not mean that only classical repertoire is performed on it (although classical music is a part of the instrument's core repertoire) - instead all kinds of music (classical, jazz, folk, etc.) can and are performed on it.

A classical guitar, sometimes also called a Spanish guitar (referring to its origin, not repertoire), is a musical instrument from the family of musical instruments called chordophones. The classical guitar is characterized by nylon strings (the bass strings usually being of nylon wound with a thin metallic "thread") which are plucked by the guitarists fingers. The name classical guitar does not mean that only classical repertoire is performed on it (although classical music is a part of the instrument's core repertoire) - instead all kinds of music (classical, jazz, folk, etc.) can and are performed on it.

The evolution of the classical guitar and its repertoire spans more than four centuries. It has a history that was shaped by contributions from earlier instruments, such as the Renaissance guitar, vihuela and the baroque guitar. The popularity of the classical guitar has been sustained over the years by many great players, arrangers, and composers. A very short list might include Gaspar Sanz (1640-1710), Fernando Sor (1778-1839), Mauro Giuliani (1781-1829), Francisco Tárrega (1852-1909), Agustín Barrios Mangoré (1888-1944), Andrés Segovia (1893-1987), Alirio Diaz (1923), Presti-Lagoya Duo (active from 1955-1967: Ida Presti, Alexandre Lagoya), Julian Bream (1933), and John Williams (1941).

By using their fingers, or more specifically fingernails and/or fingertips, to pluck instead of a plectrum or bow, classical guitarists can play polyphonic music with a sound unique to the family of guitar instruments. It is common to encounter classical guitar music that sustains two, three, or four musical lines or voices. The use of fingernails combined with some flesh of fingertips is generally the most accepted convention. However there are renowned players who do not utilise fingernails and prefer flesh over nail, examples include Fernando Sor and in his later years, Francisco Tárrega. On a classical guitar, there is more space between the strings, and a slightly wider fingerboard than is typical with other guitars. This satisfies technical demands made upon the left hand for the execution of polyphonic music and the requirement that the right hand fingers pluck the strings.

Classical guitarists usually hold the instrument by raising the left leg (usually resting it on a footstool), placing the guitar on that leg and holding the guitar in place with the right arm. Alternatively, the left foot might be placed on the floor and a small support placed between the left leg and the guitar. Either of these positions support the guitar in a way that gives the player greater mobility and access to the strings and the fingerboard. The right hand is a classical guitarist's voice similar to that of a string player's bow. By using a combination of flesh and fingernail to pluck the strings, a classical guitarist is able to generate a wide variety of sounds.

The classical guitar's most characteristic physical feature is the use of nylon strings (which have, largely, supplanted the use of gut strings), although since the mid 1990s carbon fibre or composite treble strings have gained popularity for their nylon-like sound and significantly better reliability. Nylon strings give the classical guitar a unique, varied and rich color palette. The size and shape of the classical guitar have been nearly standard for over 100 years. The finest guitars are built with a solid Western red cedar or spruce top, solid rosewood back and sides, traditionally a Spanish cedar or more recently a mahogany neck and an ebony fingerboard.


[edit] Performance
The right and left hand descriptions in this section are typical for right-handed guitarists.


[edit] Plucking of the string
Right-handed players usually use the fingers of the right hand to pluck the strings (with the thumb plucking from the top of a string downward, and the other fingers plucking from the bottom of string upward). The little finger is seldom used, since its small size would cause an unnatural right hand position, if it were often used. (Some guitarists such as Št?pán Rak compensate this with an extremely long fingernail on the little finger.)


[edit] Changing a string's active vibrating length (frets)
The fingers of the other hand are usually used to change the vibrating length of a string: the finger pushes the string towards a fret to achieve this. The shorter the string, the higher its pitch.


[edit] Direct contact with strings
As with other plucked instruments (such as the lute), the musician directly touches the strings (usually plucking) to produce the sound. This has important consequences: Different tone/timbre (of a single note) can be produced by plucking the string in different manners and in different positions.


[edit] Tone production/variation and freedom of performance
Guitarists have a lot of freedom within the mechanics of playing the instrument. Often these decisions influence the tone/timbre - factors include:

Right Hand:

At what position along the string the finger plucks the string (This is actively changed by guitarists since it is an effective way of changing the sound from "soft" plucking the string near its middle, to "hard" plucking the string near its end)
Use of nail or not: today almost all guitarists use their fingernails (which have to be smoothly and roundly filed) to pluck the string since it produces a sharper clearer sound, and also a better controlled loud sound is possible. When using the nail (of index, middle, ring or little finger) to pluck the string, the hand is usually held so that the left side of the nail makes the first contact with the string: this is not achieved by "rolling" the hand to the left, but rather by holding the hand in such a way, that the outstretched fingers are angled slightly the left relative to the strings (as opposed to perpendicular). Before plucking, usually both the left side of the nail and the finger touch the string; this enables the finger (and hand) to rest on the string in a balanced way. When the plucking motion is made, only the nail-contact remains: The curvature of the nail (starting from its left side) allows the string to be pulled back while the string slides towards the tip of the nail where it is released. This occurs so quickly that the gliding of the string over the fingernail is not perceived (but: a smoothly filed nail is necessary).
The "use of nail or not" is usually a fixed consistent decision of the player and not varied; the thumb is an exception and might actively be varied between using nail [sharper clearer sound] and using flesh.
Which finger to use (the thumb may be able to produce a different tone than the other fingers)
At what angle the wrist and fingers are held with respect to the strings (angle of attack), for plucking. This is varied by guitarists (however only minimally) and effects the produced tone. Modern guitarists (often use a fair amount of nail and thus) seldom hold their hand (such that the outstretched fingers are) at right angles to the strings (this produces excessive clicking noises), but use a more natural angled hand position (with variations), which produces a better tone. Often a tradeoff is involved: Some rich sounds that are achieved by having the finger rather parallel (if it were outstretched) to the string, do not easily allow fast plucking.
Rest-stroke (apoyando; having the finger that plucks a string come to a rest on the next string - traditionally used in single melody lines) versus free-stroke (tirando; plucking the string without coming to a rest on the next string): Usually influenced by the nails. Some guitarists with rather long nails avoid the rest-stroke altogether; others avoid it when they feel they have more control over the free-stroke. When two neighboring strings are to be plucked simultaneously, the rest-stroke cannot be used.
Left Hand:

Use of hammer-on and pull-off (Legato, slurs): This is where only the left hand is used in producing the sound - during hammer-on, the finger hits the already vibrating string down towards a fret, thus shortening the vibrating string and increasing the pitch. During pull-off, a finger that holds the string lengthened to a particular fret, is pulled off, resulting in a lengthening of the string either to its open length or to another finger-fret position, thus decreasing the pitch. Since the string is usually already vibrating prior to applying the hammer-on or pull-off, the change of pitch is very smooth: it is hence used for articulation purposes and fast note progressions (since only a single hand is involved). The technique is often used in trills, where e.g. the first finger remains pivoted at a lower fret and the 2nd finger might hammer-on and pull-off repeatedly resulting in the trill.
Vibrato: Whilst a finger of the left-hand is pressing the string towards a fret, it can rapidly move to string slightly to and fro (along the string), resulting in a slight but fast-changing increase and decrease in the string's tension and thus a proportional change in pitch - giving the impression of a fuller tone.
Both Hands/Other:

One and the same note (in terms of pitch), can be played on many different strings (depending on the appropriate fret being used). Since the different strings have distinctive tones, the guitarist may choose to play on certain strings for particular tonal effects: The difference is greatest between the 3rd string (G - pure nylon) and the 4th string (D - nylon wound with thin metal). However at the same time this is also a great difficulty when a melody line (which should have a uniform sound) is played across the strings; since the guitarist has to adjust so as to emphasize tonal similarity, rather than difference. Another example for the use of strings is tone production is the cross-string trill, where the different pitches of the trill are plucked on neighboring strings[1][2]: this can be used to create a rather dissonant trill (but with the benefit of better volume), since both strings may be allowed to sound simultaneously if the guitarist so chooses.
Harmonics: The strings can be brought into different modes of vibration, where its overtones can be heard. This is achieved by laying a left-hand finger lightly at a position of an integer division of the string's length (1/2, 1/3, 2/3, etc.) and plucking the string with the other hand (followed by removing the left-hand finger). This causes separate string-parts to vibrate separately, with a "standing, motionless" point where the left-hand finger originally touched the string.

Since it is the hands and fingers that pluck the string and every person has different fingers, there are great differences in playing between guitarists; who often spend a lot of time finding their own way of playing that suits them best in terms of specific objectives: tone-production ("beauty"/quality of tone), minimum noise (e.g. clicking), large dynamic range (from soft to controlled loud), minimum (muscle) effort, fast "motion-recovery" (fast plucking when desired), healthy movement in fingers, wrist, hand and arm

There is not one definite way of reaching these goals (there is not a single definite optimal guitar technique): rather there are different ways of reaching these goals, due to differences in the hands and fingers (including nails) of guitarists.

When guitarists are performing music (while playing), they continually search (by actively moving/changing their hands, fingers) for a good sound in terms of tone/timbre, to enhance the musical interpretation.

John Williams has remarked[3] that since guitarists find it superficially very easy to play even things such as melody with accompaniment (e.g. Giuliani), [some guitarists'] "approach to tone production is also superficial, with little or no consideration given to voice matching and tonal contrasts".