The New

Dictionary of

Musical

Instruments

CDG to O

h gives rhythmicdance ensembles

and the name is also applied to the ATCHERE, a largerattle with external strikers, used for religious rites ofthe Afro-Cuban Lucumi cult. In Puerto Rico, the giiirois used in most types of folk and popular music, and incertain religious festivals. In Panama, the giiiro (orgudchara) accompanies the mejorana and cumbiafolkdances. In Ecuador, where it is scraped with a smallcomb, the giiiro is used by mestizos in Imbabura, byQuechuas in Tungurahua and by Afro-Ecuadorians inEsmeraldas Provinces.

The modem giiiro has been used in orchestral scores,including Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring (Cortege duSage), where it is called both 'rape guero' and 'guero(rape)'; in Ravel's L'enfant et les sortileges the giiiro orthe reco-reco may be used in place of the specifiedscraped cheese-grater (rape a frontage).

JOHN M. SCHECHTER, JAMES BLADES

Giiiro de joba [giiiro de moyuba]. Afro-Cuban water-gourd percussion instrument. See JICARA DE AGUA andWATER-DRUM.

Guisarke. A term occasionally applied to the KISSAR.

- "-VNGuitar (Fr. \uitarf, Ger. Gitarre; It. chitarra; Port.violdo', Sp^guitarra). A stnng instrument of the lute

yT"plucked or strummed, and normally with fretsalong the fingerboard. !t is difficult to define preciselywhat features distinguish guitars from other members ofthe lute family, because the name 'guitar' has beenapplied to instruments exhibiting a wide variation inmorphology and performing practice. The modem gui-tar has six strings, a wooden resonating chamber withincurved sidewalls and a flat back. Although its earlierhistory includes periods of neglect as far as art music isconcerned, it has always been an instrument of popularappeal, and has become an internationally establishedconcert instrument endowed with an increasing reper-ory.

3. The four-

1. STRUCTURE OF THE MODERN CLASSICAL GUITAR. Fig.lTpTS») shows the parts of the modem guitar. In instru-ments of the highest quality these are made of carefullyselected woods: the back and sidewalls of Brazilianrosewood, the neck cedar and the'fingerboard ebony;the face or table, acoustically the most important partof the instrument, is of spruce, selected for its resil-ience, resonance and grain (closeness of grain is con-sidered important, and a good table will have a graincount of between 12 to 16 per inch). The table and back

Guitar, §2: Origins

are each composed of two symmetrical sections, as isthe total circumference of the sidewalls. The table issupported by struts of Sitka spruce, which contributegreatly to the quality of sound. The traditional arrange-ment has the struts radiating from below the soundholeunder the lower part of the table, hence the term 'fan-strutting'. Various other patterns, however, have result-ed from experiments by different makers, and as highsound quality has been achieved by several of them, itis clear that one cannot speak of a standard struttingpattern; whatever the pattern, the table must be allowedto vibrate adequately. Vibrations of the strings are trans-mitted to the table by a rosewood bridge, which alsoacts as lower string fastener. The lower vibrating lengthof each string is determined by an ivory saddle in thebridge and by an ivory nut at the upper end. The frets(usually 19), giving a total range of three and a halfoctaves, are of nickel silver. The three upper strings aremade of nylon, the three lower of nylon strands over-spun with fine metal. Tuning is effected by rear pegsactivating a seared mechanism that turns the bone roll-

mi.iff.

Guitar, §3: Four-course 91

5. Guitars from the 16th century to the 20th: (a) five-course, by Belchior Dias, Lisbon, 1581; (b) five-course,"attributed to Jacob Stadler7 Munich, cl£>Z3 (rose missing); (c) six-course by Jose Pages, Cadiz, 1809; (d) six-course by Jose Ramirez; (a)-(c) Royal College of Music, London

cifras para vihuela (1546/^1980): four fantasias (onein the viejos tuning), a 'pavana' and a setting of O guar-dame las vacas, which uses the romanesca ground. Themusic is of the same high quality as Mudarra's vihuelamusic, which comprises the bulk of the collection. Theearliest Italian source is Melchiore de Barbenis's lute-book Opera intitolata contina Intabolatura di lanta . . .libra decimo (154939) in which are found four 'fantasias'for guitar. These are actually light dance pieces; one ofthem was reprinted by the Flemish publisher PierrePhalese (i) (1570) as a 'branle'.

It was in France that music for the four-course instru-ment flourished. Beginning with the (lost) first book ofGuillaume Morlaye (1550) a series of guitar books waspublished by the printers Granjon and Fezandat whichincluded music by Morlaye (book 1. RISM 155232//?1980,see fig.4; book 2, 1553*/R 1980; book 4, 155233//?1980)and Simon Gorlier (book 3, \55l~/R\9ZQ). A concur-rent series was published by the printers Le Roy andBallard with music by Le Roy (book 1, 155P//J1979;book 2, 1555/^1979; book 3, 1552/R1979; book 5,1554"/#1979J and Gregoire Brayssing (book 4,1553/R1979). The repertory in these publications com-poses a wide range of material from simple dance set-tings and intabulations of chansons to rather fine fantasias.Some of the dance settings have virtuoso divisions and

the fantasias include four by the famous lutenist Albertoda Ripa which compare favourably with his best lutefantasias. Le Roy's second and fifth books are entirelyfor solo voice and guitar. Among Spanish sources Mig-uel de Fuenllana's vihuela collection Orphenicalyra(1554) also contains guitar music, including Juan Vas-quez's Covarde cavallero and a romance, Passavase elrey moro, both for voice and guitar (the vocal line isindicated by red ciphers within the tablatures). Thereare also six fantasias and a setting of 'Crucifixus est'.

In England, as well, the four-course instrument enjoyedsome popularity, to judge by Rowbotham's The Breffeand Playne Instruction to Lerne to Play on the Gyttron.Only fragments of the book survive but evidence indi-cates that it was a translation of one of Le Roy's tutors(also lost). There are also some English lute manuscriptsources which contain samples of four-course auitartablature (GB-Lbm Stowe 389; GB-Lbm Add.30513; US-NH 'Braye lutebook'). Phalese, who was active in Lou-vain, printed two collections for the instrument (157035;1573, lost). Much of the music in the first book wastaken from the earlier French publications. A numberof Italian manuscript sources from the late 16th and ear-ly 17th centuries survive in European libraries. (For anextensive listing of guitar sources see Tyler, 1980,pp. 123-52.)