History Of The Spanish and Classical Guitar - by Mike Hayes

History Of The Spanish and Classical Guitar - by Mike Hayes: "The Spanish Guitar Emerges:

With the coming of the Renaissance, inspired in part by Moslem learning brought home by returning Crusaders, the lute become the favorite instrument of Western Europe.

In Spain however, the lute was already overshadowed by a new instrument, the guitar. Two types of guitar were played by the Pyrenees: the vihuela, in the court and among fashionable society, and the guitarra latina, by ordinary folk. The former had eleven strings, five double and one single, and was plucked. The latter had four double strings and was strummed. The vogue of the vihuela reached a peak in the first half of the sixteenth century when many composers wrote works for it. At about the same time a fifth string was added to the guitarra latina, which thereupon gained so rapidly in public favour that by the end of the century it had displaced its rival throughout most of the lberian Peninsula."