Classical guitar construction is based on a long tradition handed down by generations of Spanish huthiers, dating back to legends of the 19th century like Antonio de Torres, and even earlier craftsmen. In more recent years, advances in available } materials, as well as the demands of modern players, have seen the spread of new construction ideas from Northern Europe, the United States, Australia and beyond. 7 ) As with any musical instrument, basic designs ak : may look alike at first glance, but the differe and the resulting quality of sound and playabi David Braid is in the detail, This page shows an “exploded” view of a classical guitar, to give an idea of its construction. The BACK of the guitar is bookmatched (like the soundboard, see above right) ~ though in this case made from a hardwood such as rosewood or ‘mahogany. The two halves are then braced from the inside with either three or (in some modern guitars) four transverse bars. The back is actually the last part to be attached during construction (despite how this diagram appears). The RIBS, or sides of the guitars are also cut from sheets of hardwood, but are heated and bent to shape. They're then joined at the bottom, where they're ‘glued to an END BLOCK ~ a piece of light hardwood (willow, lime, poplar). At the top they slot into the end of the neck. The narrowest point of the body is called the WAIST and the upper and lower sections called BOUT The modern BRIDGE, with detachable SADDLE (traditionally bone or ivory), is one of the most recent elements of the classical guitar, introduced in the 1850s. Rosewood és the usual bridge material, and here its elegance is enhanced by MARQUETRY to match the design of the ROS the often complex decorative mosaic around the SOUNDHOLE that’s one of a guitar-maker’s trademarks.The SOUNDBOARD is the top surface of a classical guitar, and is the single most important element in determining the sound quality of the instrument. A piece of spruce or cedar is “hookmatched” — sliced in half laterally and the halves ‘glued side-by-side so the grain matches ~ then carefully braced internally to stiffen without adding too much extra weight. The soundboard on the right of this pair shows the traditional Torres bracing system: seven light “fan-struts” ‘pointing at the 12th fret. To its left is UK luthier Paul Fischer's TAUT system: this criss-cross lattice of lightweight spruce FISCHER *TAUT? TRADITIONAL allows more design scope, like a thinner BRACING SYSTEM BRACING SYSTEM soundboard and reconfigured soundhole. The NECK (traditionally wider and flatter than most other types of guitar neck) is cut to shape from a length of hardwood. To achieve its backwards slope, the HEAD is usually sawn from the top of the neck wood with a diagonal cut, turned over and glued back on. It’s then veneered and holes drilled for the machineheads (string-tuning mechanisms). The HEEL \___ (the visible joint with the body) and the 5 FOOT (the interior part of the joint) are ae” built up from several layers of the same wood. The FINGERBOARD is cut (from ebony or rosewood) before {fitting to the neck. Nickel-silver FRETS are then hammered into place. The NUT is traditionally a slotted rece of bone which guides the strings at the top of the neck. The STRINGS themselves are nowadays nylon (originally animal gut), with the three bass strings wound in wire, and are available in various “tensions” - high tension delivers a brighter, livelier tone, but is harder on the fingers. The strings are traditionally tied at the bridge. The wood strips seen here with the regular euts across them are flexible KERFED LININGS, which reinforce the joint between sides, front and back. The narrower strips are PURFLINGS, which are inlaid into the guitar body at various points for decorative purposes.| Play : Classical Guitar _ Fingerboard maps This fold-out page can be used alongside | any section of the book as a helpful reference while you're memorising the position of all the notes on the guitar fingerboard. The main fret positions are also indicated, in Roman numerals (V = fiv X = nine, XI = 12 ete). These diagrams also make it clear that all notes have an octave within easy reach ~ and you'll notice the strong visual patterns that can help find these octave notes (as discussed in Section Four of the book). On strings three and four the octave can be found two strings and three frets higher; on strings five and six the octave is two strings and two frets higher As an example, the octave shape of D has been highlighted on the main fingerboard diagram — from the fifth fret on string five to fret seven on string three At this point (fret XII) the fingerboard begins repeating itself, but an octave higher. Other than on the top two 5 sirings, the notes from position XIT upwards are rarely used, as the same notes can be found lower down the neck with a much better "tone quality. Generally speaking, the longer the section of string /f lefi to vibrate, the I Clearer the sound. I \ ‘