The Baroque Guitar:
Printed Music from 1606-1737
by Dr. Gary R. Boye
There were two main styles of guitar music from the period between 1600 and 1750:
1. The Rasgueado Style--with mostly strummed chords
2. The Mixed Style--with a mixture of strummed chords and individually plucked notes
The former style is of mostly historical interest; the mixed style contains works more suitable for modern performers. Follow the links above for more thorough discussion of these styles and a detailed listing of guitar tablatures using them.
Most of the information on this Web site was compiled during my research
in Italy under a Fulbright Scholarship in 1991-1992. The information contained
here is primary research; the result of my visits to over two dozen libraries
in Italy, France, and Great Britain where I studied over 100 examples of
printed guitar tablatures. My doctoral dissertation, "Giovanni Battista
Granata and the Development of Printed Guitar Music in Seventeenth-Century
Italy" (Duke University, 1995), resulted from this research.
Dr. Gary R. Boye, Associate Professor and Music
Librarian
Erneston Music Library
Appalachian State University
Boone, North Carolina, USA
boyegr@appstate.edu
© Gary R. Boye 2002-2008
Last updated on 5 June 2008