Steel-string acoustic guitar
The steel-string acoustic guitar is a modern form of guitar that descends from the gut-strung Romantic guitar, but is strung with steel strings for a brighter, louder sound. Like the modern classical guitar, it is often referred to simply as an acoustic guitar, or sometimes as a folk guitar.
A Gibson SJ200 model
Fingerpicking a steel-string guitar
A C.F. Martin Eric Clapton model
Fender DG-41SCE
The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted and typically has six or twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strings against frets with the fingers of the opposite hand. A guitar pick may also be used to strike the strings. The sound of the guitar is projected either acoustically, by means of a resonant hollow chamber on the guitar, or amplified by an electronic pickup and an amplifier.
Instrument labeled "cythara" in the Stuttgart Psalter, a Carolingian psalter from 9th century Paris.
19th-century guitar made by luthier Manuel de Soto held by Spanish guitarist Rafael Serrallet
Guitar collection in Museu de la Música de Barcelona
The Guitar Player (c. 1672), by Johannes Vermeer