The Renaissance Lute Guitar

The lute guitars 🪕 from the time of the Renaissance have a teardrop shape with six pairs of strings. At that time, it was the norm to have units of strings because they produce less flabby but punchy and robust sounds. Also, it creates a chorus effect (or sympathetic resonance: when one string is plucked, you can also hear the vibration of the other strings), which adds a built-in reverb for the instrument. 

The birth of polyphony inspires guitar players to play using their fingers instead of a pick, leading to beautiful sounds with cords. Lute guitars became famous in the 16th century and were played by kings and queens, as well as in Shakespeare's plays. Instead of playing church music, more secular musical pieces were created in response to human emotions. "Flow my tears," and "fall from your spring," etc (you can even see the emotional expressions in their names). 🎶🥺

Interestingly, great guitar players called loot players at that time were often found as spies (secret agents) because they played extraordinarily charming and soft songs to serenade the king to sleep. They were the closest to the king and the group of people that got the king's ears. 🤫

Source:

Rob Scallon. (2020, July 25). The History of Guitar [Video]. YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjK4GVR1EcE