Drew Christie

In the early 19th century, the terz guitar was so popular that the majority of duets published called for the primary guitar one part as terz guitar with one normal second guitar. This is usually indicated by the notation “tierce” or various other spellings. In Vienna, the terz guitar was especially popular, and in fact many original editions of duets from Vienna in this time period do not specify “terz”, but the guitar parts are often in different keys off by a third (for example guitar 1 is 3 sharps / A major and guitar 2 is no sharps / C major), which is an indication of terz guitar being required. So common was the terz guitar for ensembles, that it was assumed.