During the Renaissance, the guitar was likely to have been used as it frequently is today in popular music, that is to provide strummed accompaniment for a singer or a small group.[citation needed] There also were several significant music collections published during the 16th century of contrapuntal compositions approaching the complexity, sophistication and breadth of lute music from the same period. Most Renaissance lute music has been transcribed for guitar (see List of composers for lute).
The baroque guitar (c.1600–1750) was a string instrument with five courses of gut strings and moveable gut frets. The first (highest pitched) course was sometimes a single string. It replaced the Renaissance lute as the most common instrument found in the home.
The romantic guitar, in use from approximately 1790 to 1830, was the guitar of the Classical and Romantic period of music, showing remarkable consistency in the instrument's construction during these decades. By this time guitars used six, sometimes more, single strings instead of courses. The romantic guitar eventually led to a different type of guitar in Spain: the fan-braced Spanish guitars of Torres, which may be seen as the immediate precursor of the modern classical guitar.
In the 20th century, many non-guitarist composers wrote for the instrument, whereas previously only players of the instrument had done so.[1]
16th century
1535-36 Luis de Milán (c.1500–after 1561) Libro de musica de vihuela de mano intitulado El Maestro
1538 Luis de Narváez (1510–1555) Los seis libros del Delphin de música de cifra para tañer vihuela