Barockgitarre

The Barockgitarre, or baroque guitar, is a plucked string instrument that emerged in Europe in the late 16th and early 17th centuries and remained common into the mid-18th century. It is the immediate predecessor of the modern classical guitar and played a central role in court, chamber, and dance music, often accompanying songs or serving as the harmonic basis in ensembles and continuo parts.

Typically the instrument featured a relatively small, hollow body with a flat top and a neck carrying five double courses of strings, totaling ten strings. Strings were normally made of gut, and the instrument often had a shorter scale length than the modern guitar. The headstock used friction pegs for tuning, and the fretting was characteristic of early guitar design. While five courses were most common, regional variations existed, and some instruments used different arrangements of strings or tuning systems.

Playing technique varied, with players plucking the strings with fingers or, in some traditions, with a small plectrum. The repertoire includes works and arrangements by composers such as Gaspar Sanz, Francesco Corbetta, and Robert de Visée, who wrote music for accompaniment, dance suites, and continuo patterns. The baroque guitar was frequently employed for lute transcriptions and for intimate, domestic music-making.

By the mid-18th century, the six-string modern guitar began to dominate, contributing to the decline of the baroque guitar. Interest in the instrument was revived in the 20th century as part of the early music movement, and contemporary luthiers build period-accurate replicas.Today, the baroque guitar is studied and performed by specialists in historical performance practice, offering insight into performance styles and tunings of the era.