From the late 18th century the guitar achieved considerable general popularity though, as Ruggero Chiesa stated, subsequent scholars have largely ignored its place in classical music.

In addition several well-known composers not generally linked with the guitar played or wrote for it: Luigi Boccherini and Franz Schubert wrote for it in several pieces,[3] Hector Berlioz was a proficient guitarist who neither played keyboards nor received an academic education in music,[4] the violin virtuoso Niccolò Paganini played guitar informally and Anton Diabelli produced a quantity of guitar compositions (see List of compositions by Anton Diabelli).

Frets were no longer of tied gut but fixed strips of some harder material, first ebony or ivory then metal.

For example, they often recommend that the right hand be supported on the guitar's table although the Spanish guitarist Nicario Juaralde took the modern view, warning against a loss of right-hand freedom.

Romantic guitars often had a neck-strap around the player's neck while Dionisio Aguado invented a "tripodion" for holding the instrument.