The question “When Was The Guitar First Made?” is deceptively simple. Unraveling the answer takes us on a fascinating journey through millennia, tracing the evolution of stringed instruments across diverse cultures and continents. While pinpointing an exact date for the ‘first guitar’ is impossible, we can explore the rich tapestry of history that led to the instrument we know and love today.
Echoes from Mesopotamia: The Lute’s Ancient Ancestry (3000 BCE)
To understand the guitar’s origins, we must first delve into the history of the lute family. Remarkably, archaeological evidence points to lute-like instruments existing as far back as 3000 BCE. A cylinder seal from the Uruk period in Southern Mesopotamia, now housed in the British Museum, provides a visual testament to this antiquity. This seal depicts a musician playing a stringed instrument, showcasing the long and rich history of plucked instruments in the region that is modern-day Iraq.
Alt text: Ancient Egyptian relief carving circa 1069-945 BC depicting a harpist performing for the god Ra Harakhte, illustrating early stringed instrument traditions.
These early instruments, with both long and short necks, resonated across ancient civilizations. From Mesopotamia to ancient Egypt, examples abound in museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the British Museum, preserved on clay tablets and papyrus. These instruments were integral to the musical landscapes of Sumerians, Akkadians, Persians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Armenians, Greeks, Egyptians, and Romans, demonstrating a continuous and widespread tradition of stringed music in the Mediterranean and Middle East.
Medieval Diversification: Guitarra Latina and Guitarra Morisca (500 – 1400 AD)
Moving forward in time to the Medieval period (500-1400 AD), we see the emergence of instruments more directly related to the guitar. During this era, instruments with 3, 4, and 5 strings were already in use in Europe. Two significant types emerged in Spain: the Guitarra Latina and the Guitarra Morisca. The Guitarra Latina, believed to have arrived in Spain from elsewhere in Europe, featured curved sides, a characteristic that would persist in later guitar forms. The Guitarra Morisca, brought to Spain by the Moors, had a distinct oval soundbox and multiple sound holes, reflecting its Middle Eastern origins and connection to the oud.
The Oud’s Influence and the Rise of the Lute (711 AD)
The Moorish influence on the Iberian Peninsula, beginning in 711 AD, is crucial in understanding the guitar’s lineage. The Moors introduced the oud, a pear-shaped, fretless stringed instrument, to Western Europe. While instruments resembling the oud, such as the ancient Greek Pandoura and Roman Pandura, may have reached the Iberian Peninsula earlier, it was the Moorish courts that fostered oud playing and elevated its status. Zyriab, a renowned oud player in Al-Andalus (Moorish Iberia), even established a music conservatory and added a fifth course of strings to the instrument, further solidifying its importance.
The European adaptation of the oud became known as the lute. The term “luthier,” still used today for makers of stringed instruments, originates from the French word “luth.” A key difference between the oud and the lute was the introduction of frets on the lute, typically made of tied gut. Construction techniques for the oud and lute were similar, often featuring backs made of thin wood staves glued together and tops of spruce.
The First Guitars: Mentions in Historical Records (1265 & 1349)
While lute-family instruments flourished, the term “guitar” began to appear in historical records during the late medieval period. The first known mention of a guitar dates back to 1265. Later, in 1349, records from the Duke of Normandy’s court mention musicians playing instruments identified as Guiterre Morische (Moorish Guitar) and Guitarra Latina (Latin Guitar).
Alt text: Visual representation from circa 1320 Castile/Spain showing a guitarra latina with a curved body and a guitarra morisca with an oval body, illustrating the distinct forms of early guitars.
These references are significant as they distinguish between two types of instruments – one Moorish-influenced and the other Latin-European. The Guiterre Morische is considered an ancestor of the European lute and the modern Arabic oud, while the Guitarra Latina is recognized as the more direct precursor to the guitar as we know it today. The Guitarra Latina, with its curved sides, continued to evolve, eventually shedding the “Latina” descriptor and becoming simply the “guitar.”
Conclusion: A Long and Winding Road
In conclusion, pinpointing the exact moment “the guitar was first made” is an oversimplification of a complex historical process. The guitar didn’t emerge in isolation but rather evolved over centuries from a lineage of stringed instruments, particularly those of the lute family. From the ancient lutes of Mesopotamia to the medieval Guitarra Latina, the journey to the modern guitar is a testament to cultural exchange, adaptation, and continuous innovation in musical instrument making. While we cannot assign a single date to the guitar’s invention, exploring its history reveals a rich and fascinating story of musical evolution stretching back thousands of years.
