GITTERNS

However, depictions of these kinds of instruments seem to be quite abundant around the 14th century suggesting they were quite common, but if taken at face value, sizes varied and doubtless so did tunings. Apart from the fact that many contemporary representations show players using a plectrum rather than fingers, we have no direct evidence of how gitterns were played and tuned and I'm sure these also varied greatly and were not at all standardised and so my approach is for you to think about how you wish to play the gittern, now, in the modern era with due respect to what evidence we do have. If an instrument was used in the 14th century then it was obviously still known about later.... it couldn't be un-invented.

The only good surviving example we have is the Oth that I based my original designs on, it has five courses and was made around 1450, during a time when I would suggest that the use of gitterns was in decline. However, judging by all the earlier iconographic evidence it had changed very little in concept over perhaps the preceding two centuries, although the number of strings or courses of strings varied between 3 and 6! But were they all classed as the same instrument? We don't know. Although its shape indicates an obvious similarity to the lute it has also been suggested that the gittern was a forerunner of the guitar.