Portuguese guitar

The Portuguese guitar or Portuguese guitarra ( _pt. guitarra portuguesa) is a plucked string instrument with twelve steel strings, strung in six courses comprising of two strings each. It has a distinctive tuning mechanism. It is most notably associated with fado, although it has and is being used in a broader context.

History

The Portuguese guitar is presumed to be the localization of what is commonly known as the English guitar. Some researchers argue that a kind of cittern was being played in Portugal prior and after to the introduction of the English instrument and that the modern Portuguese guitar is a combination of both instruments. Although this possibility is not without credit more research needs to be done on the subject.

The "English guitar" (or guittar) was a small cittern that was fashionable between 1750 and 1790, most notably in the British Isles, closely related to other citterns that were being made in western Europe at the time (such as the instrument the French called the guitarre allemande) but with several particular specifications introduced by the English luthiers. The English cittern was brought by the English to Portugal, possibly circa 1750, through the trading activity held between the two countries at the time. This fact is observed by António da Silva Leite in 1786, who remarks in his method for the instrument the following: “The guitar, of which they say has its origins in Great-Britain...”; “Of the guitars from England, Mr. Simpson is the best maker.”. The local luthiers then proceed to imitate and copy the foreign instruments. Eventually, the instrument was subject to modifications and improvements through the years and it remained popular in Portugal long after the fad died in the remaining European countries. By as early as 1820 the English already referred to it as the “Portuguese guitar”.

Throughout the 19th century the Portuguese guitar was being made in several sizes and shapes and subject to several regional aesthetic trends. For instance, the guitars made in northern Portugal bore a greater similarity to the English guitars then the guitars made in southern Portugal. Circa 1870 the commonly used watch-key tuning mechanism, inherited from the English guitars, was replaced by the fan tuning mechanism which was an improvement on the former. A sizeable guitar making industry flourished in Coimbra by the late 19th century, propelled by the Portuguese guitar's popularity among the students of the city. Eventually the developments of the local luthiers led to the modern model, named after the city.

Over the first half of the 20th century the Portuguese guitar underwent standardization into two distinct models and enjoyed several technical improvements, such as the refinement of the tuning mechanism and the revision of its dimensions, retaining throughout the process however, its overall appearance and distinct sound.

Models

There are two distinct kinds of modern Portuguese guitar models — the Lisboa guitar and the Coimbra guitar.

The differences between the two guitars are their scale, body measurements and other finer construction details. Overall, the Coimbra guitar is of simpler construction than the Lisboa guitar.

Visually and most distinctively, the Lisboa guitar can be differentiated from the Coimbra guitar for its larger soundboard and scroll ornament above the tuning machine in place of Coimbra's teardrop shaped motif. The Lisboa guitar has a narrower neck, smaller string spacing and a slightly shorter scale.

Both guitars have a very distinct timbre - the Lisboa guitar has a resonant bell-like sound that the Coimbra guitar lacks; the Coimbra guitar has a more accentuated bass sound.

Technique

The technique employed to play the Portuguese guitar is what is historically called dedillo or dedilho. This technique comprises playing solely with the thumb and the index fingers.On the Portuguese guitar the strings are picked with the corner of the fingernails, avoiding contact of the flesh with the strings. The unused fingers of the picking hand rest below the strings, on the soundboard. Nowadays most players use synthetic materials in place of natural fingernails; these fingerpicks are usually made of plastic or tortoiseshell.

Notable Artists

To give a very brief account of some of the most recent influential players, Armandinho, born in 1891, became one of the most influential guitar players in Lisbon, leaving a vast reportoire of variations and fados behind. Following his footsteps, and to name but a few, came other guitarists, namely Jaime Santos, Raul Nery, José Nunes and Fontes Rocha.

Artur Paredes, born in 1899, not unlike Armandinho, was an equally important player in the city of Coimbra. Much of today's Coimbra guitar features can be traced back to his contact with local luthiers. His son Carlos Paredes also attained popularity and is perhaps one of the better internationally known guitar players at the present. Other solid Coimbra instrumentists were António Brojo and António Portugal.

Tuning

Historically, the oldest commonly used tuning was the natural tuning, inherited from the English guitar. This tuning fell entirely out of favor by the end of the second World War however and is now considered obsolete. The Coimbra fado tuning, popularised by and named after Artur Paredes's city, is the same as Lisbon's but tuned a step down.

Natural tuning

C4C3 E4E3 G4G3 C4C4 E4E4 G4G4

Lisboa fado tuning

D4D3 A4A3 B4B3 E4E4 A4A4 B4B4

Coimbra fado tuning C4C3 G4G3 A4A3 D4D4 G4G4 A4A4

External links

There is a free lesson on how to play the Lisbon style Portuguese guitar at: http://www.fernandezmusic.com/PortugueseGuitarMethod.html
* [http://www.guitarraportuguesa.com/ Portal da Guitarra Portuguesa] (Portuguese)
* [http://www.fado.biz/ Terreiro do Fado] (Portuguese)
* [http://www.verdesanos.com/gp_e.htm Portuguese guitar] @ Fado group Verdes Anos