Guitar World

Approaching New Years Eve is often a time for reflection…It’s been a year of transition for me, this website re-launched three months ago, and it’s great to see some new readers here. To close the year out, here is a rendition of the traditional “Auld Lang Syne”, played here by Stepan Rak, the way only he can play…

Some may be aware of the guitars ability (dependant on the performer) to “imitate” other instruments (more on that soon) Here is Auld Lang Syne, with the guitar assuming the role of the Scottish bagpipes! Thanks to the Guitar Video Trader of the video. Happy New Year!

I was always a fan of Brazillian guitarist Marcello Kayath in late 80’s, early 90’s. Later I heard he gave up professional guitar to become a merchant banker. A loss to the guitar world, but in view of what has happened this year to banking, we never know, he may return to us! Here is a rare video of Marcello, playing my favourite Villa Lobos guitar work, Mazurka Choro.

One more video from Marcello, from the same Toronto recital, this time playing Piazzola’s La Muerte Del Angel.

Paraguay According to Agustin Barrios; DVD Review.

Paraguayan guitarist virtuoso Berta Rojas has previously recorded an audio only Barrios CD, yet for this DVD portrait of Paraguay to the music of it’s best loved composer, who better than Rojas to perform…

That Rojas is a guitarist of the highest technical caliber is beyond dispute, and her interpretation skills have a particular incline towards this music of her homeland. It is though, only 8 pieces;

Las Abejas (The Bees), Jha Che Valle (O My Homeland) Caazapa, Sueno en la Floresta, La Catedral, Danza Paraguaya, Julia Florida, Ultima Cancion (The Last Song)

The music is set to narrative by Rojas of Barrios brief biography, with each piece depicting a phase of the composers life, to pictures of Paraguay interspersed with Rojas playing. What is superb is Rojas music. It is sublime, something to which Barrios himself would be very proud, of that I’m sure. Witness the sublime phrasing in Caazapa and Julia Florida, and the dance music of Danza Paraguaya and Jha Che Valle, to the poignant La Ultima Cancion , the final work written by Barrios shortly before his death in El Salvador.

What works less is, despite some beautiful pictures of the country, there is a distinct lack of imagination by the director, with way too many shots of the same type, example numerous shots of suitcases in Caazapa, and one repeated shot of reeds by the riverside throughout. I myself would have preferred the likes of Danza Paraguaya style all through, of Rojas playing in local countryside, opposed to only occasional shots of the guitarist, in between many pictures of Rail Stations, sheet music, and other unrelated pictures. In Floresta, Rojas is playing near a large waterfall, and without  water sounds  blended in for effect, this looks just plain artificial, particularly with Rojas proving less efficient in miming than in actual playing.

Overall, a superb effort by Rojas, let down by unimaginative direction and way too sketchy narrative. A project of this magnitude deserved  far more detailed content.

 I decided to make a post of a collection of what I consider guitars “magic moments”. These are not necessarily my favourite pieces, but more like certain phrases or sections of a piece which have a deep meaning for me. They may have a particular relevance, either in emotion, structure, description or compositional genius. I will describe why. Here’s my nine magic guitar moments, in no particular order…

                                ”Nocturnal” by Britten;

This is of course variations on a theme of John Dowland, “Come Heavy Sleep”, a theme which fascinated Britten all his life. But here the theme is not stated until the end, after the variations and Passacaglia, right at the end. The part which makes the hairs on my back stand up is the modulation after the end of the passacaglia, into Dowland’s beautiful theme, beautifully captured by Julian Bream in his recording. It’s like discovering what the work has been all about, almost like discovering the meaning of life itself…

                          “Koyunbaba” by Dominiconi.

Following the intro, the opening chord of C# Minor sparkles like sunshine into a whole new world, underlining the harmonic possibilities of the C# minor tuning employed in this work. The beautiful landscape of Koyunbaba, Turkey, noted for it’s wild geography and wild weather patterns, is captured in the piece, interspersed with folkloric elements. To me it is the Shepherd, who has the wisdom, and time, to appreciate the beauty, and awesome power, of nature.

                           “Sueno en La Floresta” by Agustin Barrios Mangore.

The first, and main theme, following the intro, must surely be one of the most beautiful and endearing themes ever written for the guitar. With it’s soaring melody and quick, lateral finger movements of the accompaniment, “A Dream in the Forest”, it’s rough translation, simply breathes fresh air from the first note to the last, a beautiful journey drifting from a range of themes to it’s conclusion. The key of G Major has never sounded lovelier on guitar.

               Adagio, 2nd movement, “Concerto de Arranjuez”, Rodrigo.

The haunting melody was described by Pepe Romero as the composer communicating his grief with God over the loss of his child after his wifes miscarriage. I’ve always pictured a lost traveller in the Desert, seeing a distant Oasis, while listening to this classic movement.

              2nd movement “Guitar Concerto” by Castelnuovo Tedesco.

This gem of a Concerto is often overlooked by guitarists and moreover, listeners, placing it perhaps in the shadow of the Rodrigo Arranjuez. But it deserves better recognition, the  theme of 2nd movement is the composers tender farewell to Italy, the land he has grown up in, but forced to leave for reasons of politics.

                              ”Maxixe” by Agustin Barrios Mangore.

The slurred bass line passage followed by block chord modulation back to the intro in the home key is a great example of Barrios improvisation, and demonstrates his ability to blend themes together. Moreover, it makes a total mockery of Segovia’s earlier dismissal of Barrios compositional talent.

                                 “Sonata Mongoliana” by Stepan Rak.

The bass melody against multi ligado treble accompaniment superbly captures the vast, open plains of the region, and provides a real stimulus to the imagination for those who have not visited the country. Later, when the melody changes to Rak’s majestic multi string tremolo, one can imagine local folklore, and elements of east Asian culture.

                           “Carillon” by Benvenuto Terzi.

It’s a feature of Terzi’s music, the use of right hand harmonics against left hand ligado’s. In this instance, the piece is an imitation of a wind up music box, and the key is to gradually slow down, not in a musical way, rall, but the way a music box does! Until finally stopping, in the middle of the tune. The effect, for those with enough technique to pull it off (not me ) is stunning. Listen to Massimo Laura’s fantastic recording of Terzi ( a much too neglected composer) to hear for yourself, those who have not heard the piece.

                          “Recuerdos de la Alhambra” by Fransisco Tarrega.

Quite simply, the whole piece. How could I compile a list without including the most requested and best loved guitar work (in my ezperience) Wherever I’ve played, this tremolo study by Tarrega is requested and best received by non guitarist listeners. It is a perrenial classic, and for me, my favourite part is the change to A major from the tonic minor.

So those are among my favourite guitar moments. I’d like to hear yours

image thanks to The Thiers of flickr.

   Grief, I thought I’d got over playing nerves a long time ago, or at least learnt to deal with it adequately… However, I think yesterday was the worst I’ve ever felt before playing in public. Maybe in part  it was the occasion, but I think more likely to be my own limited preparation. As I mentioned before, confidence (or in my case lack of it) is a major factor in playing nerves, and it’s no co-incdence that the pieces I knew best were the least adversely affected.  When I started to play, it sounded okay, so gradually I made some sort of fist of it.

The worst part though, was memorisation. When nerves come into play, memory can go straight out of the window. I decided to play in the waiting room Barrios Vals no. 3 just to warm up, playing to myself. I’ve played this piece a lot, but not for a while. Yesterday  I could not get past the first bar I simply could not think of the fingerings. Out there playing, I always find it so hard to start off, so I’m afraid, yet again, my fingers look for the “comfort zone” of Romanza anon.

Two newly learned pieces I had planned on playing seemed far too daunting whilst out there. So I think unless one’s fingers can move seemingly of their own accord, an effect born out of endless repetition, it’s not a good idea to play them in public. No wonder one pro guitarist said he ever plays anything in public until he has played the work for at least two years! Not too easy if the player is commissioning a new work though! But I understand his feelings on the issue….

Anyway, the people there liked it very much, they said, and seemed genuine. If only they knew how many bars I missed out due to memory lapses The guitar sounds so lovely though, in suitable ambiance it can be a great effect for diners having someone to play.

If anyone has ideas on how you overcome playing nerves or memorisation issues, I’d enjoy hearing from you

Just a quick update post to say hello again A busy week all round for me, I am playing again in public for the first time in about six months. I had hoped to include some song arrangement, but once again I find myself somewhat inflexible in my approach, and insufficient practice time to polish many new pieces

One thing I’ve learned is if I can’t play a phrase accurately 48 hours before a gig there’s no point at all in practicing like mad at the last minute to polish it, and then expecting to play it in front of people, because, when confronted (and that’s a fair enough term) by an audience the newly learned phrase (or anything new for that matter) will simply not register, and my fingers will look for familiar territory in the form of Spanish Romance, or Recuerdos So, it’s out with the new, and back to the familiar….

On the website update news, look out for my next posts, featuring a review of Berta Rojas DVD and a very rare video of Marcello Kayath, when he was still a guitarist.

Ever heard yourself play, and something just does not sound “right”, even though you might be playing notes cleanly? Often, a key difference between a slipshod and polished performance is strings ringing on too long, past their written note value, and creating “clashes” with other notes, particularly when the fresh notes are from another chord. Meaning, the effect is less disturbing when the ringing note is the root of the chord. So then, how best to prevent unwanted clashes in bass strings…

The right way of avoidence depends on which specific string is sounding. Example, if you are plucking string 5, and then 6, your right hand thumb can come to rest after plucking 6, in so doing damping string 5. But, if 6 is plucked first followed by 5, you can either;

• Angle the thumb so as to stop 6 from ringing.
• IF time allows, and depending on the passage of music itself, bring the thumb back to stop string 6.
• Or, if possible, use a left hand finger to stop the string.

Whatever you use should be dependant on the playing situation, and we must adapt accordingly. Once you have played through a piece a few times you should hear the notes which are sounding on too long. try picking out the bars in uestion, and make excersises out of them, if need be. Detailed practice gives a greater chance of a polished performance.