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Some explain the origin of the guitar as a development from the old Greek instrument - Kithara; which is very phonetically close to Guitarra (Spanish word), others claim it was from the long necked lutes found in Mesopotamia and in Anatolia. The main disagreement is between those who claim that the guitar eventually came from Europe (derived from the Lute) and those who say it came from the Arab world (derived from the UD).

Though in earlier times the guitar was not considered to be a "classical" instrument, it always had its place as a popular instrument, making its way slowly towards the classical music and the concert halls.

The history of the guitar in Europe belongs to the renaissance. The structure of the guitar was similar to the Vihuela and the old lutes from ancient times. The name "Guitarra" is from Spain, which made a distinction between the "Renaissance guitar" and the "Spanish guitar".

The guitar had many sizes until it reached its "original size". Its sounds were very gentle, and it was harmonically restricted thus giving no major challenges to the performer; a fact that actually encouraged many people to play this instrument. The tuning of the guitar was not homogeneous and the the music was written in "Tablatures" and each is referring to a specific instrument. The earliest printing for the guitar is of Alonso Mudara in 1546. In France the guitar was very popular, and it was used for accompanying all kinds of dances like the Pavan Galliard and so on...

In the first half of the 16th century a fifth string was added to the guitar (five course guitar) and more frets were added to the guitar's neck; this was a major change which enabled the playing of a more complex music. Many composers started to write "classical" music for the guitar like Frescobaldi. New books were printed dealing with harmony (Major and Minor chords) and the techniques of playing the guitar. One of the important distributors in the 16th and the 17th century for the guitar was Korbeta who devoted musical pieces to Luis 14th, but his "successor" was R. de Vise (1660-1720), who composed music for the guitar like different suites with dances. We should notice that at this time the music for the guitar was written for the instrument it self and not just for accompanying songs.

The guitar in the 17th and the 18th centuries arrived to many countries like Italy, France, Spain, England, Germany and Holland - but the origin of the five course guitar was in Spain. Now this instrument had to "ways": 1. an instrument for the popular music and 2. the artistic music, which demanded much more practice and a broader knowledge of music.

In the last decade of the 18th century the guitar had six strings, as of today. The structure of the guitar was finally different from the lutes; it had no "Rose" and the frets were made of metal and the instrument was larger. The tablature was replaced by the "five lines".

In the 19th Century there were new performers and composers for the guitar, who contributed for its repertoire: Fernando Sor, who composed not only for the guitar and D. Aguado. Sor made a major distribution due to the fact that he traveled around the world giving recitals for the guitar.
In the second half of the 19th century the guitar had its "natural" size as of todays. The building of the guitar was very popular. The technique was improved especially by the composer and the guitar player Francisco Tarrega (1852-1909),who also wrote many transcriptions for the guitar from earlier periods and his own period.

One of the most important performers in the 19th and the 20th century was Andre Segovia (1893-1987), who encouraged many distinguished composers to write for the guitar in a high level. Concertos were written for the guitar (like Rodrigo's - Concierto de Aranjuez) and in parallel the guitar was taking part in chamber music as well.

There is no doubt that the guitar is becoming more respectable and there is a lot to do in the future...