The term “Spanish guitar” carries a rich history, evolving in meaning across centuries and geographical borders. Today, it’s often used synonymously with “classical guitar,” yet its origins and development are deeply intertwined with Spain, though its influence extends far beyond. The story of A Spanish Guitar begins in the Renaissance, with written records emerging in the 14th century. This instrument arose in Europe alongside musical traditions influenced by the Arabic world, sharing ancestry with instruments like the lute and the viol. While Johannes Tinctoris in the 15th century pinpointed Catalonia as the guitar’s birthplace, Spain’s impact on its evolution is undeniable, regardless of its exact origin.
In the 16th century, across much of Europe, the guitar was characterized by four courses of strings, tuned in pairs (gg’–c’c’–e’e’–a’a’). A “course” refers to a set of strings played as a single unit, typically two strings tuned in unison or an octave apart, positioned closely for fretting and plucking together. Spanish music publications of this era often included guitar music within collections for various instruments. Juan Bermudo’s El libro llamado declaración de instrumentos musicales (1555) is one such example. Interestingly, France saw a greater volume of publications specifically dedicated to the guitar during this period.
Alt text: 16th-century Spanish book “El libro llamado declaración de instrumentos musicales” by Juan Bermudo, featuring a section on early Spanish guitars.
The late 16th century marked a pivotal innovation: the introduction of the fifth course. This addition was widely recognized as a Spanish invention, leading to five-course instruments being explicitly called “Spanish guitars.” Gaspar Sanz, a musician and author writing in 1674, noted the French and Italian adoption of Spanish instruments. They embraced the fifth course and used the term “Spanish guitar” to differentiate these enhanced instruments from the older four-course guitars. Even the original owners of the Venetian Baroque guitar by Matteo Sellas, dating back to this era, might have referred to it as a chitarra spagnola. This narrative of Spanish innovation driving global guitar evolution is a recurring theme. The five-course Spanish guitar achieved its zenith particularly in France and Italy, where solo repertoire for the instrument flourished early on. However, in Spain itself, solo guitar music publication lagged until 1674 (Tyler 2005, p. 149). Despite the instrument’s popularity throughout Spain, royal courts often favored Italian and French musical styles.
Alt text: Ornate Venetian Baroque guitar by Matteo Sellas, an example of a historical Spanish guitar influenced instrument.
The 18th century witnessed a growth in the size of the Spanish guitar, with bodies becoming wider and deeper. A remarkable example is an instrument crafted by José Massague around 1755–60, boasting an impressive body depth of approximately 4 1/2 inches. This instrument maintained a large internal volume while retaining a body profile (plantilla) similar to earlier Renaissance guitars, characterized by upper and lower bouts of more equal size connected by a wide waist. However, this body shape was not static, and Spanish guitar makers again spearheaded design evolution. An instrument from 1797 by Benito Sanchez de Aguilera exemplifies an early 19th-century design trend. While retaining the wide lower bout, it featured a narrower waist transitioning to more rounded shoulders. These increasingly pronounced curves became a defining characteristic of early 19th-century guitar making in Madrid.
Alt text: 18th century Spanish guitar by José Massague, highlighting the increased body depth characteristic of the period.
During the 18th century in Spain, the Spanish guitar played a crucial role in accompanying national dance music, frequently performed in elaborate settings. Instruments of this era were often richly decorated with inlaid designs on the soundboard, as seen on a guitar attributed to Joseph de Frías from southwestern Spain.
Alt text: Decorated 18th-century Spanish guitar attributed to Joseph de Frías, illustrating the ornate craftsmanship of the time.
The soundboard of a Spanish guitar must withstand considerable string tension while also vibrating freely to produce sound. Before the mid-to-late 18th century, most guitars lacked bracing on the soundboard beneath the bridge. Around this time, makers began experimenting with thinner soundboards and internal bracing to increase volume. This period also saw the addition of a sixth course of strings, and guitars grew wider, making internal bracing even more critical. The earliest known guitar with fan bracing, a system that significantly improved soundboard stability and resonance, is attributed to Francesco Sanguino of Seville in 1759. Guitar makers in Cádiz also readily adopted fan bracing. A notable early example is an instrument by Joseph Benedid of Cádiz, dating to 1787. The luthiers of Cádiz at this time demonstrated a clear understanding of the importance of fan bracing for the soundboards of these larger, six-course instruments.
Alt text: 1787 Spanish guitar by Joseph Benedid, Cádiz, showcasing the early adoption of fan bracing technique.
From the early 19th century, the six double-course guitar, with pairs of unison strings, started to give way to guitars with six single strings. Instrument makers across Europe employed lateral barring, as seen in guitars by Pierre René Lacôte and Johann Anton Stauffer. Louis Panormo, a guitar maker working in London, promoted himself as “the only maker of guitars in the Spanish style,” adopting a version of the Spanish fan bracing system.
Édouard Manet’s painting The Spanish Singer depicts a man holding a guitar that is evidently French-made. Yet, Manet undoubtedly knew his audience would associate the instrument with Spain, reflecting the strong connection between Spain and the guitar in the public imagination. The 19th century witnessed a widespread fascination with Spanish guitar music and a growing demand for these instruments in concert halls. Compositions by Sor, Paganini, and Berlioz elevated the guitar from an amateur pastime to an instrument of musical sophistication and virtuosity.
Alt text: “The Spanish Singer” painting by Édouard Manet, featuring a French guitar symbolizing Spanish musical influence.
This era coincided with the arrival of German guitar maker C. F. Martin in New York in 1833. Martin was trained in the Viennese school of guitar making. However, in America, he quickly recognized the demand for Spanish-style guitars. By the late 1830s, Martin advertised his capability to produce Spanish guitars, also actively importing them. Martin’s guitars before the 1850s utilized a simple Spanish fan bracing system and plantilla. Even later guitars from his company retained Spanish design elements.
Numerous subtle changes occurred in the first half of the 19th century, culminating in the development of what is recognized as the concert guitar, most notably exemplified by the work of Antonio de Torres. Workshops began incorporating raised fingerboards, bridges with saddles, and innovative soundboard designs. Torres, whose career began in the 1850s, standardized many of these features and created instruments that quickly gained recognition for their superior qualities. His guitars were celebrated for their tone, and his fan bracing designs were rapidly adopted by other makers. A guitar by Pedro Fuentes, made before 1858, features five fan braces on the soundboard, a system Torres also employed on some of his instruments at the time. The wooden mosaic rosette decoration on Fuentes’ guitar became a standard aesthetic feature on classical guitars after the 1850s.
Alt text: Early fan-braced Spanish guitar by Pedro Fuentes, displaying mosaic rosette detail, an antecedent to Torres’ design standards.
The Ramírez brothers, Manuel (1864–1916) and José (1858–1923), began their guitar-making apprenticeships at a young age. Manuel quickly embraced Torres’ innovations and was soon considered Torres’ heir in guitar making. Santos Hernández, foreman of the Ramírez workshop, learned his craft alongside Manuel, and his instruments show clear similarities to those of his employer. When Manuel Ramírez famously gifted a guitar from his workshop to a young Andrés Segovia in 1912, it was known to be at least partly crafted by Hernández. Santos Hernández, himself a flamenco guitarist, designed his 1924 instrument specifically for that playing style. Its lightweight construction, utilizing cypress back and sides and wooden friction tuners, is ideally suited for flamenco music, where players often hold the guitar without leg support. Both Ramírez and Hernández faithfully continued the legacy of Torres, refining designs and demonstrating their own creativity and responsiveness to the demands of guitarists.
Alt text: Flamenco Spanish guitar by Santos Hernández, 1924, illustrating design adaptations for flamenco performance.
Andrés Segovia, even more so than Fernando Sor in the 19th century, actively influenced Spanish guitar design and development. He collaborated with top guitar makers, including Ramírez and Hernández. In the 1920s, Segovia encountered the German guitar maker Hermann Hauser, observing his potential:
I examined [his instruments] and immediately foresaw the potential of this superb artisan if only his mastery might be applied to the construction of the guitar in the Spanish pattern as immutably fixed by Torres and Ramírez as the violin had been fixed by Stradivarius and Guarnerius. (Romanillos 1987, p. 56)
Hauser later approached Segovia and presented him with a guitar. Through his own skill and his recognition of the Spanish traditions embodied in the work of Torres and Ramírez, Hauser is now recognized among the great makers of the Spanish guitar.
Alt text: Hermann Hauser’s Spanish guitar, a testament to the global adoption and evolution of Spanish guitar making traditions.
The 20th century brought a different kind of innovation. Guitar makers no longer faced the fundamental design challenges of the previous century. The 19th-century task of creating a concert instrument capable of projecting sound in large spaces had been achieved by Torres, and his designs remain the standard. A guitar by Ignacio Fleta, made in 1953, a century after Torres’ first instruments, demonstrates both the enduring value of Spanish instrument making and the continuity of traditions established in the early 20th century based on Torres’ designs. While Torres and his predecessors were known for their bold innovation, subsequent makers have primarily focused on minor refinements in internal bracing and materials. Today, Spanish guitar makers are necessarily educated in the innovations of these grand masters, ensuring the legacy of a Spanish guitar continues to evolve while honoring its rich history.
Alt text: 20th-century Spanish guitar by Ignacio Fleta, demonstrating the enduring legacy of Torres’ designs in modern Spanish luthiery.
