Reviving Words
December 16th, 2004 by Roderick RussellNo, not a magical incantation to raise the dead (for that, see the link to Alcor), but rather a few words, reflections if you will, on playing classical guitar, written years ago.
Though short, they were recently uncovered and I thought that I might share them here.
The Nature of Classical Guitar: Reflections from a Personal Perspective
Music is magic, independent of any instrument. Music in the mind, music on paper, music as unburdened pure expression is the true music. Be that as it may, we are forced, in an effort to communicate, to express pure music through an instrument.
If I could play all instruments I would. Each instrument is to be highly respected for the individual and unique voice that it confers upon any interpretation of a piece. Available time typically limits us to one instrument or group of instruments, if one desires to truly be able to express some inner voice and move themselves and others. A significant investment of time and energy is necessary to bring ones artistry and proficiency to such a level with only one instrument.
I play piano and classical guitar. It is quite happenstance that those are the instruments that I play. But in exploring those instruments, in poking and prodding to discover what they are capable of, I have become quite attached to them both.
Spending such a vast amount of ones life with an instrument and practicing diligently everyday can not but lead to an intimate relationship with the instrument. This is especially true in my life with the classical guitar.
The piano represents the extremes of my personality, of which there are many. It has a greater range than an entire orchestra, can play the most delicate pianissimo to the most thunderous fortissimo, and allows the musician to play up to ten notes at a time.
The guitar, in contrast, has a very limited range and a much smaller dynamic range. However, the tonal range and color possible on a classical guitar exceeds perhaps every other instrument to be found today, or at any time.
Within its limited dynamic range, the tonal palette is of infinite variety. There is no separation of self and instrument. Both hands are simultaneously in contact with the string, the mechanism of sound, unlike any other instrument.
The possibilities for voicing are endless. I have spent hours upon hours working with individual voices in multi-vocal works, exploring all of the timbre and tonal possibilities. In no other instrument can one bring to the fore individual voices with such clarity and freshness.
The classical guitar is a melancholy, romantic instrument, ideally suited to artistic reflection. Amidst today’s amplified society, the delicate tone of a well played classical can be lost. Many modern listeners simply do not hear the intricacies of such music and self-expression. My pursuit of a classical repertoire on this most warm and passionate of instruments is my attempt to recapture that attention to detail, that subtlety and varied shading that has been lost in much of today’s music, and most importantly to share it with a wider audience, to help enliven their sensitivities and expand the apprehension of the sublime. It is a cooperative journey.
tags: classical guitar, piano
December 30th, 2004 at Dec 30, 04 | 1:41 am
2more¢
Devil’s advocate on the comment: “However, the tonal range and color possible on a classical guitar exceeds perhaps every other instrument to be found today, or at any time.”
I play(ed) the French horn (with some ability even!) – an extremely easy instrument to honk after beats upon (the horn player’s torment,) extraordinarily difficult instrument to play with passion and clarity. But what purity of sound, what intensity of range, what haunting, chilling melodious music can be coaxed out of yards of bent and turned metal tubing, formed and lifted by breath and facial structure…
Then again, I currently “play” voice (if you will entertain that the voice is a complex instrument in itself.) Think of the honeyed notes of a soft lullaby, the coarse half shouted chorus of a rowdy drinking song, a trembling vibrato winging like a warbling songbird, a low rumbling, humming… amazing what one voice is capable of!
I guess my point is that music, to the musician, is unrestrained expression. Each of us feels emotionally tied to the capability of the instruments we play – not due to their specific superiority, but because of the intensity of the feelings we’ve expressed through it!