Classical guitar making classical guitar today is the Spanish guitar: usually fan-braced and strong in fundamental. While fan-braced Spanish (Torres, post-Torres style) instruments coexisted with traditional central European ladder-braced (19th-century style) guitars at the beginning of the 20th century, the central European guitars eventually fell away. Some attribute this to the popularity of Segovia, considering him "the catalyst for change toward the Spanish design and the so-called 'modern' school in the 1920s and beyond". The styles of music performed on ladder-braced guitars, were becoming more and more unfashionable; and e.g. in Germany musicians were in part turning towards folk-style music (Schrammel-music and the
Classical guitar making and barreing, and generally aid in the development of a "lighter" left hand. The 17th-century wire-strung instruments, Orpharion and Bandora are early examples of instruments featuring multiple scale fretboards. An armrest provides three primary benefits: it lessens damping of the top caused by the right forearm; it is potentially more comfortable for the player; and it absorbs the wear to the finish that would otherwise happen on the top, the binding, and the side. These benefits are of particular importance for ultra-thin-topped instruments, such as Smallman's, but could subtly improve any guitar, including double-tops. While most classical guitar makers are