The first evidence of the renaissance guitar is from the first half of the sixteenth century and is mostly iconographic in nature, such as illustrations and title pages of printed music. During the sixteenth century and the first half of the next century, the four course guitar experienced widespread popularity, particularly in France; among the many composers who helped to create a rich and interesting repertoire were Melchior de Barberis, Alonso de Mudarra, Adrian Le Roy, and Guillaume Morlaye.

The music for guitar, like that for the lute, was written in tablature with letters or numbers placed on lines representing the courses of the instrument; the guitar repertoire includes transcriptions of Renaissance vocal music, compositions for voice and guitar or forsolo guitar and dance music.