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I

III,
セィイ (5uitar in thr
By Julie Carmen
middlr ウイァセ and Rrnaissancr
Not only were there a great many To understand the difference between
Illustrations by Frederick R. Matzen variations in the nomenclature in the the lute and the guitar, it is helpful to
past, but the variety of spellings for know some lineage of both instruments.
In the SCA world there are high stan- guitar, lute and pandora in present The kithara, from approximately 2500
dards for recovering and reconstructing day works has not been standardized B.C. would be considered the most
the truth in history. Recorded history for future generations."2 ancient of the guitar family.? An example
detennines how we re-create the Middle can be seen on an Attic vase, c. 500 B.C.,
Ages, and it is with much determination This dilemma is not exclusive to the at Kassel, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen. 8
that we search for as many facts as possi- instruments mentioned by Clarke. An Although it had no neck, it did posses
ble for each of our varied interests. This excellent example can be found in seven strings stretched over a wooden
article seeks to clarify the historical approximately 600 A.D., when music body with a flat back.
authenticity of one of the most popular developed in Japan while it declined in
musical instruments, the guitar. China. The Chinese instrument known as The kithara supports strings on a
In preparation for this search, guide- the ch'in was named the koto in Japan. frame and the guitar supports its
lines had to be set as to what the Society This instrument has also been named a strings on a neck, which has no bear-
deems "authentic." Is it more aesthetically "Chinese lute" but we would name it a ing on the acoustics of the instru-
pleasing to see an instrument as identical "long zither." The Japanese instrument, ment; only in the appearance. 9
as it would have been in the Middle Ages, biwa, was actually the Chinese p'ip'a.
even if the materials used to create it may The stringed instrument used by street The ancestor of the lute family is con-
not allow for the best tone, or would it be singers and geishas was called the sidered by some to be the lyra from 1250
pennissible to use finer or modern materi- samisen and it is a guitar.' Over the cen- B.C. The lyra first developed by tying
als to keep a longer-tuned, better tonality turies, such name-changing makes it very strings across a tortoise shell, thus creat-
instrument when performing? It is the difficult to follow a steady lineage of ing a rounded-back instrument which (so
opinion of this author that modern materi- many of the stringed instruments. the theory goes) later developed into the
als do not ruin or change the sound or In the 14th century in Spain, the guitar lute. An example of the long-necked lute
purpose of an instrument, and that a guitar had three other names: the guitarra latina, can be seen on a tomb of Nakht near
should be treated as an equal representa- the guitarra maresca, and the guitarra Thebes, 15th century B.C. 1O
tion of a medival instrument if used in a saracena. These instruments are also seen Although many authors will call the
performing arts competition, say, up in the very elaborate Spanish manuscript same instrument either a "guitar-like" or a
against a plastic recorder, a modern-day of the thirteenth century The Cantigas de "lute-like" instrument, it can be safe to
lute or a ceramic drum. Santa Maria. This manuscript is com- consider an instrument with a flat back,
It is commonly believed that the lute is prised of four codices. In the Escorial strings, fretted neck. and sound holes to
far older than the guitar. Although the Codex B.I.2, fol. 140, musicians are be a member of the guitar family. An
focus of this article is on the latter instru- depicted playing plucked lutes, but a instrument with the same attributes save
ment, occasional comparisons to the lute source describes the instruments as exam- for a rounded back would be considered
are included to assist the reader in a better ples of vihuelas de penola." In the same to be of the lute family. The shape of the
understanding of the evolution of codex, fol. 147 musicians are shown play- back is the distinguishing feature, as the
medieval stringed instruments. Despite ing plucked lutes, and the same source acoustic effect is shared by both types of
the lu te' s stronger claim to precedence, describes them as examples of the guitar- instrument.
however. there is evidence to suggest that ra latina and the guitarra morisca.' It may be argued that another factor to
the guitar-or the ancestor of the guitar- Another source, however, describes the consider when characterizing an instru-
is far older than is commonly realized. same miniature as: "Waisted guitar with ment is the manner in which it was tuned.
five strings and oval guitar with five The kithara was tuned in what are called
Properties of the Guitar divergent strings."6 As indicated above, "tetra chords," a succession of four
For the purpose of this article, "guitar" instruments are frequently named "lutes" descending notes consisting nonnally of a
is defined as an instrument with a nat with guitar names added in brackets or whole tone. A standard tuning of the pre-
back, which produces acoustic sound by vice-versa. sent-day guitar is much the same, but with
means of strings stretched over a wooden
sound box and a fretted neck.'
Robert Paul Clarke, in his master's
thesis, A Musical History of the Guitar,
notes that the guitar seemed to appear and
disappear throughout history. He has also
found that the names of identical instru-
ments are less than consistent throughout
history.
Figure 1: The guita"a latina, as depicted in the 13th century
Spanish manuscript The Cantigas de Santa Maria (1221-1284)
8
a 3rd thrown in." The six-string guitar,
when strings are played open, is tuned as
follows: E A D G B E (three fourths, one
third and another fourth).
A popular tuning of the lute is almost
the same, except that it has one less
fourth. 12 Thus, if the guitar and the lute
have basic tuning similarities, it is there-
fore possible to strum the same chord or
pick the same notes on either instrument.
For example, the chord "c" can be played
Figure 2: Guitar-like instrument depicted on a stone relief
on either a lute or a guitar, although a dif-

I
c. 1400 B.C. at the New Hittite Empire settlement, Alaja Huyuk.
ferend form is required. "Form" is the
word used to describe the shape that is The similarities between the guitarra chrotta, and Welsh crwth all enjoyed pop-
made by the left hand on the neck of the latina in The Cantigas de Santa Maria ularity in the Middle Ages. The lineage of
'f' guitar or lute when playing a certain (1221-1284). (see Figure 1), and the gui- such instruments seems to start with the
chord. Since different instruments may tar-like instrument depicted on a stone- rotta or chrotta.
produce the same sounds with different relief on a gate of 1400 B.C. are worthy Venantius Fortunatus mentioned the
forms, and since the same instrument may of notice. The latter is said to be one of chrotta in the sixth century.19 An example
be tuned in more than one manner (thus the earliest known representations of the of a seventh century chrotta can be seen
requiring the use of different forms to guitar with all of its basic characteristics. at the London, British Museum. It was
produce the same sound) it may be safely This stone relief is found at the New excavated at the Sutton Hoo ship burial,
juded that tuning is not a sufficient Hittite Empire settlement at Alaja Huyuk and shows a rectangular wooden instru-
method for characterizing different musi- which is located in Anatolia. 15 The follow- ment with a flat back and six strings.
cal instruments. ing features are found on both instru- There are two small sound holes on the
Another challenge states that in order ments: curved or waisted sides, held lower half on the flat body. 2U The rotta
to be considered a guitar, an instrument against the body (showing that it has a flat was plucked with a plectrum, with the fin-
must have six strings. The number of back). The instrument is held by a neck, gers or was bowed. The Sutton Hoo
strings or courses, however. does not which appears to have frets. Sound holes chrotta was also called a choros. The 'w'
change the instrument. Throughout histo- are evident, with the Cantigas showing a was pronounced as '00' in Welsh. hence
ry. just about every imaginable combina- single central sound hole, and the Hittite the many names for the same type of
tion of strings and courses have been stone relief showing eight to ten small instrument have been identified as: chrot-
tried. When an instrument is described as sound holes. In the latter, the holes num- ta, rotta, cruit, rerotte, and croud. 21
being a "four course" guitar, this means ber four or five above and below the neck, The examples above trace the lineage
that the strings are doubled. For example, and strings are stretched along the neck from the Greek kithara and the Roman
our modern day 6-string guitar has six on the flat body of the instrument l6 (see kithara down to the modern-day guitar, so
strings. If it is a 12-string guitar, it would Figure 2). These two figures indicate that far as the question of a flat back and
be described as a six course guitar. the guitar has been around since 1400 strings over sound holes are concerned.
Moreover, the same challenge has not B.C.. and developed even more popularity Note also that during this same ancient
been applied to other historical instru- during the 13th century. time there existed the Egyptian instrument
ments. One type of lute has five courses, referred to above as the long-necked lute.
with a final single string, for a total of The Guitar Throughout History In approximately 800 A.D. the bow
eleven strings. The vihuela became very The name guitar is a modification of became popular, developing into many
similar to the modern 12-string guitar, and the Greek word kithara. Its present-day stages and sizes with no set tuning as
many sources claim that they are the same form is more likened to the late Roman standard. Bowed instruments from this
instrument. IJ In his treatise, Tratado de kithara form, which dates from around time can be classified into several groups:
Instrumentos. (published in Osuna, Spain 2500 B.C. There is a carving from the the rebec, the croud, the medieval viol,
1555), Fray Juan Bermundo made a com- first century A.D. of a guitar-like instru- and the fiddle. The word 'fiddle' was used
parison of the two instruments by imply- ment found in the Russian Buddhist to cover all these categories throughout
ing that when you want a guitar or a monastery at Airtam near Termez. It can this time period. There is much pictoral
vihuela, you take off or put on courses, now be located in the Hermitage Museum evidence showing instruments which were
(take or add strings) and keep the corre- at Leningrad. 17 An excellent example from normally picked being bowed, and vice
sponding tuning identical. 14 the 3rd century A.D can be seen from a versa. In essence, it depended on what
Confusion abounds, because stringed limestone sarcophagus found near Arles. effect the musician wanted to achieve. 22
instruments throughout the centuries have It shows a kithara beside a side view of a For example, a manuscript from 1000
been forever changing by adding or taking full-bodied lute. This tomb appears to be B.C., depicts King David with a 3-
away strings. and by tuning them in cre- that of a musician, and the remains of a stringed bowed rotta, with a flat back.
ative ways. Any instrument maker will plectrum were also found. 18 From this it is This manuscript is now in the collection
tell you that each instrument is different, clear that an instrument with a flat, wood- of the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. 23
and that making a very special instrument en back and strings over a sound hole The crwth is recorded as a six-stringed
is part of the challenge and thrill of being existed in the time period leading up to bowed instrument, and the earliest illus-
the creator. Based on this, how can it be the Middle Ages. tration is from the 11 th century A. D.
said that a six-stringed, flat-backed, waist- Bowed and plucked stringed instru- Later, in the 12th century, illustrations
ed instrument with a fretted neck has not ments with flat backs have been used for depict the rectangular-shaped crwth with
existed before the sixteenth century? thousands of years. The rebec, crowd, Continued on ncxt pagc ...
Issue #129, Winter 1999 9
a fingerboard and a bow. This instrument having four brass or steel strings, a flat AD.).'" A picture showing the vihuela is
is generally considered part of the violin back, and a fretted neck ..1.1 Geoffrey seen from Luis Milan's music book, El
family, and was used in Wales up until Chaucer (1343-1400 AD.) mentions the Maestro, or 1535 AD. entitled depicting
the nineteenth century. Other names for citole in his Canterbury story, The Orpheus serenading animals and birds on
this type of instrument include: Irish-crot Knightes Tale. '4 a vihuela.
or cruit, Latin-chorus, and the Anglicized The gittern is northern Europe's ver- More examples of the guitar in the
version-crowd. 24 sion of the southern guitar. It too is 16th century can be seen in the following:
In relation to the wooden. flat-backed described as possessing holly-leaf or • An engraving by Morcantonio
concept, we can look to the Rerotte, winged-shaped upper bouts with a flat Raimondi, 1510 AD. showing the poet
which was used from approximately the back, fretted neck, and (usually) four Philotes playing an arched-back viole de
eighth to the fourteenth centuries and has strings. A picture of the Comation of the mano;"7 another source for the same
been described as a type of psaltry. Virgin (1310 AD.), depicts an angel with engraving says the title is called The
Psaltrys were also called zithers, and were a four-stringed gittem.'s One source states Guitar Player:s
plucked and/or hammered. 2' The psaltry is that the citole was called a gittem prior to • An engraving attributed to Tobias
an instrument of various number of 1977. '6 Stimmer (1539-84), called, A Lady
strings, the most popular had ten. The two Juan Ruiz 0280-1350), Archpriest of Playing a Four-Course Guitar:9
forms known possessed either a square Hita, names two instruments in his Libro • An angel musician playing a vihuela
box or triangular box and of course, the de Buen Amor, the guitarra morisca and de mano: detail from the 15th century
flat back. A typical description of the the guitarra latina. "They were both retable, attributed to Maestro Perea, in the
shape of the psaltry can be found by the known to have been played at the court of Hermitage of St. Anne, Jative, Valencia.'o
early Church writers of St. Augustine, the Duke of Normandy in 1349."37 The There appears to be less documentation
11 th century AD.; "It should not be in the guitarra latina is described as possessing about the guitar than the lute throughout
shape of a kithara, but in the shape of a curved sides or parallel sides and a flat history. This could be because of culture,
square shield with ten strings."26 The back and is also said to have been called a gender, and religion. Some instruments
description of the psaltry can be found in gittem. An example of a gittern can be favored in court while others were used
biblical references as well. For our pur- seen on a roof boss of the mid-14th centu- more often by common folk, and were
pose, we can also see the psaltry many ry AD. in the Angel Choir of Gloucester thus more likely be documented. There is
times in the Cantigas de Santa Maria. Cathedra1." Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400 evidence that the four course guitar was
In addition to the crwth, the croud or A.D.) mentions the gittern in his popular in the city and country, but the six
crowd. the rerotte or psaltry, the kithara, Canterbury story, The Milleres Tale. 39 course guitar, the vihuela, was the instru-
and the chrotta or rotta, SCA members The Cantigas de Santa Maria has ment most likely used for courts and royal
can also look to the vihuela, the citole, the splendid examples of the instruments musicians. The common folk used the
gittern, and the guittara latina to see the played in the court of Alfonzo the Wise, four-string guitar whereas the vihuela is
process of the guitar. King of Castile and Leon (1221-1284). noted as being the instrument of "elegant
The Gate of Glory by Master Mateo Several examples of the guittara latina and polite society."'l
(1188 A D), located at the Church of can be seen as well as the citole, lute, cit- By 1555 AD., there appears to be a
Santiago de Compostela in Spain, shows a tern, and all sizes and shapes of medieval transition of the vihuela. It had six cours-
guitar-shaped instrument believed to be fiddles, and psalteries:o A stone carving es, the five lower strings doubled and the
the original vihuela. 27 Although there are of the guittara latina can be seen in the top one single, just like the lute. It is
sources that relate the guitar to its bowed West Portal of Leon Cathedral. It is of a referred to as the Spanish guitar.
cousins the viol family, there is no bow crowned musican playing the guitarra However, the guitar of the common
with this instrument on the Gate. It is latina from the 14th century AD!! folk-the four course guitar---eventually
noted that after 100 years there were More information about the vihuela is had a fifth string added, a total of eleven
many different vihuelas, and some did not mentioned in the poetry of the Archpriest strings, and was called the Spanish
use a bow. The vihuela was actually a of Hila (1283-1350). He lists many instru- guitar. 52 Hence the vihuela, the six-course
guitar, but had a shorter and wider neck. It ments, among them the vihuela and the guitar, or the lute (all names for a similiar
also had the waisted or curved sides and a atambores (called the Moorish and the instrument), has more documentation than
flat back. The tuning was identical to the Latin guitar).42 In the Renaissance there the common four-course guitar.
Renaissance lute. 28 were three popular vihuelas in use in Religion is also a possible factor, as
The citole is described as a stringed Spain, each played a bit differently: the can be seen when the lute was introduced
instrument, sometimes made with a flat vihuela de pendola (played with a plec- to Spain and was considered by the
back and sometimes with a vulted back, trum), the vihuela de arco (played with a Spanish to be "heathen." The evidence
depending on the preference of the cre- bow), and the vihuela de mana (played by suggests that the guitar was favored over
ator. 29 It is said by some to be the ancestor the hand). By the sixteenth century the the lute in 8th century Spain. 53
of the gittern and is noted for its apparent popular one, the vihuela de mano, was Gender may well have been another
holly-leaf shape, with a flat back. 3D It is used the most. 43 Note again that the factor. Ancient African drawings depict
seen quite frequently throughout docu- vihuela was actually a guitar. 44 the long-necked lute, and it is usually
ments from the 13th through the 16th cen- A mural painting by Anton Sanchez of played by a woman. This could be a result
turies. Tinctoris (1435-1511), a music the- the 14th century, illustrates a guitar. It is of the apparent lightness of the instru-
orist of his day from Italy, mentions the entitled Angel playing a guitar, and can ment. S4 Tinctoris (1435-1511), mentions
citole in a list of various instruments. 3 ! be viewed at the Old Cathedral, in his 12th treatise, book IV, chapters 4 &
Another reference suggests that the citole Salamanca:' An angel musician plays a 5, that the guitar was not used very much
is the ancestor of the cittern. '2 Tinctoris, six-course viola de mana which is from because it had a thin tone. He adds that it
in his treatise De Inventine et Usu the painting Madonna and Child with St. seemed to be played by women rather
Musical (1487), describes the citole as Anne by Gerolamo dai Libri (1474-1555 then men, and that the Catalans used the
10 ccournamcnts'JUuminaNd
guitar mainly in accompaniment for love 23Montagu,  1976, P 14   Kasha,  Michael.  "A  New  Look  at  the 
songs." 24Huges  and Abraham,  1964   History  of the  Classic  Guitar."  The
"Clarke,  1983   Guitar Review. G  R  30.  New  York: 
Conclusion 26Huges  and Abraham,  1964   Society of the Classic Guitar,  1968. 
There is widespread evidence through- 27Clarke,  1983, p 72  
out history to  suggest that the guitar quali- 28Kasha,  1968   Katz,  Israel J.  and  Keller,  John  E.  Studies
fies  as  an  authentic  instrument  for  the  29Montagu,  1976   on The Cantigas de Santa Maria. Art,
Society's  period  of re­enactment.  Indeed,  3°Wilkins,  1980   Music, and Poetry Proceedings of the
it may be argued that the guitar is  even an  31Gustave,  1959   International Symposium on The
ancient instrument which  has  been identi- "Monrow, 1976   Cantigas de Santa Maria of Alfonso X,
fied  by  many  names  throughout  many  )3Monrow,  1976, Wilkins,  1980, p  150   el Sabio (1221­1284)  in commemora-
countries,  always  evolving  with  the  cul- )4Wright,  1883, p 67   tion  of Its  lOath  year.  Madison:  The  
tures  that  dominate  it.  As  the  history  is  "This  picture  is  now  at  the  British   Hispanic  Seminary  of  Medieval  
continually  investigated,  more  evidence  Library. (Montagu,  1976)   Studies, Ltd.,  1981.  
may yet come to light.  36Wilkins,  1980  
I  also  ask  others  to  share  what  they  37Remnant,  1978, p 36   Leichtentritt,  Hugo.  Music  of the  Western 
may find to  add to  this  brief collection for  "'Remnant,  1978   Nations.  Cambridge:  Harvard 
the  "authentic  guitar."  I  hope  these  few  )9Wright,  1883, p  101   University Press,  1956. 
pages will encourage more A&S  competi- 4°Montagu,  1976; Katz and Keller,  1981  
tion  with  the  guitar,  and  more  research  41Evans  and Evans,  1977, p  19   Monrow,  David.  Instruments  of the 
into  music  written  for  the  instrument.  42Ribera, p  156   Middle  Ages  and  the  Renaissance. 
There is  much that has  not yet been trans- 4JMontagu,  1976   London,  WI:  Oxford  University  Press. 
lated,  including  ancient  music  . I  encour- 44Kasha,  1968   1976. 
age  anyone  who  has  the  ability,  to  bring  "Evans and Evans,  1977, p  19  
to us the transcripts of music that included  46Evans  and Evans,  1977, P 20   Montagu, Jeremy.  The  World of Medieval 
the  guitar.  Be  proud  as  you  perform  with  47Evans  and Evans,  1977, P 18   & Renaissance  Musical  Instruments. 
this  venerable  instrument;  it  has  survived  48Geiringer,  1965, plate XXII   Woodstock,  New  York:  The  Overlook 
much.•  49Evans  and Evans,  1977, p 22   Press,  1976. 
50Evans and Evans,  1977, P 20  
Remnant,  Mary.  Musical  Instruments  of 
Notes  'lEvans and Evans,  1977  
the  West.  New  York:  St.  Martin's 
"Clarke, 1983  
Press,  1978. 
IMichael  Kasha has  used the  tar family   "Huges and Abraham,  1964  
to  categorize  the  lute,  the  guitar,  and  the   54Sahs, 1943, p 65  
Ribera,  Julian.  Music  in  Ancient Arabia 
tanbur  in  the  same  family  structure.  The   "Gustave,  1959  
and Spain.  London:  Oxford  University 
tar family  is  based  on  instruments  which  
Press,  1929. 
possess  a  single  fretted  neck  with  strings.   Bibliography 
I  encourage  anyone  who  has  interest to   Sahs,  Curt.  The  Rise  of Music  in  the 
read  his  article.  It  can  be  located  in  the   Blom,  Eric.  Grove's Dictionary of Music Ancient  World  East  and  West.  New 
Guitar Review, GR­30,  1968.   and Musicians. London:  MacMillan  &   York:  W.W.  Norton  &  Company, 
2Clarke,  1983, p.  6   Company Ltd.,  1954   1943. 
3Clarke,  1983, p.  25  
4Katz and Keller,  1981, p.  20 I   Clarke,  Robert Paul.  A Musical History of Sendrey,  Alfred.  Music  in  Ancient Israel. 
'Katz and Keller,  1981, p.  221   the Guitar. Pittsburgh:  Duquesne   New  York:  Philosophical  Library, 
6Montagu,  1976, p.  28   University.,  1983   1969. 
7Remnant,  1978  
8Geiringer,  1943   Evans,  Tom  and  Mary  Ann.  Guitars; Wilskins,  Nigel.  Music  in  the  Age  of 
9Clarke,  1983, p.  72   Music, History, Construction, and Chaucer.  D.S.Brewer,  1980. 
IUSahs,  1943   Players: From the Renaissance to Rock.
llFinney, p  12,  1935   New York:  Paddington Press,  1977.  Wright, Thomas, Esq.  The  Poetical Works 
12There  were  several popular tunings of  of Geoffrey  Chaucer.  New  York:  The 
the  lute  during  the  Middle  Ages  and  Finney, Theodore M.  A History of Music, American News Company,  1883. 
Rennaissance.  The  example  used  here  is  2nd  Ed.  New  York:  Harcourt,  Brace, 
just one of several possibilities.  and Co.,  1935.  Julie  Carmen  (2 South  Gay  Drive, 
13Evans  and Evans,  1977   Longmont,  CO  80501.  Please  contact  with 
14Clarke,  1983   Geiringer,  Karl.  Musical Instruments. comments  at:  TeaI3@Bouldernews.infi.net) 
15Clarke,  1983;  Sendry,  1969;  Katz and   London:  George  Allen  &  Unwin  Ltd.,  has  two  cats,  Maurice  and  Montclair,  enjoys 
Keller,  1981; Kasha,  1968   1965.  guitar  playing,  piano,  and  singing.  She  works 
16Kasha,  1968   as  a  development  assistant  for  the  Boulder 
Gustave, Reese.  Music in the Renaissance. Philharmonic.  She  also  maintains  a  Host 
17Remnant,  1978   Home  for  one  person  with  developmental  dis-
New  York:  W.W.  Norton  &  Company, 
"Huges and Abraham,  1964   abilities. 
19C1arke,  1983   1959. 
Althea  ni  Cullaugh  is  a  10th  century 
2°Geiringer,  1943,  p  20;  Montagu,   Celtic  woman  who  learned to  play  the  chrotta 
Huges,  Dom  Anselm  and  Abrahm, 
1976, p  13; Remnant,1978, p 20   in  Ireland.  Later,  through  travels  in  the  East, 
Gerald.  New Oxford History of Music,
21Montagu,  1976   she  learned  to  play  the  3­chorus  guitar.  She 
Vol. III. London:  Oxford  University  also enjoys needpoint work and herbal crafts. 
22Remnant,  1978  
Press,  1964. 
Issue #129, Winter 1999   11 

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