The purpose of the research is that in its historical development, the guitar has gone through several stages that have their own characteristic features and sometimes these stages are quite sharply delimited due to alternating ups and periods of stagnation. Research objectives include the stages available for review, because the history of the instrument goes back centuries, and legends and guesses cannot be the subject of serious scientific research. The research hypothesis is that objective historical studies of both the instrument itself and the repertoire can cover the period earlier than the end of the 15th - early 16th century, when the guitar had already separated from other stringed plucked instruments by design features, performing techniques, and, consequently, the repertoire. The study uses general scientific research methods. The novelty of the research is that in the course of its development, the design and structure of the instrument, as well as the music performed on it, have changed. The face of the guitar repertoire reflected the processes taking place in the culture, art and public consciousness of Europeans, including trends in performing and composing thinking, changing stylistic attitudes and the like. In general, the genres of guitar music in its historical dynamics allowed the guitarist (performer and researcher) to draw the following conclusion: among folk instruments, the guitar has historically formed around itself one of the most powerful and heterogeneous genre niches, demonstrating the dynamics of the elimination of the primary conditions for the existence of music - from the field of everyday life to stage performances.