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The History of the Guitar

The history of the guitar extends further than the history of almost any other instrument, and has seen intense use throughout history.  According to many, the instrument saw its roots in about two thousand BC.

The guitar existed in ancient Greece, and while some claimed that the guitar was related to the Lute, the fact is that they are related only as distant cousins (and, in fact, the guitar likely had more influence on the lute than the lute did on the guitar).  Others claim that the lyre was the forefather of the guitar, siting a similarity in the Greek word “kithara” to the Spanish word “guitarra” (where we got the word “guitar” from).  However, this is also unlikely.

The real ancestors of the guitar are the bowl harps and tanburs.  These have been used since prehistory (likely from at least 2500 BC).  Old guitars of these nature were found all across the Middle Eastern area (from Sumeria to Babylon and Egypt).  There are even ancient Egyptian paintings which show the Tanbur, the long necked predecessor of the guitar.  If you're looking for the oldest guitar history, however, a guitar that was uncovered in Egypt was dated to 3500 years ago.

The Tanbur likely crossed paths with a number of other instruments as it made its way through Africa, the Middle East, and eventually into Spain.  The stringed instrument took on many forms, including the Lute, the Out, the Sitar, and a variety of other instruments that have earned their own categories.