
Guitar (Lat. cithara, Gr. kithara, 'a lyre or lute'), a musical stringed instrument, somewhat like the lute, particularly well adapted for accompanying the human voice, and much esteemed in Spain and Italy. It was first introduced into the former country from the East by the Moors. It has six strings, the notation of which is as follows: but which sound an octave lower; and the sound is produced by the fingers of the right hand twitching the strings, while the fingers of the left hand make the notes of the music on the finger-board, which has frets across it. The three highest strings of the guitar are always of gut, and the three lowest are of silk spun over with silvered wire. The greatest virtuosi on the guitar have been Giuliani, Sor, Zoechi, Stoll, and Horetzky.