vihuela in music meaning | TheMusicDictionary

A plucked stringed instrument of Spain popular in the 15th and 16th centuries. The vihuela was plucked like a guitar, but was of the viol family; it was tuned like a lute, but resembled the guitar in appearance.

Popular questions related to vihuela

The origins of the various flat-backed instruments that eventually became guitars are more difficult to trace. The vihuela is one such instrument that evolved in the mid-15th century and was prolific in Spain and its dominions throughout the 16th century and beyond.

Out of the entire repertoire of music for vihuela, the Fantasia-style pieces of Milan, Mudarra and Narvaez are those most frequently played on the guitar.

The Mexican vihuela has five strings. The two varieties also differ in string material, with the vihuela strings on the Spanish instrument being made of gut and the strings on the Mexican instrument being made of nylon. The Mexican vihuela has only five strings to the Spanish vihuela's 12.

Vihuela specifications:

Overall length 35", (90cm)
Body length 16 3/4", (42.5cm)
Width loweer bouts 9", (22.90cm)
Width waist 7 1/8", (18.40cm)
Width upper bouts 9", (22.85cm)
Rib height 3", (7.62cm)
59.5 cm string length.
Six double courses.

The Mexican vihuela is used by Mariachi groups. This instrument is strummed with all of the fingernail tips to produce a rich, full and clear sound of the chords being played. A finger pick (la púa) on the pointer finger and or the second and third fingers, gives it a brighter and clearer sound when strummed.

The Baroque Guitar From about 1600 until the mid-eighteenth century, its popularity supplanted both the four-course guitar and the six- or seven-course vihuela. The five-course baroque guitar was a bit larger than the earlier model, averaging approximately 92 centimeters long, with string lengths of 63–70 centimeters.

The birth of Vihuela happened in early 1500s when lutenist (music instrument artisans) from Spain, Portugal started producing instrument “vihuela de mano”, a vitol-shaped guitar that was tuned like a lute (which was continued to be used there for centuries more).

A vihuela is a small, high-pitched Mexican guitar with five strings and a 'vaulted' back. The vihuela produces the lively rhythmic vibrancy of mariachi. A guitarron is a deep-voiced acoustic bass guitar. The guitarron serves as the bass of the group, since the mariachi ensemble has no drums or other percussion.

The Mexican vihuela is tuned similarly to the guitar. The difference is that the open G, the D and the A strings are tuned an octave higher than a guitar thus giving it a tenor sound or a higher pitch.

The vihuela, essentially a flat-backed lute, evolved in the mid-15th century Kingdom of Aragon and was in common use in Spain and Italy by the late 15th through to the late 16th centuries.

And your pinky is going to go on the third fret of the first string strum all five strings. Next up is e major or me mayor your pointer finger is going to go on the third string first fret.