Classical Guitar

Classical guitar is a plucked string instrument from the family of instruments called chordophones. It traditionally has 3 plain gut bass strings and 3 gut wound silk core treble strings and the modern adaption typically has 6 nylon strings (the 3 bass-strings additionally being wound with a thin metal thread). Today's classical guitar is regarded as having been established with the designs of the nineteenth century Spanish luthier Antonio Torres Jurado, although modifications continued to be made. Hence the modern classical guitar is sometimes called the "Spanish guitar".
The classical guitar as instrument is characterized by:
* its shape, construction and material — modern classical guitar shape, or historic classical guitar shapes (e.g. early romantic guitars from France/Italy). A guitar family tree can be identified.[3]. The flamenco guitar is derived from the modern classical, but has differences in material, construction and sound.[4].
* its strings — today primarily nylon; the bass-strings additionally being wound with a thin metal thread (traditionally they were made of gut - gut strings are still available today[5])
* the instrumental technique — the individual strings are usually plucked with the fingers or the fingernails — plectra are rarely used
* its historic repertoire, though this is of lesser importance, since guitarists are known to borrow from the repertoires of a wide variety of instruments.

The name classical guitar does not mean that only classical repertoire is performed on it, although classical music is a part of the instrument's core repertoire (due to the guitar's long history); instead all kinds of music (folk, alternative, jazz, flamenco, etc.) can be and are performed on it.

The term modern classical guitar is sometimes used to distinguish the classical guitar from older forms of guitar that are also sometimes called classical. Many luthiers today also build these older forms of "classical" guitars (e.g. replicas of romantic guitars, etc).

The classical guitar has a long history and one is able to distinguish various:
* instruments
* repertoire (composers and their compositions, arrangements, improvisations)
Both instrument and repertoire can be viewed from a combination of various contexts:
* historical (chronological period of time)
o baroque guitar — 17th to mid 18th century
o early romantic guitars — 19th century (for music from the Classical and Romantic periods)
o modern classical guitars
* geographical
o e.g. in the 19th century: Spanish guitars (Torres), and French guitars (René Lacôte, ...), etc.
* cultural/stylistic and social aspects
o e.g. baroque court music, 19th century opera and its influences, 19th century folk songs, Latin American music, etc.