Spanish guitar

Classical Guitar

Classification
String instrument (plucked)
Playing range
Related instruments
Guitar family (Steel-string acoustic guitar, Electric guitar, Flamenco guitar, Bass guitar) Lute (distantly related)
Musicians
List of classical guitarists

The classical guitar, also known as the "nylon string guitar", "spanish guitar", "gut string guitar", "flamenco guitar","spruce top" and "flat top" — is a musical instrument from the family of instruments called chordophones.

The classical guitar is characterised by:

• its flat (flat top) sounding board (resonator)
• its single circular aperature in the sounding board
• its use of thin wood in the body (for resonance)
• its sparse use of internal bracing in the body
• its shape — modern guitar shape, or historic guitar shapes
• its strings — traditionally made of gut, but today primarily nylon; the bass-strings additionally being wound with a thin metal thread
• the instrumental technique — the individual strings are usually plucked with the fingers or the fingernails, as opposed to using a plectrum or pick
• its historic repertoire, though this is of lesser importance, since any repertoire can be and is played on the guitar.

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, flamenco, jazz, etc.) can be and are performed on it.

The classical guitar as an instrument has a long history that has seen it evolve through multiple forms, and while its modern form (modern classical guitar) is what is primarily available today, many luthiers today also build guitars with historic shapes (e.g. replicas of romantic guitars, ...): A Guitar Family Tree can be identified, which includes guitars from different periods, with different shapes and construction-features, as well as different string configurations (double-strung courses or single strings, different tunings, different numbers of strings).