As a young, classical musician in a world dominated by pop consumers, it is never a surprise to me that a common question when people hear I am a classical guitarist is “well do you ever pick up an electric guitar and just shred on it?” The first time I heard this question I was confused. “Shred?” as in play a passage of notes at maximum speed for greater effect? Of course I do, but why on earth do I need to do it on electric guitar? I “shred” when playing Bach!
But then I realized the real question people were asking wasn’t whether I could play fast or not, it was whether I was good, however due to decades of hearing guitarists they deem “good” playing fast riffs in the middle of a wailing electric guitar solo, this is the only basis they have to compare a guitarist’s talents too. Seeing as many classical guitarists have a background in electric guitar as well, I am afraid that this mentality of “playing fast equates to playing well” becomes passed down to them and they lose the reason behind classical music.
Virtuosity has definitely always been a part of music, all you have to do is look at Vivaldi’s violin concertos to see that much, however there is more behind the flashy violin solos that make the piece memorable enough to be played hundreds of years later. In my opinion, quite a bit of the guitar repertoire is missing this part. “Recuerdos de la Alhambra” by Tarrega is a famous classical guitar piece and it might be fun to play with it’s fluttering tremolo melody and it can be nice to listen too as well, however after a while I find myself exhausted by listening too it. My response by the end of the piece is “all right all right, I get it, you can play an even tremolo. Congratulations.”
I often argue with one of my friends over the value of Tarrega, a composer he contests to be one of the greatest ever. Finally sick of hearing this one day, another friend of mine went up to a flutist and asked her “Have you ever heard of Tarrega.” And she shook her head. So he asked her a different question. “Have you ever heard of Britten?” he asked, and this time her answer was, “of course.” Tarrega might be well-known among the guitarists of the world, but like many other guitarist/composers he is virtually unknown amongst other musicians. Why is this?
I believe that guitar has hit the same rut that popular music of today has. They have both become stale due to pressures to make songs “flashy” as opposed to interesting. Flashiness has it’s own purpose in music and is useful when used sparingly, however an entire piece based on one technical feat and bent on the purpose of “wowing” an audience is monotonous by the end. Benjamin Britten wrote a solo piece for guitar that is growing in popularity, and I often like to think what the world’s response to it back in 1964 might have been, in particular the response of Andrés Segovia whom I hold a special grudge against since he refused an offer from Schoenberg to write a solo for guitar (there is a quartet written for guitar and other instruments by him, but it’s just not the same!). The whole piece is based off of continuously avoiding a resolution because the guitar is restless and sleepless. This must have been earth-shattering indeed to a guitar world used to having the tonal center spoon-fed to them.
This multi-movement piece called “Nocturnal” is based on an old renaissance song by John Dowland and is, in my opinion, one of the most incredible ever written for guitar.
(my personal favorite version of it is played by Julian Bream, however this version by Alberto Mesirca is also very good.)
Britten knew how to write for the instrument, and he used it to it’s full extent, whether eliciting a single line to infuse all the richness a guitar can offer into that one note, or by taking advantage of the multiple strings and depth the guitar can produce. There is even a movement with the tremolo technique Tarrega used, however he uses it in a far more interesting way as he starts off with the tremolo in the melody but then gradually passes it down to the basses. This change makes it far more interesting to listen too! In contrast to Tarrega’s pieces written for guitar, I never get tired of listening to “Nocturnal”.
It seems the key to writing interesting pieces is to find an idea and to develop it over time in the piece, and I think it’s harder to do this while writing with the guitar in the hand. As a composer, I was taught to compose away from the instrument, at least for the majority of the time, because when you write at the instrument you only compose what you can play, or what you have already heard due to a habit of falling into patterns. When you compose using your brain, a whole new level of opportunities is opened up to you and that’s when things become interesting.
During the 17th century, the style of a Cantata, or a song, drastically changed and became more structured. These were the pop songs of those days, songs like “Clori Vezzosa, e bella: Si, si ben mio” by A. Scarlatti.
(not my favorite recording of the song, but it starts 55 sec in)
This particular Cantata is known as a da capo aria and follows a very familiar form, a form strikingly similar to the “verse, chorus, verse” used in modern pop, though back then it was known as “ritornello, A1, ritornello, A2, ritornello”. The main difference is that modulation, or changing the key, was a common way to differentiate between the sections. This shift in tonal center is enough to make the piece even slightly more interesting, anything that is a change draws the ear and when done correctly it can become a very memorable part of the piece. Perhaps this is something modern pop artists should take into consideration. In a form based off of simplicity, you don’t have to do much to make the music more interesting. Even a little bit can go a long ways.
Virtuosity is never a thing to shy away from, however when used excessively it becomes monotonous and ego-fueled. Like nearly everything in life, a balance must be found between the “shredding” that shows physical and technical talent that impresses the audience, and the interesting dynamics of the musicality that not only show the mental prowess of the performer, but also takes the audience along on a journey.
the music corner 