished from the lute, which has a rounded body and usually several paired strings, and from the electric guitar, which gets its sound through pickups and an amplifier. It also differs from the ukulele or mandolin in size, number of strings, and tuning.
Performance practice
When playing, aim for relaxed fretting pressure and clean plucking with even volume. Tune the guitar before every session, for instance with a tuner, since even small deviations make chords sound impure.