Classical

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Classical

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Jim Opfer

Posts: 1876
Joined: Jul. 19 2003
From: Glasgow, Scotland.

Classical

I'm not keen on 'classical' guitar, I mean that I don't ever listen to it and rarely like what I hear. I did however, find this and as David Russell's from this part of the world and very highly regarded, I thought I'd give it a listen.

I found it quite moving but couldn't take my eyes off David's thumb that jumps all over the place and bends outwards to pluck strings. Bad technique? For flamenco yes! but works very well for DR.
What do you think?

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 4 2007 18:44:15

Hugh

Posts: 130
Joined: Jul. 27 2006

RE: Classical (in reply to Jim Opfer)

He stayed in Largs as a child. The father was a musician and took the whole family to Spain to live. Thats where David learned classical guitar to such a high level. I have a few albums by him.
One that really hits the right spot is a Celtic one. He does some really beautiful tunes from the Scottish Islands.
He is one truly amazing guitarist.
There's a clip on You Tube somewhere that shows him playing a classical piece with a capo. I've never seen any other classical guitarist doing this.
He does a wonderful Bach album too.
Here's one with a dropped d tuning.

Which brings a question to mind. Does any flamenco music have a dropped d anywhere? I have'nt come across any such piece so far

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 4 2007 19:26:30

Hugh

Posts: 130
Joined: Jul. 27 2006

RE: Classical (in reply to Jim Opfer)

Just found my favourite tremolo piece. The amazing Mr Romero playing .........

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 4 2007 19:40:28

Jim Opfer

Posts: 1876
Joined: Jul. 19 2003
From: Glasgow, Scotland.

RE: Classical (in reply to Hugh)

Hi Hugh.

Nice link.
There's a lot of drop D tuning in flamenco playing, Zambra, Moruna and I think Sabicas Zapadeado en Re. But also lots of modern players use this and other unuseual tunings. Tomatito has a great Tangos and Nunez uses this a lot (I think on one of his Tarantas) but the guys will know better than me.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 4 2007 19:42:04

Jim Opfer

Posts: 1876
Joined: Jul. 19 2003
From: Glasgow, Scotland.

RE: Classical (in reply to Hugh)

quote:

The amazing Mr Romero playing .........

Incidentally, Snr. Romero got a great thumb technique.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 4 2007 19:44:17

Hugh

Posts: 130
Joined: Jul. 27 2006

RE: Classical (in reply to Jim Opfer)

Thanks Jim. I just had a thought after I posted that question. What I meant was a dropped d tuning in normal pitch without a capo?

Someone on another site told me that Pepe Romero does a lot of flamenco too?

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 4 2007 20:07:28

Ricardo

Posts: 14833
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC

RE: Classical (in reply to Jim Opfer)

quote:

Which brings a question to mind. Does any flamenco music have a dropped d anywhere? I have'nt come across any such piece so far

Capo or not should not make a big difference to your question. Rondeña is a very old form that uses Drop D and third string to F# (I have heard that some guitarists use that for some renaissance lute music) supposedly by Ramon Montoya. As mentioned Sabicas has Zapateado. Esteban de Sanlucar uses DGDGBE, like Albeniz's Sevilla for "Mantilla de Feria". Paco plays that on FANTASIA and also has his own Alegrias in D with drop D. M. Sanlucar, and Tomatito also have excellent Alegrias with Drop D. Paco has Columbianas and Tangos with drop D on Solo Quiero Caminar.

Nunez very rarely uses the capo for solo pieces. He has several with drop D, Tangos, Pasodoble (on the encuentro vid), and my favorite piece TRAFALGAR. Of course Nunez also uses Rondeña tuning for a number of pieces, including 2 bulerias, Farruca, and even Solea!

So in other words, LOTS of drop D in flamenco guitar throughout history.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 4 2007 20:38:53

Jim Opfer

Posts: 1876
Joined: Jul. 19 2003
From: Glasgow, Scotland.

RE: Classical (in reply to Hugh)

quote:

What I meant was a dropped d tuning in normal pitch without a capo?

Sorry! Hugh, that's got me lost?

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 4 2007 20:39:04

Ricardo

Posts: 14833
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC

RE: Classical (in reply to Hugh)

quote:

Just found my favourite tremolo piece. The amazing Mr Romero playing .........

That leads to a question I have. Are there ANY OTHER TREMOLO PIECES in classical guitar repertoire???? I know of one by Barrios that almost nobody plays, but other than that, this Tarrega has started to get old on me.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 4 2007 20:41:44

Estevan

Posts: 1936
Joined: Dec. 20 2006
From: Torontolucía

RE: Classical (in reply to Ricardo)

quote:

Are there ANY OTHER TREMOLO PIECES in classical guitar repertoire????

'Campanas del Alba' by Eduardo Sainz de la Maza:

or, if you prefer the kawaii smoochy-lips version:

quote:

I know of one by Barrios

I know of two by Barrios - one in regular tuning and one with D and G in the bass.
There are probably others in the repertoire but I've never been a big fan of tremolo pieces. One that I actually like is part of Manuel Ponce's 'Variations on Folia de Espana'.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 4 2007 22:57:20

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 4 2007 23:28:29

guitarbuddha

Posts: 2970
Joined: Jan. 4 2007

RE: Classical (in reply to Jim Opfer)

There is also Cancion de La Hilendera in drop D( it is in one of Stover's editions ),which has a nice folksy theme and a short interlude. I played it for him when he came to our conservatoure and it took me another five years to work out why he didn't like how I played it. Russell has one of the great tremolos, very lyrical massive dynamic and tonal range..

The D in rondena tuning relates to the first diapazon ( extra course or paired strings which are rarely plucked ) on a renaissance lute. Capo third fret brings the guitar roughly to the pitch of the lute.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 4 2007 23:37:05

edgar884

Posts: 1975
Joined: Nov. 16 2005

RE: Classical (in reply to Jim Opfer)

I kinda missed this one but. In my oppinion most classical players have really bad thumb technique, including me 3 years ago. I find myself doing apoyanda on accident now when I play classical stuff. One of my favorites who had great thumb technique is Jorge Morel. I wonder who invented resting the thumb because it seems to overshadow classicals way of having this thumb that flies all over the place.

Planting and resting the thumb has been my hardest achievement and yet one of the most satisfying.

Its hard to play classical anymore its so less exciting and rhythmic.

That was a damn good performance, I thought. I kinda like the way in classical the bass notes get to create overtones and sub harmonics because they dont rest the thumb hardly ever. ehhhh just a thought

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 5 2007 0:16:50