Guitar World

 Earlier this month I had the pleasure of attending a recital by Paraguayan virtuoso guitarist Berta Rojas, at Bolton Arts Centre, England. This concert was organised by Manchester Guitar Circle.

The  concert began with a brief performance by Bolton school advanced guitarist ensemble, playing three works. Then Rojas herself took centre stage, resplendent in all black, with a friendly stage manner, yet always conveying an aura of an artist at work.

The first half of her programme featured various composers, first Vincent Lindsey Clark from south England, who’s short piece  ”Laura”,  sparkled with vivacity,  a high melody over  fast moving arpeggio’s. It was good to hear something by Vincent in concert again, and my slight disappointment over the concert having deleted “Five Pictures of Stark” by Vincent from the programme was countered by the delights of Latin American rhythm’s and charm in the following works.

“Pasaje Abierto” by Costa Rican composer Edin Solis features two movements, Preludio and Danza, the latter’s opening section reminiscent of the second movement from Brower’s El Decameron Negro, (the Escape of the Lovers From the Valley of Echo’s)

Berta followed this with a three movement work by Quique Sinesi, “Cancion Hacia Vos”, “Alta Paz”, and “Cielo Abierto”. This charming set from Argentina I have never heard before, the first movement dedicated to the composers son. Engaging melodies and challenging rhythms, featuring tambora effects on the guitar.

Then followed two pieces by Korean composer Byeong Woo Lee. The tender “Mother” followed by “Run”, again both pieces I was hearing for the first time, but after this I am keen to hear more.

To round off the first half of the programme, Berta played two pieces from Brazil by Egberto Gismondi “Frevo” and the very rhythmical “Baiao Malandro”, with again Tambora playing a significant role in the piece, the wood of the guitar being tapped at different points, against a left hand hammer on chord effects.

Agustin Barrios Mangore

The rest  of the concert was dedicated to the works of her compatriot Agustin Barrios, who’s works, she tells us, she enjoys playing very much. I don’t think anyone plays Barrios better than Rojas. Not simply because she has an affinity with the legendary Paraguayan guitar master, and has the natural rhythm and idiomatic approach to his music. There must be something in the soul of the performer and composer that creates such a beautiful harmony, making Barrios and Rojas combination such an irresistible force in the music world. Rojas is able to bring out the composers charm, humour and pathos in such a way that, if Barrios himself is looking down, surely he will be very happy to realise his music has such a sympathetic medium of expression.

“Una Limonsna Por El Amor De Dios” tremolo was the opening, a soulful, serene reading given by Rojas, the final notes dying away followed by a long, reverential silence from the audience.

Then came two dances, “Jha Che VAlle” and “Danza Paraguaya”, both joyful celebrations of the composers homeland.

“Vals opus 8 no’s 3 and 4″ came next, almost mandatory for a Barrios recital these two, strangely played in reverse order here, Vals Brilliante before Romantica.

Two brilliant concert studies, the first the famous one in A major, followed by another virtuoso “Symphonic Allegro” are technical challenges not for the faint hearted, dispatched with aplomb by Rojas.

Finally, the famous “La Catedral” (Cathederal) brought this memorable concert to a close, all three movements played, the plaintive, Chopinesque prelude extremely touching. One encore,  the Bossa Nova styled “Choro Da Saudade” the first time I’ve heard Rojas play this one, but the piece was given a peerless interpretation, again followed by a long, awed silence from the audience, before a long round of applause.

A very enjoyable concert experience, one I hope to take in next year if the performer returns to England again. She will be very welcome, of this I am certain.

   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

Scintilating performence by Pepe Romero playing Bulerias by Sabicas. Rasguedo technique at it’s finest.

Playing music in public creates dread in some musicians. No matter how good ones playing might be, performance nerves can destroy many a public recital, and there’s nothing more frustrating than the feeling of not being able to prove how you can really play.

An interesting aspect of performance nerves which comes up in discussion at times is the so called “Sound of silence”…The thing is, when one sits down to play, it is easy to be lulled into “listening” to the silence which invades the arena, creating in the mind the only sounds thereafter will come from your instrument, if you are playing solo. I read of a guitar student who saw his tutor play Albeniz in concert, and beforehand he was literally shaking with nerves, you could see his hands trembling. How then, thought the student, will it be possible for the player to perform the delicate finger movements needed to pull off the technically difficult Albeniz? Yet, the concert went well, the player/tutor played very well, with hardly a fluff, and with trembling hands beforehand..

How then, do some people overcome this fear, and others never find any effective answers? The most effective method, it sounds so obvious really, is practice to the point where your finger movements become automatic. Imagine yourself in a concert situation while you are practicing, perhaps even record yourself as often as possible. This can create an awareness of people listening to you. The ultimate aim being to be able to play as though it means nothing, with not a care in the world, but same time, it must mean everything. To marry the two elements, requires work and practice to the point of autonomy in playing, leaving room to shape and polish the interpretation and music.

 But to overcome performance nerves, your technique must be rock solid. It is technique you rely upon, when starting off playing, if this is not solid, or you are playing something you are likely to fluff when playing at home, mistakes will multiply for sure when in public. David Russell advices us to think of technique as “building blocks”, getting the foundations correct, and build up from there.

If all else fails, guitarist John Williams has this advice regarding performance nerves, quotation from a radio interview; “I get nervous only when I am playing something new, or in public for the first time. Until one has played it, you do not know the exact pitfalls, but I believe confidence (or lack of it) is the root of all nerves. I would say this, if you are the kind of person who absolutely dreads playing in public, DON’T play solo, play in an ensemble”. John’s went on to explain his point about getting to simply enjoy making music with other players, and this gives less time to allow feelings of dread playing in public to build up.

Guitarist Karin Schaupp  is an expert on stage fright, having written her Master’s thesis on the subject, and she says that musicians “have very little training in the pitfalls of performance”. Her research into sports psychology revealed the methods athletes use to overcome performance anxiety. Relaxation, imagery, and switching negative thinking are some of the techniques that come into play. Schaupp also recommends exploring the reasons why we perform; for her it’s a matter of “giving to the audience, rather than worrying about what she can get from the audience”.

I play in less stressful situations these days. Recently a works colleague of mine told me he gets very nervous playing in public. I replied I used to but I came to realise I’m going to mess up anyway, so why worry, and try to enjoy it I guess humor works best with many things, even music

I had the pleasure of seeing guitarist Richard Durrant in concert earlier this month. The concert format he uses is “The Guitar Whisperer”…Richard once toured with group Sky, John Williams late replacement.

The concert is a mixture of classical guitar favourites, electric guitar multi tracked, and Richard’s other beloved instruments, the Banjo, Ukulele.

The concert setting was impressive under the lighting, with the array of instruments in a circle, creating an atmosphere of playing beneath the stars. The first half was classical works, beginning with Spanish classics “Recuerdos de la Alhambra”, the evergreen evocation of the Alhambra palace near Granada, by Spanish composer Fransisco  Tarrega. After that came ”Asturias” or Leyanda by Albeniz, “Cavatina” by Myers, “Sakura Variations” the charming variations on a Japanese folk song.

It’s always a wonder to me how the guitar can “vocalise” in many accents. For example, Spanish music played by Pepe Romero for example is so typically steeped in the Spanish accent. Yet Romero playing Latin American music does not always have the latin accent brought out by players such as Diaz or Rojas. This is NOT to say it sounds inferior, just the way the idiom comes accross. Julian Bream’s renditions of albeniz and Granados I think  peerless, but even this does not bring out the Spanish flavour. I think of them as classical interpretations of these works. Durrant has a gift of bringing out the musics natural idiom, even adding his own personal touches to Alhambra and Leyenda.

Then came a suprise, as the performer took up his banjo, inserted two clothes pegs under the strings, and proceeded to play a Bach prelude! Followed by a Bach Cello suite on the Ukulele. The Banjo exuded a much higher quality sound than I have been accustomed to hearing, and the Ukulele sounded much like a Baroque guitar, far removed from George Formby Banjo-Ukulele! Following that was a more recent Cuban composition for guitar, steeped in the tradition of the Rumba.

Second half, apart from Gomez Crespo’s charming Inca folk song “Nortena”, was mostly electric guitar, featuring the old Sky track written by Herbie Flowers, “Westway” inspired by traffic moving along a main highway. Lastly, Durrant’s interpretation of Steve Reich’s “Electric Counterpoint”, which included two previously recorded tracks for backing. An off the cuff encore followed, mostly audience requests.

Richard Durrant is an engaging performer, who clearly enjoys mixing with the audience, meeting and talking to us in the interval. All in all, an enjoyable night.