Guitar Music

Music is the art of sound and silence. There are several elements that characterize music: pitch (which rules melody and harmony), rhythm (together with meter, tempo, and articulation), structure, dynamics, and quality of timbre and texture. Guitar music has evolved a great deal along the centuries, and we can divide it by periods in time that influenced all types of arts, including guitar music.

In the Renaissance period, guitar music was mostly used with the intention of providing strummed accompaniment for small groups of artists and for singers. Some of the most famous composers of the 16th century were Luis de Milán, a Spanish composer who played the vihuela and wrote "El Maestro" (a book about vihuela music), Alonso Mudarra, also a Spaniard who played mainly vihuela and composed "Los Seys Libros de Música en Cifras para Vihuela" (this book has the first music ever published for 4-course guitars), among others.

The Baroque Era is mostly associated to J. S. Bach, Händel, and Vivaldi. It was in this period that a development in diatonic tonality, music theory, and imitative counterpoint happened. The music in this era is characterized by an elaborate ornamentation. There were also some changes in musical notation. Furthermore, some of the famous composers of this period were Francesco Cobetta, an Italian guitar virtuoso who worked for the royal court in Paris, and also in London (his published work is for 5-course guitars, for example, "Scherzi Armonici"), and Robert de Viseé, a lutenist, guitarist, theorbist, and viol player who wrote "Suite nº 1 in A minor", among others.

The Romantic period shows a musical work which is more expressive and also intimate and introspective. The most famous instrument was the pianoforte, but many piano pieces were transcribed to guitar. Famous names of this era are Francisco Tárrega, who transcribed many pieces of Albeniz, and also Mendelssohn, Chopin, Beethoven, etc, and Eliot Fisk, who transcribed all 24 Caprices of Paganini for solo guitar.

The Golden Age of classical guitar happened in the 19th century, when we have composers such as Fernando Sor (a Spanish guitarist who composed "Seguidillas", among others), Francesco Molino (an Italian guitarist who composed several woks such as "Nocturne op. 36"), Johann Kaspar Mertz (a guitar virtuoso who has many compositions, for instance, "Agathe op. 22"), and Mauro Giuliani (an Italian guitarist who composed "Grande Overture op. 61", etc.), among many others.

The Modern era is marked by the appearance of regional styles and courses like Learn & Master Guitar, especially Latin American guitar music with its unique harmonies. Some of the 20th century composers are: Agustín Barrios Mangoré, which is a Paraguayan guitarist who composed many pieces such as "Aconguita", "Allegro Sinfónico", etc; Juan L. Brower Mezquida, a Cuban guitarist who composed "Concierto para Guitarra nº 1", among others; Abel Carlevaro, an Uruguayan classical guitar composer who wrote "Concierto nº 3 para Guitarra y Orquestra" under the request of The Chamber Symphony of San Francisco; Andrés Segovia, a Spanish classical guitarist who made some transcriptions of J. S. Bach and Granados works; and Heitor Villa-Lobos, a Brazilian composer who wrote some pieces for guitar such as "Valsa Brilhante", "Quadrilha", "Chôros", and the most famous "12 Etudes".