> I didn't mean to imply it was the vihuela of the conquistadores just
> build after the model of them. I think the "real" instrument would have
> been to expensive for the common people to affort so they made their own
> instrument copying the idea of the noble instrument of the rich.
Well, I don't think original south Americans had any necessity of playing
Spanish music, is that's what you meant.
Re "common" people in Spain, don't forget that there were different types of
vihuela, depending of the social sector people belonged to.
While the wealth probably played a "vihuela de piezas", with decoration and
maybe made out of exotic materials, the not that rich might have played a
vihuela sencilla, made out of "madera vieja", with no decoration (as you see
in some iconography, for instances).
The thing is that the market was able to satisfy the necessities and
possibilities of all the potential vihuela players in the old world.
Regards,
A
