Spanish Guitar in Spain
Country of the crafting: Spain
Region of the crafting: Andalucia
Town of the crafting: Granada
Type of the crafting: Musical instruments
1. Geographic Area.
Granada is a town and municipality in the province of Andalusia, Spain. It is located in the center of the Vega region of Granada, at an altitude of 680 m s. n.m., in a wide intrabecent depression formed by the River Genil and the foothills of the highest massif of the Iberian Peninsula, Sierra Nevada, which conditions its climate.
2. Craft characteristics.
The classical guitar has six tuned strings, going from grave to acute.The guitar has a flat, eight-shaped soundboard, a mouth or resonance opening on the harmonic cap.The mast is equipped with a fretboard with nineteen frets, usually metallic.The headstock is where the tuning of the strings is regulated, the pegs are sat, with an endless screw each.
3. The technique.
For the manufacture of the mast, the shovel and the soquet to which it will be shaped manually are carried out. the cover is one of the basic components of the guitar, it will depend on its sound quality. the lid in turn features an opening decorated with a marquetry putty designed to be one of a manufacturer’s identifying features. With the pieces already cut, we proceed to glue the handle to the lid, and then glue the rings, butt, cenezas, chains and centellones. Once all the glued pieces are lowered the chains to glue the bottom by winding the guitar with a string and then rosette the ring and the bottom to proceed to glue the profiles. After the profiles are lowered and the fretboard is glued, then the fretboard is alinéted, the cuts are made to put the fret. Finally the sanding is finished.
4. Used materials.
The main material of the manufacture of the guitar is wood, which there are different types of trees such as ash, alder, mahogany, and maple. and for the handle the most common woods are maple and mahogany.And last but not least the guitar strings.
5. History.
Spanish guitar is a musical instrument of European roots (Spain). There are various theories about the birth of it. Although there is a contact between the SpanishChristian and Arab-Muslim cultures in the Middle Ages that influence organological issues, the real heyday of the instrument develops during the 15th century when the first books of music begin to be printed for vihuela that would become popular at the time. the guitar in the case of music has been the string instrument that has to be played in many situations. In the Christian kingdoms, in Spain and the rest of Europe, there was an instrument known as a guitar with four pairs of strings, rounded shape and domed box, similar to the vihuela. and in the Muslim realms of Spain the Moorish guitar or guitar, of three pairs of strings, which can be considered direct precedents of the Spanish Guitar.
