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Yesterday I took the Metro North up from New York to sit in on two fantastic masterclasses at Yale University, one by Raffaella Smits and the other by Odair Assad. I was really struck by the quality of their teaching and how they adapted their modes of communication to suit different players. All of the [...]
Studying Classical Guitar at Univeristy in the United States – Is it worth it? by Simon Powis For the majority of classical guitarists, income derived from performances and CD sales is far from sufficient to pay monthly bills. Teaching, administration positions, and jobs unrelated to music are often the pillars of a classical guitarists’ financial [...]
Sight Reading on the Classical Guitar by Simon Powis Part 3 The benefits of good sight-reading The guitar community has survived, even flourished, in the last decades, and it has done so without a good level of sight reading. Why, then, is it important to usher in a new level of sight reading in the [...]
CD – Jeux Interdits & other famous guitar encores Transart TR168 Artist – Filomena Moretti Reviewing recordings is easiest when they aren’t very good. I mean, it’s easier to be critical, right? People have made careers doing just that. Putting aside, for the moment, the angst of writing something that may devastate the career of [...]
Sight Reading on the Classical Guitar by Simon Powis Part 2 Why does the problem exist? Difficulties of the instrument “To be objective about it, I would say the guitar is more difficult than other instruments because there are more alternatives. So I think one has to face that, it’s not an excuse, it’s a [...]
University of Louisville Guitar Festival and Competition – May 26-30, 2011 The Louisville CLassical Guitar Society & the University of Louisville is presenting a guitar festival and international competition, May 26th through 30th, 2011 at the School of Music in Louisville Kentucky. See the above link for more details. Events: Solo Artist Competition (free choice repertoire [...]
This is a wonderful etude in the moto perpetuo style. Like the Allegro from Barrios’ La Catedral, this etude works on a fluid right hand techniqe, barre in the left hand and also requires the musician to extract a legato melody out of a constant stream of notes. Purchase the score for instant download $2.99
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the concert given by John Williams last Thursday was that it was five minutes down the road from where I have been staying and I had no idea about it till the night before! Needless to say, I was very happy to get the news from a friend after [...]
Sight Reading on the Classical Guitar Introduction “Reading facility is not simply a useful additional skill for a musician to have. It is, in sense, necessary for full membership to the musical community.”[1] Sight reading has a new found significance for guitarists in the twenty-first century. The expansion of the chamber music repertory, and the [...]
Today I helped my friend move house. Boxes, couches, tables, chairs. Hand killers. There are so many occasions where I have either done something reluctantly or not at all because I was afraid of damaging my hands. While non-guitarists/musicians will most likely understand that you are opting out of an activity because of your precious [...]
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