Guitar (Acoustic/Electric)

[Kevin]

Okay fans, let's see what you can come up with on this one!

[adrianallan]

Ok Kevin.

I think that there is a real difference between writing for the classical nylon guitar and the steel string guitar.

This is a very fine example of writing for the steel acoustic guitar.

The theme is very beautiful, it has an interesting groove or accent group and is in my opinion one of the very best acoustic guitar pieces.

It uses an altered tuning and a capo on fret 4. I have the music on my shelf and I've tried it for myself.

[Kevin]

A Bach fugue on guitar? Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm

But then when it is Julian Bream playing!



Watch the double handed playing at 2.54

[steve]

I like that next to last chord in the Dan Smith piece - nice finish!

The Bach really makes me want to learn the guitar. I'm a big fan of Bach in any arrangement. The polyphony of his music lends itself so well I think to a wide variety of arrangements.

[Kevin]

I know that flamenco is a big part of guitar playing, this one has had over 1 million views! Opinions please.

[adrianallan]

He's pretty good but no comparison to Paco de Lucia

Here is an interesting video of him Paco playing rodrigo's concerto movement 3. Interesting, as it shows how a flamenco musician interprets a piece for classical guitar.

Harsher attack and more percussive is the main difference. This is probably true for most folk vs classical playing styles on other instruments.

[Deleted]

What struck me the most in terms of technical difficulty and his abilities with the instrument was how quickly he was able to move his left hand up and down the frets, probably jumping a full octave or more. That must be extremely difficult to do well and every single note seemed to be dead on. Wonderful dexterity and beautifully brought out rhythms along with the flamboyant melody and chords. I am not surprised that there have been over 1 million views on this.

[Kevin]

Well no one has added some rock guitar yet. After looking around I found this one. It seems this is one of the guys on electric guitar.



Seemingly amazing technique.

[Deleted]

I think I admire the previous examples of guitar performances just a little more because the performers did not use a pick. Nonetheless there is no disputing that Paul Gilbert is a master at playing electronic guitar.

[Kevin]

I agree with that view but he is pretty awesome!

[whataguy]

Here's a jazz approach to finger picking by Tuck Andress. The playing starts at 0:45.

[Kevin]

I found this one. One of the masters of jazz guitar.

[whataguy]

This gal is the bomb!

[Kevin]

It is amazing just how far guitar players have pushed performance boundries over the years. No longer is it a melodic/harmonic instrument it is also a percussion instrument!

[whataguy]

I think it always has been a percussive instrument. Flamenco is percussive as much as melodic. Jazz guitar has lots of percussive elements. Listen to Herb Ellis comp or Stanley Jordan solo. Even Segovia hammer-on'ed a lot of stuff. Or how about the backbeat rhythms in an R&B band? However, I agree with you that musicians like Vicki Genfan and Preston Reed push the boundries.

[Deleted]

It was Segovia and Julian Bream that got me into the guitar, but.....



Here is Jennifer Batten two hand tapping - she is not as well known as most electric guitar "shredders" because she is a session musician (with Michael Jackson amongst others) but she is phenomenal. Here she is with Rimsky Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee.

[steve]

WOW!

Those bees give me the creeps...!

[Kevin]

I agree, she is pretty amazing.

[whataguy]

I have the CD and sat in the studio when she did that tune live for us on-air! She IS awesome! Jennifer was a student of Joe Diorio at the Institute of Guitar Studies in L.A. She plays great jazz as well.

[Kevin]

I think that it is great that what is basically a stringed instrument we have been able to show other elements here on SOS.