The baroque guitar may be considered as having had its own particular history both in terms of its shape, tuning, sound and style.
It was very often used as a solo instrument but, according to certain sources, also as an accompanying instrument. Even though it may be difficult to give exact dates, it was in use in the second half of the 16th Century until the end of the 18th Century in the following countries :
- Italy with guitar composers Lelio Costa, Nicola Matteis, Francisco Corbetta (who moved to France and became Louis XIV's guitar teacher)
- Spain with Gaspar Sanz, Santiago de Murcia, Francisco Guerrau, etc.
- France with Antoine Francisque, Robert de Visée, etc.
Tuning
The baroque guitar is usually tuned in E and has either
- five double courses
- or four double courses and a single top string, in other words the first, called the "chanterelle" (from the French "chanter" = to sing). The overall tuning is the same as the modern guitar: E, B, G, D, A, from the first down to the fifth course, the only difference being that the fifth course on the baroque guitar is not really a bass string, (and this is where things get complicated...).
The guitar as an accompanying instrument
The baroque guitar is a lightweight instrument with a clear yet rich timbre that is perfect for accompanying the voice while still being capable of making itself heard in the company of other instruments.
It is used in continuo playing and is often included in ensembles with the theorbo, archlute, viola da gamba and other continuo instruments.
In addition to the playing technique, which is the predecessor of the romantic and modern guitars, it has another unusual feature: its alphabetical musical notation system known as the "alphabetto Montessardino" or "abecedario italiano" and attributed to the Italian Montesardo.
The basic idea is simple but nevertheless requires a certain degree of practice.
The letters and signs match certain specific chords using a system built around the fundamental bass notes: the chord is then built upwards using the remaining notes either sung by the singers or played by the instrumentalists; it is then relatively easy to provide effective accompaniment.
Here is an example of alphabetto used by Biaggio Marini, who was a performer/composer from the time of Monteverdi, in the introduction to his 1622 "scherzi e canzonette".
Another example of alphabetto used by Gaspar Sanz in his book "instruccion de musica sobre la guitara espanola" published in Saragossa in 1674. Sanz uses a system he calls the "labyrinth" but the name is misleading as the actual system is relatively simple with each square of the chord grids showing both the minor and major chord shapes.
Example :
The cross in the in the first square indicates an E minor chord
The F that follows indicates a chord of E major
The finger positions of the cross and F are shown with arrows in the tablature below.
The other signs are shown below and are based on the same principle, that of matching the letters or signs with the finger positions shown in the chart.
NB: The small numbers positioned above the letter or sign indicate the fret at which the chord is to be played (2 means the 2nd fret, 3 the 3rd fret, etc.)
To add a particular character to a piece, French- or Italian-style strumming techniques may be used. Another strumming style is the Spanish rasgueado that consists in dragging the finger across the strings from the top to the bottom string or vice versa. A variety of right-hand techniques may be used to provide the music with rhythm and a sense of power and set the tone of the piece.
These chords can also be used in solo pieces, such as in the extract that follows.
Solo Music
The system used to read guitar music is basically the same as for the lute except that the tablature consists of only five lines, one for each course of the guitar.
Here is an extract from Canarios by Gaspar Sanz from the 1674 Saragossa manuscript to which I have added a few strumming passages that are typical of guitar music at the time.
Surely the principle is nothing more than that still used by today's guitarists who have adapted it to the current instrument and musical style.