From: basinski@biosci.arizona.edu (Mark Basinski)
Newsgroups: rec.music.classical.guitar
Subject: Re: Modern guitarists who play classical  (was Re: Yngwie Malmsteen)
Date: 18 Nov 92 21:34:35 GMT
Followup-To: rec.music.classical.guitar
Organization: Univ. of Arizona

In article <1992Nov18.002548.12486@gn.ecn.purdue.edu>,
jprien@gn.ecn.purdue.edu (Jamison R. Prien) wrote:
> From what I know, Steve Howe has had almost no formal training, and I also 
> read that he doesn't read music, either.  One must keep that in mind when
> criticizing his music, although I can understand your points.  His playing
> expresses so much more emotion than I have heard in other guitarists' -- that
> is why he is my favorite.  There are no lyrics on Steve's new solo album, but
> with the help of very brief liner notes, I (like to) think that I hear exaclty
> what he was trying to tell me.  Maybe I'm biased - I've been listening to Asia
> for 10 years.

 OK, OK, I like Steve's electric plying too.  

 But this is rec.music.classical.guitar OK?	 If you want to discuss Howe
or Yngwie, why not post to alt.guitar instead?

 I'm not trying to put anybody down here, but I'd like to emphasize (from
my own personal view as a classical guitarist and music educator) that for
me, classical guitar really is about the serious study of *music* and how
best to realize this on the classical guitar. 

 After years of listening to many kinds of classical music, I find I have
only slight interest in things like Asia anymore (it's kind of like candy
in a way..OK, fun, but I can't take much of it).

 A couple of serious problems I've seen in my own students (and in myself
and my colleages in the past) are:

	1) classical guitar requires a lot more refinement and subtlety than most
other guitar styles, in part because it's so quiet (compared to a piano
or Van Halen or whatever), and especially when you play solo, everything
is really exposed and focused, so any glitch or squeak is that much more
a flaw. Not to get too anal about it, but if you gauge the quality of
your own performances by comparison to pianists or string players, it's
a lot of work to achieve that level of artistry.

 2) the problem of musical style..if you've ever heard anyone attempting
to play blues, and from the sound of it it seemed pretty obvious that they
had not ever really listened to blues, you get the idea of what I'm getting
at. Just because you got the music (or tab) for a piece by J.S.Bach doesn't
mean that you have everything you need to get the most out of the piece.
Yet I'm amazed at how many guitarists will learn this or that by Bach, but 
when I ask them if they've listened to Bach, at *best* they say "yeah, I
heard John William's recording", and often not even that. I find I don't 
listen to many guitar recordings at all anymore, not because I dislike
them,
but because there is so much music to learn from. Having listened to french
baroque opera, and how vocalists do ornaments influences the way I play
Bach much more than X guitarists recording. Another example is the Sor
Op. 9 (the "Variations on a Theme by Mozart")..everybody and their dog
plays
this (I did once too), and I'm a bit dismayed at how the common approach is
to do it like it was Paganini. Why not approach it like it was Mozart? I
asked several people who were playing it what they listened to, and it 
was always "oh, X's recording (guitarist). Did they listen to the actual
aria in "Die Zauberfloete"? or any other Mozart opera? Nope...it's too
bad, because it is a nice piece, and for my taste, handled in a manner
exemplifying classical elegance and restraint, it's quite enjoyable.

	well, anyway, to bring this long winded screed to a halt, the whole idea
is to increase the enjoyment we can get out of the guitar, and that should
work in both directions, i.e., striving for higher artistry AND enjoyment
of the simple and direct pleasures of music (without getting too hung up 
about it).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark Basinski      Internet: basinski@biosci.arizona.edu
Newsgroups: rec.music.classical.guitar