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Lately I've been thinking about the history of the guitar as a six-string instrument, so I've gathered some information from books and the Internet to see if anyone can add or correct anything. Maybe some of you can comment on the references mentioned below or tell us about newer research on the subject.
Here's how the idea relates to flamenco: It looks like the guitar had five double strings until the late 1700s, and the oldest flamenco guitarists were born shortly after that in the 1800s (Patiño supposedly in 1829, Ángel de Baeza supposedly around 1850, etc.) So if we go back just a few generations before Montoya, flamenco guitarists could have been playing a different instrument (without the low E string). One thing is the proven existence of the earliest six-string guitar, and another is determining when this instrument might have been so popular that common folk in Spain would have had access to one. This time in history coincides with Napoleon's occupation of Spain (1808-1814), which might be another factor to take into account.
The rest of this message is all the information that I've gathered this evening:
The book Guitarreros de Andalucía includes a photo of a five-string guitar made by José Frías in 1778.
In the book "Laud, guitarra y vihuela, historia y literatura," Giusseppe Radole says that Federico Moretti (175?-1834) was probably resonsible for the renewed interest in the guitar in Spain. He states that Moretti's first works were for the five-string guitar, but others published after his move to Madrid in 1795 were written for the six-string guitar. Other publications from the same time in history are for five- and six-string guitars.
(Excerpts from Wikipedia)
"The baroque guitar quickly superseded the vihuela in popularity and Italy became the center of the guitar world. Leadership in guitar developments switched to Spain from the late 18th century, when the six string guitar quickly became popular at the expense of the five string guitars."
"The earliest extant six string guitar was built in 1779 by Gaetano Vinaccia (1759 - after 1831) in Naples, Italy. The Vinaccia family of luthiers is known for developing the mandolin. This guitar has been examined and does not show tell-tale signs of modifications from a double-course guitar. The authenticity of guitars allegedly produced before the 1790s is often in question. This also corresponds to when Moretti's 6-string method appeared, in 1792."
"Music written specifically for the classical guitar dates from the addition of the sixth string (the baroque guitar normally had five pairs of strings) in the late 18th century."
"Of the music written originally for guitar the earliest important composers are from the classical period and include Fernando Sor (b. Spain 1778) and Mauro Giuliani (b. Italy 1781) both of whom wrote in a style strongly influenced by Viennese classicism."
"It is not until the end of the century that the guitar began to emerge with its own unique atmosphere. Francisco Tárrega (b. Spain 1852) was central to this, sometimes incorporating some stylized aspects of flamenco, which has Moorish influences, into his romantic miniatures."
"...the first classic guitars were probably made in Naples in the 1770s or 80s."
"The author of the most recent history of the guitar, Harvey Turnbull of England, has written, in The Guitar from the Renaissance to the Present Day (New York, 1974), that the guitar with six single strings is probably of French or Italian origin, definitely not of Spanish origin (p. 64). I agree with him and now recognize the importance of France especially in the development of staff notation for guitar. Although my own research has turned up evidence favoring the Italian origin of the instrument, I do not consider the matter closed."
The rasgueo was popular in Gaspar Sanz' day (1640- 1710). in the 1670's he released his first book of music instruction for the guitar. this featured mostly rasqueo strumming. it says that there were two types of popular guitar playing, one was the plucked and the other was the strummed to accompany singers.
this is the important part, it actually says, in the book written by sanz, that there was a style used to accompany singers that was mostly strumming. I think this is evidence of some sort of origins of flamenco or at least an element that contributed to the desire to play flamenco in such a way etc.
RE: Calling all guitar scholars: The... (in reply to HemeolaMan)
Thanks for the info HM, but it's not what I asked about. I'd like to try to establish the years in which the six-string guitar might have first become available for the average José, especially in southern Spain.
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RE: Give us your opinion: Advent of ... (in reply to NormanKliman)
My feeling is the late 1800's there is when it all came together, along with guys like Arcas and Tarrega etc, the first flamenco players were probably using either a Torres or a Torres like instrument. I doubt any pre Torres designed guitars were used for flamenco.
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RE: Give us your opinion: Advent of ... (in reply to NormanKliman)
According to Manuel Cano "La Guitarra - Historia, Estudios y Aportaciones al Arte Flamenco", Granada, 1991, p.29 it was Fray Miguel García, better known as "El padre Basilio" who added the sixth stringin the 18th century, and his student, Federico Moretti who published "Principios para tocar la guitarra de seis cuerdas" in 1792. In his introduction he (Moretti) states that although he used the 7string guitar, the six-string instrument was the guitar most widely spread in Spain and yet unknown in Italy.
RE: Give us your opinion: Advent of ... (in reply to NormanKliman)
I have been lucky enough to play one of these instruments. Here is an 1830 Gennaro Fabricatore that belongs to James Westbrook. Gennaro was the son of Giovanni Battista Fabricatore active between 1780 - 1811 who one of the first luthiers to produce 6 string guitars.
In James Westbrooks book "guitars through the ages" he writes The most renowned composer and guitarist Fernando Sor (1778 -1839) went to London at a time when the guitar was not popular there. His virtuosity caused a furore, although Sor was not the only or indeed greatest guitarist in England at that time.Other notable guitarists include Joseph Anelli and Charles Solea. Soleas method was published in 1819, just 3 years after Sor moved to England. The acceptance of the guitar in England soon followed.
The reason I chose that is to illustrate that the first 6 string guitars were being produced from around 1780. The first virtuosos were around 20 years later and the first methods in Europe were the instrument became popular some 20 years later.
It is fair to assume then that 6 string guitars would have started to become widely available from around 1800 in Spain
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RE: Give us your opinion: Advent of ... (in reply to Ron.M)
That's very interesting Ron but if you will allow me to correct you....that particular amplifier was used in conjuction with a different guitar as you can see.
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RE: Give us your opinion: Advent of ... (in reply to Ricardo)
quote:
My feeling is the late 1800's there is when it all came together, along with guys like Arcas and Tarrega etc, the first flamenco players were probably using either a Torres or a Torres like instrument. I doubt any pre Torres designed guitars were used for flamenco.
Torres started building what we know as the modern guitar from 1854 in Seville. Arcas guitar (la leona) was built in 1856 (I think). Its probable the first flamencos were using smaller romantic guitars in the 1800s. There was no need to accompany baile at this point so a small instrument accompany the cante would work well.
Im pretty sure early Flamenco did develop on romantic guitars. Franscisco Goya had a 6 string Pages built for him. He played Jota on it. Also there would have been many players playing romantic guitars after 1854. It may have been 20 years or more before the torres guitar become standard.
Edit - "Francisco Tarrega was one of the first composers for the modern classical guitar. At the age of 10 he saw and heard Julian Arcas playing the Torres Guitar “La Leona” in his home town of Castellón. When he was 17 years old Tarrega went to Seville and met Torres. Through his patron Cánesa Mendayas, a wealthy merchant, he acquired a good guitar from him that had been built five years earlier"
RE: Give us your opinion: Advent of ... (in reply to Pimientito)
quote:
that particular amplifier was used in conjuction with a different guitar as you can see.
Nope, Pim...
I'm talking about the guitar you posted.
It came with a Carbon-dust microphone in series with a large battery and a "etherial flux enhancer" (loudspeaker) as illustrated.
In fact, a particular cavalier guitarist of the 1860's called James Henderson was known to sometimes turn up at high society events with not one, but TWO of the illustrated pieces of apparatus and by turning the battery voltage up to maximum would cause the gentlemen to cheer and throw their hats in the air and the ladies to swoon by doing such strange things as plucking the strings of the instrument with his teeth, or sometimes by playing it behind his head in such an odd and unusual manner that... "an intemperate commotion was caused that a Sergeant of the Peelers accompanied by several constables had to be hailed to restore Public Order..."
Estebanez Calderón wrote in 1847 about a party in Triana with El Planeta, El Fillo and others. He mentions "a vihuela and two bandolines forming the greater part of the orchestra." Vihuela might have been synonymous for guitar but bandolines sounds like a different instrument.
The literary references indicate that the oldest known singers were born toward the end of the 18th century and that there was some kind of flamenco in the 1820s. Although there are some legendary names, it looks like El Planeta and others really did exist
All the old photos (Paco de Lucena and others) are from the second half of the 19th century. They're always playing six-string guitars, although sometimes the instruments look a bit smaller. The Pagés guitars are particularly interesting. Juan Pagés was from Écija (Seville) but set up shop in Cádiz around 1800. Three of his sons also made guitars. I've seen a few photos of Pagés guitars made between 1787 and 1835. They all look smaller than standard, and in most cases there are five or six sets of double strings and the neck meets the body at the eleventh fret. The one made in 1835 has six single strings and 12 open frets (plus seven more). Maybe this is the kind of guitar Patiño would have played.
RE: Give us your opinion: Advent of ... (in reply to Guest)
That was interesting Romerito. The relationship between the classical and flamenco players is quite convoluted. They obviously influenced each other in the early 1800s
[from: Guitar and Lute, March 1983]
"By 1700, the guitar had acquired a sixth string and was played in two different styles. As a plucked instrument, it had been highly developet for playing what we now call "classical" music, the music of the nobility. The popular instrument of the people was played using rasgueados (strumming with the fingers). While these instruments were an integral part of Andalucian folk music, it is generally held that they did not play much of a part in the early development of gypsy music.
Also by 1700, both Andalucian and gypsy music had - acquired recognizable forms, and references to them began to appear more frequently in the literature of Spain and other countries. Although gypsy music was still very private, a ritual of the gypsy families, gypsies had become a popular theme for theatre works and wete witely mentionet. The -oldest written example of flamenco is a siguiriya found in an eighteenth century Italian opera,"La Maschera Fortunata by Neri. In 1779, Henry Swinburne wrote in Spain in the Years 1775 and 1776 that the gypsies of Cadiz danced an indecent dance called the manguidoy to the rhythm of hand- clapping; he also mentioned guitars, castanets, and rough- voiced singing of polo. Other references speak of the taconeo (heelwork) ant the seguitillas gitanas. (The seguidillas were live}y songs, related to the sevillanas, not the profound gypsy cante of today that has a similar name.) By 1800, references indicate 24 dances that were supposedly performed by gypsies; most of those no longer exit, and none of them are specifically part of the gypsy dance we know today, although some survived in the non- gypsy flamenco, particularly the fandangos and the segui- dillas (sevillanas).......
....The music that was accesible to the traveler in this period was almost certainly dominated by the Andalucian element rather than the gypsy. Gypsies may have performed for the public under certain circumstances, but reports do not seem to indicate that they were performing what would appear a few decades later as the highly developed cante gitano (forms like the tonas, siguiriyas, and soleares). It is important to keep in mind the differences between these two forms of music, for these subdivisions of flamenco still exist today. The gypsy cante was private, emotional and very personal; it used primarily the phrygian mode and complex rhythm patterns, and was very difficult to sing; the accompaniment was most often the rhythm of handclapping, fingersnapping, knuckle-rapping, or the tapping of a cane - even today some forms are always sung a palo seco (a capella); even when the guitar began to play a more important role in flamenco, distinct gypsy and non-gypsy styles of playing emerged. Andalucian folk music, on the other hand, was very public music, sung in the major and minor modes and using 214, 314, or 6|8 meter; it was often accompanied by groups of instruments.
In 1842, events occurred that would change the nature of flamenco and gave birth to what we now refer to as the "Golden Age of Flamenco." Certain Andalucian taverns where flamenco was cultivated began to place more emphasis on the performance of the cante and baile (dance). The performers were usually not professionals, but performed out of aficion, love of their art. On the rare occasion that a guitar was available, it might have been strummed in an improvisational manner, but the guitar had not yet emerged as an integral part of flamenco. However, there must have been some guitarists starting to develop the flamenco style, for it would be in widespread use within a few decade. Moreover, the Russian composer Glinka was entranced by the playing of the gypsy guitarist El Murciano in Granada, and he wrote down some of the guitarist's compositions. In neighborhood patios, country inns, and tiny taverns, flamenco made its first public appearance and began its emergence from the private, almost religious position it had held in the gypsy families.
The earliest known cafe de cante, as the first flamenco nightclub were called opened in Seville in 1842. For the first time flamenco artists were paid on a regular basis.......
......In the cafe cantante, the guitar became an important part of the flamenco "show", and guitarists developed rapidly, learning from and competing with each other. They competed not only with each other, but also with the dancers and singers. To get attention, guitarists began to insert more falsetas (melodies) into their playing, taking their themes from the cante. Soon, each club had a soloist, some of whom resorted to playing behind their backs, over their heads, or with gloves. An early soloist, Paco Lucena (c. 1855- 1930), is credited with introducing picado (rapid melodic passages played with the index and middle fingers), three- fingered arpeggios, and tremelo that he learned from a classical guitarist. Another great guitarist, Javier Molina, was more of an accompanist, but he helped to mold two of the founders of the modern flamenco guitar, Ramon Montoya and Nino Ricardo....
.......The guitar blossomed during this time. At the forefront was Ramon Montoya (c. 1880-1949), a gypsy who lived most of his life in Madrid and greatly influenced all guitarists who came after him; both Sabicas and Mario Escudero played a great deal of Montoya's music on their early records. He developed his style while playing for singers in the cafes cantantes, and later, influenced by the playing of the classical guitarists Francisco Tarrega and Miguel Llobet, he began to incorporate classical techniques into his playing Montoya is credited with creating the four-fingered tremolo now used in flamenco and with introducing more complex arpeggios and picados (single note passages); he also developed the left hand for playing his many difficult creations. Montoya composed many melodies that are now considered standard or "traditional" and was the creator of a flamenco form, the rondeña for guitar, that is now part of the standard repertoire. Montoya alternated between accompanying the great singers in private parties, recording with most of the top artists, and giving solo recitals around the 3 world. He also recorded some guitar duets with Amalio Cuenca, a soloist who had been one of the judges in the Granada contest.
Other guitarists included Niño Ricardo, one of the greatest influences on flamenco guitar between Ramon Montoya and the moderns. Ricardo made a living playing with orchestras and operatic singers, but on the side he created profound flamenco music. There was also Manolo Badajoz, who preferred private parties to theatrical performances, Miguel Borrull, Luis Yance, Luis Marvilla, Esteban Sanlucar, whose flamenco compositions are still played by concert artists, and even Melchor de Marchena, who was quite a virtuoSo in his youth, but then became the exemplary subdued and emotional accompanist in his later years - from the 1950's into the 1970's.
The great guitarist, Agustin Castellon "Sabicas" brought the music of Ramon Montoya to the Americas and, probably as a result of his long association with the gypsy dancer Carmen Amaya, developed a strongly rhythmic style, in contrast to I Ramon Montoya's more free and Iyrical approach. In the 1940s and 1950s Sabicas added many new forms to the solo guitar repertoire that had previously only been sung or danced, including verdiales, zambra, garrotín, sevillanas, colombianas, milongas and guajiras."
RE: Give us your opinion: Advent of ... (in reply to NormanKliman)
quote:
That was interesting Romerito. The relationship between the classical and flamenco players is quite convoluted. They obviously influenced each other in the early 1800s
[from: Guitar and Lute, March 1983]
"By 1700, the guitar had acquired a sixth string and was played in two different styles. As a plucked instrument, it had been highly developet for playing what we now call "classical" music, the music of the nobility. The popular instrument of the people was played using rasgueados (strumming with the fingers). While these instruments were an integral part of Andalucian folk music, it is generally held that they did not play much of a part in the early development of gypsy music.
There was probably not a distinction like "classical" and "flamenco" then. The Classical Period proper lasted for about 25 or 30 years and was during the overlap of the lives of Hadyn and Mozart. "Classical Music" is a sloppy generic term for music played on the instruments of the orchestra in ensemble or solo. Is has many facets and time periods.
What was going on was an interchange between popular street music and music played in public places like taverns and musicians of means or who were supported who played in more private settings. There was a class distinction in effect separating and giving credence to music that was refined by the luxury of the composer being able to work with the best instruments, musical concepts from city to city. There was in place an international market for music that satisfied the wealthy classes and helped to ensure their elevation and rank by their commitment to patronage of the arts.
This tradition continued into the 20th century even as artists and musicians, like the Viennese expressionists and the French avant garde painters and the Spanish social theorists writers to name a few, were working to effectively strangle the bowels of the last vestiges of the general acceptance of societal separation of arts, Segovia seized on it and utilized the built in appeal to perpetuate a social separation of classes. Segovia was a tremendous dickwad in that respect because not only was it self serving, it was backward social policy to step on origins of the primary source material, popular music, a folk music an flamenco, for so much of Spanish music.
Segovia's actions were was hypocritical to say the least. The only thing that saves the day was that eventually recordings and robber baron endowments made it possible for a much better equalization of class access to different kinds of music to take place. Segovia's contribution lay in his ability to inspire composers to add the body of works written for the guitar so the guitarist would not have to rely so heavily on transcriptions and his accomplishments in this regard prompted later composers to continue to build up the guitar music culture.
Would it have happened without Segovia? Of course. Is it annoying that Segovia's legacy almost single handedly created an under the radar class schizm between so called "classical guitarists" and other musicians who play guitar? Perhaps.
Thank you, thank you...........( takes a bow) .......thank you ( bows deeply to appreciative audience) ..............no really, you don't have to....oh thank you...
Anyway the way to find out when the sixth string was added is to work from early music to modern and not from modern to early. Then double back and check it. The baroque guitar and several other iterations of guitar exited concurrently from the late 16th century onward. It's not precisely clear when a six string instrument was made because there was regional variation and experimentation in stringing throughout Europe where the guitar was played.
You have to remember that to the exclusion of the common person, music in high social circles generated a different instrumentation than it did in the street. This is because "classical" music up into Beethoven's time, and for long after was only accessable to rich folk. This means there was fact in place a tradition of home schooled musicians from wealthy families. Music teachers would go to the rich persons home and teach on site while watching the student the whole time. This and other social protocol created a need for rich persons to be distinguished by fancy instruments constructed from rich materials and for the designs to be in the mode of the day in upper classes.
Instruments played by the wealthy were often ornamented and were saved from histories ravages. Fancy instruments were housed in mansions and palaces and kept from the elements, debt collectors, dirt and rough treatment and tend to be the extant instruments we have to study from various time periods. In addition to that, the music of the upper classes was the music that was most articulately written about and documented. Thus if a six string guitar were to have existed say, in Madrid in 1580, it's not likely that it would have been in the hands of someone of means who would have been in a palace chamber playing a late vihuela composition by Esteban Daza. This is because musically speaking the upper class was being schooled in the making of polyphonic music as a matter of social protocol and pedigree. While out in the stable, the boys who took care of the horses were strumming and singing songs to their own accompaniment. In general in the 16th century polyphony reigned as the music of the nobility and it was required that it be played on double coursed instruments.
However if a guitar or vihuela did get into the hands of a common person it's manufacture would not have been fancy and whether or not it was designed for six doubled courses of strings or for six single strings, the fact that hand made gut strings were a precious and expensive luxury the common person would have a hard time affording all those strings. It has been documented that a dignitary visiting from mainland Europe brought a cache of gut lute strings to Queen Elizabeth and that it was considered a fine gift makes the point that strings were valuable and rare. So it stands t reason that the people who owned guitars or vihuelas were in competition for strings, those of means could afford them in quantities that enabled them to string double course instruments and those who held jobs in taverns and forges would have seen the six string option as a more economically feasable alternative.
A culture could have sprung up which used six strings due to string cost, Since they were not in the court or landed gentry who could patronize established musicians, their progress was not as documented as that of the nobility or merchant class. It's possible there was a six string guitar culture in Spain long before it's established official date of origin.
Inadvertently Segovia promoted the six string guitar and in some weird way, if the long arc of history is considered, did do something transgressive.
RE: Give us your opinion: Advent of ... (in reply to estebanana)
Nice contributions from everyone (including HemolaMan)
quote:
This is because musically speaking the upper class was being schooled in the making of polyphonic music as a matter of social protocol and pedigree. While out in the stable, the boys who took care of the horses were strumming and singing songs to their own accompaniment.
That sounds reasonable, Estebanana. I'd say they were probably two irreconcilable worlds. But isn't that at odds with what you say here?
quote:
There was probably not a distinction like "classical" and "flamenco" then.
quote:
In 1779, Henry Swinburne wrote in Spain in the Years 1775 and 1776 that the gypsies of Cadiz danced an indecent dance called the manguidoy...
Good one, Pimientito. Going back even further, the singing and dancing of the zarabanda were prohibitted for the same reason in 1585 and 1630, respectively. I looked for documents on this at the National Archive in Madrid and was told that they even have some records of the complaints (neighbors complaining to to the police) that had brought about the prohibitions. There's probably some very interesting information waiting to be found there.
Some researchers have argued that the guitar didn't become involved in flamenco until the second half of the 19th century, but it seems more likely to me that some kind of instrument was being used somewhere. I mean, it seems more unlikely that there was no guitar-like accompaniment at all. Of course, we'll probably never know, and it's easy to make too big a deal out of it all, but it's interesting to review the few things that we do know and to think about how they all might have come together. It's fascinating when there are several roads that seem to converge in shadow, if you know what I mean.
Romerito, my opinion is that they've exaggerated the influence of Arcas and others on flamenco. I think the reference to Arcas might actually be from Eusebio Rioja, whose research defends that kind of idea. Manuel Cano published in his book a program from a concert of Paco El Barbero, who performed in 1885 classical pieces and Arcas' arrangements. Javier Molina was another who played classical and flamenco.
RE: Give us your opinion: Advent of ... (in reply to NormanKliman)
Gaspar Sanz's method (1675) has rhythms that can be related to flamenco compás and, as HemeolaMan pointed out, part of his method (it's a small part) teaches a strumming style, which seems to be what the common folk were doing. The transcriptions for that part of his book use letters to represent chords, which was a system in use at the time. The end result looks a little like the English system of A, B, C, etc., but the letters don't represent notes.
Notice that in some of the drawings, the hand has a ring on one or more fingers. It means that those fingers are not supposed to be used for fretting.
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RE: Give us your opinion: Advent of ... (in reply to NormanKliman)
Here are some photos from Fernando de Triana's book. He says that his grandfather told him that there were very few flamenco guitarists in the first third of the 19th century, and that the capo hadn't been invented yet, so singers could only sing with por medio and por arriba accompaniment (he says that's why so many singers had rough voices).
This first one is of Maestro Bautista. I've got no information on this guy. Looks like a full-sized guitar. Notice the footstool.
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RE: Give us your opinion: Advent of ... (in reply to NormanKliman)
Here's a photo of Paco de Lucena with his partner La Parrala. Again, looks like a full-sized guitar, maybe a bit shallow, but all of these photos are from the second half of the century, obviously.
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RE: Give us your opinion: Advent of ... (in reply to NormanKliman)
In this one, the guitarists are supposedly Juan Breva on the left and Antonio Pérez on the right. The latter's guitar looks unusually small and shallow.
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RE: Give us your opinion: Advent of ... (in reply to NormanKliman)
quote:
In this one, the guitarists are supposedly Juan Breva on the left and Antonio Pérez on the right. The latter's guitar looks unusually small and shallow.
Those small guitars were actually called "tablao guitars". It's same type of small guitar seen on the wall of the painting by Sargent called El Jaleo.
RE: Give us your opinion: Advent of ... (in reply to estebanana)
quote:
The cejilla is mentioned in the literature of 16th century music. It most certainly existed
Really? I never believed those stories about Paquirri or others "inventing" the capo. Fernando de Triana played the guitar and wrote some intelligent things about it (at least not totally dumb), but his grandfather's story sounds kind of far fetched. Maybe it happened that way in some villages, but the cejilla is too simple to have remained undiscovered until modern times.
If it's not too much trouble, can you get a reference on where that mention appears? If you can't get it, thanks anyway for all the information in your post. Thanks to everyone for the contributions, there are a lot of ideas to think about here.
I guess we'll run out of facts pretty soon, but anyone else have anything to add?
RE: Give us your opinion: Advent of ... (in reply to NormanKliman)
quote:
That sounds reasonable, Estebanana. I'd say they were probably two irreconcilable worlds. But isn't that at odds with what you say here?
quote:
There was probably not a distinction like "classical" and "flamenco" then.
No, I don't think it's a contradiction because the classical period did not happen until Haydn. Today what we call classical music is a mix of museum pieces from several time periods from the renaissance to today. What I'm saying is that there were some class barriers and that there were economic factors which effected the availability of strings and materials to build instruments and we don't know much about the real time origins of the six string due to contemporary writers of that time not focusing on problems of interest to us today.
That is one of the reasons we also don't have a date for the origin of flamenco. And if flamenco existed pre 1700 say, it was in a much different form than we know it today. There was probably a crossover of court music taking influence from street and folk music and vise versa, but the factor that determined who played which music was economic not a matter of choice between classical and flamenco. Those who had money, unless they were very independent minded, were schooled in formal studies while those who could not afford formal music lessons probably learned by rote.
Another thing to think about in the interchange between formal and rote learned music is the cultural phenomenon that happened in Spain beginning with the Napoleanic war. There was a movement afoot where one could identify oneself in society as a Majo or an Afrancesado. A person who wanted Spain to change and adopt a French model of culture and government, Afrancesados, or those who were styling themselves as Spanish by imitating the dress of more countryfied Spaniards, or Majos. In Madrid at that time I see this more like Frida Kahlo later in Mexico dressing in colorful peasant garb to accentuate her sympathies and love of Mexican culture.
During the Majo times when there was an evaluation by the upper classes of typical Spanish life it was quite possible that the guitar with six strings did not descend from France, but that the six string guitar as it already existed in Spain was popularized because of its folky pedigree. Majo thought was not just a backlash movement against French influence, but was a transgressive attack on the feudal social structure. It was also a shallow fashion statement, but it had a serious undercurrent as well.
The French also later had the reverse infatuation with Spanish culture at a distance by the invention at mid 19th century of the Orientalism movement in which they fetishized the East. Since Spain was in part the gateway to the East, painters like Manet and others depicted subjects in Spanish clothing doing Spanish things adding another layer to the mystique to the romantic notion of Spain which exist to today. So musically there was Glinka who hung with El Murciano during that time of Oreintalism and between them there was probably a fair exchange of in formation. And to Glinka's credit he did not cash in on the "exotic otherness" of El Murciano. This could explian some of the French love of Flamenco in Ramon Montoya's day because they had been interested in Spanish folk culture as an invader five generations earlier.
All this is to say these things all happened when Flamenco was beginning to emerge and could have had an effect on the popularity and bringing to the fore of an already existing six string guitar.
Because in the final anal-ysis we know a few things to be true:
A. Classical guitars are classical guitars because rasgueados sound ****ty on them. Any guitar that sounds good played with rasgueado is flamenco.
B. Flamenco guitarists are cheap skates and always have been since the first proto flamenco guitarists practiced in the stables of the royal palace and used six gut vihuela strings instead of the prescribed 12 for double coursed vihuelas.
RE: Give us your opinion: Advent of ... (in reply to NormanKliman)
Re: the Cejilla:
One source from 1555 in Juan Bermudo's 'Declaracion de Instrumentos Musicales' ( Osuna 1555) It's available in modern Spanish and English translation. The Lute Society of America published it in English translation several years ago.
He discusses among other thing the merits of equal temperament, polyphony, tablature, adding stings to the vihuela, four course guitars. Bermudo was proto musicologist and theorist who played vihuela.
The capotasto, in Italian was also known to Renaissance lute players. It's total jive if somone says they invented it in modern times. It may well have been a case of parallel development, but it's likely the concept of a capo existed in ancient times. They were no fools. The Arabs invented eyeglasses in 700 AD, the capo must have been simple by comparison.
I mean think about it, any idiot in 1555 with a pencil and a rubber band could have fashioned a capo.
RE: Give us your opinion: Advent of ... (in reply to NormanKliman)
Funny, just while I as writing this a customer emailed me and asked me to make cejilla for him. Should I tell him I invented the cejilla? Or try to convince him to buy a mic with lace doily wind screen?
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but anyone else have anything to add? 
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