Parlor guitar

Parlor (Parlour) guitar usually refers to smaller-bodied guitars that had peak popularity between the late 19th century until the 1950s. The defining feature in terms of classification is the size of the instrument, defined as smaller than that of a concert guitar. Many blues and folk musicians have used smaller-bodied guitars, which were often more affordable, mass production models.

Parlor guitar has also come to denote a style of American guitar music from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Noted composers include William Foden, Winslow Hayden, William Bateman, Justin Holland and Wilhelm Bischoff. The music for the guitar includes a variety of dance forms(waltz, schottische, polka), instrumental arrangements of popular songs, guitar arrangements of then popular classical music, operatic arrangements and music from European guitar composers (Sor, Giuliani, Carcassi, Coste and Mertz).