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estebanana -> RE: FINE TUNING A GUITAR (Jan. 30 2014 16:43:45)
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The late Phillip Roshegar, a wonderful guitarist who was the first classical guitarist to win the Segovia Competition- I believe it was held in Santiago de Compostela- was also a composer of high quality.
Phil used to play locally in Berkeley and one night at a flamenco gathering a big Granada made guitar was being passed around. It had been made for a guy who was large man and was a very big blanca, perhaps four inches deep and large plantilla with long scale. I think the man to commissioned it was about 6'6" . Phil got ahold of the guitar and began to play classical Spanish rep. Like Moreno Torroba, mid twentieth century stuff, he was a monster player and one of the most musical persons you could ever hope to meet.. Phil played not only with technical sureness, but with tone that dripped off his hands, you wondered where it came from, did it come from inside that box?
He really got into that guitar, he said "You know, when most classical guitarists record the Spanish composers pieces they don't l use a guitar that sounds flamenco and that is a mistake." he went on about for some time a demonstrated places in different works where a flamenco sound and rasgeuado was better than a bell tone round clear classical. He said this that big Granada guitar was perfect for the task because it had a mix of sustain that could sing those melodic passages, but enough grit to make sense of the places in the music that are derived from Spanish folk music and flamenco.
Then after he played a lot of Spanish stuff he played Bach and then said you know Bach needs the grittiness of a flamenco guitar somedays. He liked the way a flamenco guitar would not mudd up pieces by Bach with intricate counter point.
I've tried to build a few guitars based on that conversation and that Granada blanca, I've had some success and I may still keep after that idea because it is a good idea. The trouble with it however is that there are not many classical guitarists like Phillip who recognize that idea and it's difficult to find players who think that way. When one comes along I'll be ready to build them a guitar with those traits in mind because I have been working on it.
Phillip was a truly great musician and I miss hearing him play. He had a way of transmitting music that is rare, he had faults and shortcomings as a person, but his gift to transmit music out shined all that for me. In a way he was a classical guitarist with a flamenco heart.
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