The chiterra sarda ( Sardinian for "Sardinian guitar") or ''chitarra sarda'' in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

, is a large-bodied

baritone guitar The baritone guitar is a guitar with a longer scale length, typically a larger body, and heavier internal bracing, so it can be tuned to a lower pitch. Gretsch, Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, ESP Guitars, PRS Guitars, Music Man, Danelectro, Schec ...

from

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

used primarily to accompany singers in the ''

cantu a chiterra The ''cantu a chiterra'' ( Sardinian for "singing with guitar") is a typical Sardinian form of monophonic singing in Sardinian language and Gallurese, accompanied by a ''chiterra sarda'', or Sardinian guitar. This type of song is particularly preva ...

'' genre. The body is larger than a

dreadnought guitar The dreadnought is a type of acoustic guitar body developed by American guitar manufacturer C.F. Martin & Company. The style, since copied by other guitar manufacturers, has become the most common for acoustic guitars. At the time of its creat ...

with a scale length of about 680mm. In Italian, it also goes by the names ''chitarrone'' and ''chitarra gigante'', both referring to its large size.

Tuning

It is usually tuned a fourth lower than a standard guitar: B (Si) E (Mi) A (La) D (Re) F# (Fa#) B (Si).Bernard Lortat-Jacob, Improvisation et modèle: le chant a guitare sarde , in «L'Homme», XXIV, 1, 1984 Chiterra sarda tuning

Notable players

Paolo Angeli Paolo Angeli (born 1970 in Olbia, Sardinia, Italy) is a guitarist, composer, ethnomusicologist and instrument builder associated with traditional Sardinian music, flamenco, jazz, post-rock and experimental music. He plays his own prepared Sar ...

References

Italian musical instruments Sardinian musical instruments Guitars Acoustic guitars {{guitar-stub