New To Classical Guitar?
Welcome to an amazing world of great music - and a wonderful art form!
If you're not familiar with the classical guitar, its players, history and repertoire, this page can help. SGS hopes you will find it as rewarding as we do. This page will provide useful links for more in-depth information.
To start, think of classical guitar as similar to classical piano and other instruments playing classical music. Like acoustic steel-string fingerstyle, fingers and thumb are used to pluck the strings, which are usually nylon. The basses look like steel strings but are wire wrapped around a nylon filament core. The general techniques, sitting and hand positions have been well established, and it is safe to say the vast majority of players use very similar postitions.
You may have heard of "Masterclasses" and wondered what they were. A masterclass is an artistic learning environment where a "master" artist (often performing near the same time as the masterclass) teaches aspiring young artists in their particular art form. It is like a private lesson with an audience, since an individual is getting coached, but the teacher often address the other performers and the people auditing (not performing). It is an opportunity to see high level teaching and get acquainted with some of the repertoire.
Throughout the year there are festivals where aficianados meet for experience the latest trends and reunite with friends. With luthiers (guitar builders) and guitar related merchandise for sale, concerts, workshops and masterclasses, these provide an excellent environment to see classical guitar. Three festivals are the Guitar Foundation of America's annual GFA International Convention and Competition, the bi-annual La Guitarra California Festival, and the South Bay Guitar Society's annual Spring Festival, and there are many others. Check World Guitarist's front page for upcoming festivals.
Wikipedia has a good introductory page on classical guitar here. and World Guitarist maintains a list of top classical guitarists here. For further information browse the website or e-mail daniel@danielguitar.com
