THE STRATHMORE
GUITAR FESTIVAL
2010–2011 SEASON THE GUITAR FESTIVAL IS SPONSORED IN PART BY
A BRIEF HISTORY
OF THE GUITAR BY TOM C O L E Tom Cole is an editor at NPR and, for the past 33 years, has hosted a weekly stringed instrument program called “G-Strings,” for WPFW, 89.3 FM, in Washington. Strathmore takes a season-long look at the most influential musical instrument of the 20th century—along with its cousins: the lute, Chinese pipa and mandolin. Strathmore’s season-long Guitar Festival welcomes classical, jazz, rock and experimental guitarists from across the country and around the world. The Strathmore Guitar Festival is produced by Shelley Brown and Georgina Javor of Strathmore.
2
Introduction The guitar is not a formal instrument—
Origins
that’s why we love it and why it is one of the most popular
an instrument with a guitar-shaped body can be seen in
musical instruments in the world. You can cradle it in your
Central Asian carvings that date back to the 4th and 3rd
arms. There are no intermediary keys between you and the
centuries BCE. Actual instruments—with small guitar-
sound, as there are with pianos or most woodwinds; no
shaped bodies and long necks meant to support four
bows to balance just so—just fingers touching strings. It’s
strings—survive from 3rd and 4th century CE Egypt.
While the guitar today can be found in virtually every corner of the world, it seems to have been born in Spain. We say “seems” because scholars are simply not sure. Is the guitar a distant relative of the Ancient Greek kithara—as the name similarity might imply? Images of
easy to get a pleasant sound out of a guitar, yet it’s really hard to play well. You can play just about anything on
Was some form of the guitar indigenous to Europe? Or
it—as this series illustrates—from the deepest folk music
was it—or its ancestor(s)—imported? There were certainly
to the most intricate classical pieces and jazz to Balinese
plucked string instruments in Renaissance Europe: citoles,
court-inspired music to country and western to loud rock.
citterns, gitterns. And there were various lutes all over
The instrument itself is accessible and so seems to open
the world by this time—both bowed and plucked. One
itself to all music. Yet as popular as the guitar is, it is also
possible theory carries us back to Medieval times: that the
something of a mystery. For no one really knows where
guitar evolved from the vihuela, which evolved from the
or when the guitar—in a form we might recognize as a
lute, which evolved from the oud—which was brought
guitar—originated.
to Spain by the conquering Moors. All of these early instruments can share a somewhat similar tuning. And interestingly, for such a populist instrument, the guitar and its antecedents had a remarkable history of dissemination through conquest and imperialism. It seems they could be carried as easily as a sword.
1
Lutes, Vihuelas, Early Guitars and a “Course” in Terminology
were plucked—by the 15th century the latter instrument
The term lute applies to many, varied instruments dating
actual description and documentation. It was smaller than
back centuries. The earliest examples had long and short
the guitar we know today and it often had an ornate
necks, often round with no frets (the ridges traversing the
rosette in the center sound hole—like a lute. Its frets
neck of a modern guitar, for example, where the strings
were animal gut tied around the neck. It was tuned in a
are pressed down to create different notes), carrying two
variety of ways to suit both the specific instrument and the
strings. The bodies could be made of hollowed out gourds
kind of music being played. The Renaissance guitar was
or animal shells. They could be bowed or plucked. The
used for solo pieces and as an accompaniment to vocals.
European lute, as we’ve said, is directly descended from
Composers started writing for it. Alonso Mudarra included
the Arabic oud (or ud—the word “lute” derives from the
several pieces for guitar in a 1546 vihuela collection. The
Arabic, al-ud). Both have pear-shaped bodies, round backs
four-course Renaissance guitar took off in France and
and anywhere from four to six “courses” of strings.
inspired a substantial number of compositions. Similar
was called vihuela de mano. And this, finally, leads us to the four-course Renaissance guitar—the first instrument to really bear the name “guitar.” It’s four courses of strings usually had the lower three doubled and the treble as a single string. It became more sophisticated by the 16th century and, most importantly, the subject of literature that gives us some
instruments continue to be played today in Latin America. A “course” is the run of a string, or strings, from the
strings—but the strings are doubled: two strings running
In Europe, this style of guitar continued through the Baroque period.
down the neck close together, side by side, in six pairings...
At the end of the 15th century another course of string(s)
or “courses.”
was added. The tuning was not always straight forward
head at the top of the neck to the bridge on the table (the flat part on top of the body of a stringed instrument that resonates with the vibration of the strings to produce sound). Think of the guitar most of us know: the standard six-string guitar. It has six “courses” of single strings. Now think of the 12-string guitar—the one folk and blues musicians sometimes play. It too has six courses of
low-to-high—sometimes the lowest pitch(es) occurred in The European lute, the oud and the vihuela were strung
the third course; sometimes the third course was tuned to
like a 12-string—often with the lower (bass) strings
the upper octave. By the 17th century, such composers as
doubled and the highest (treble) string in a single course.
Gaspar Sanz, Robert de Visee and Ludovico Roncalli were writing for the five-course guitar. Louis XIV studied it and
The vihuela superceded the lute in Spain. Its body was
Francesco Corbetta dedicated an important collection to
shaped like a guitar, only larger. Sometimes it had a flat
him. Antonio Stradiveri made five-course guitars—two of
back; sometimes a round back, like a lute. It had six or
which are known to survive. Yet the Baroque guitar was
seven courses of strings. Some vihuelas were bowed; some
still very different from the guitars we know today.
2
The Six-String Guitar in a Century of Change The guitar began to change by the middle of the 18th century. The five-course Baroque guitar began to drop strings—replacing the courses of double strings with single strings. Then somebody decided to add an extra course (another mystery, it would seem). One of the earliest known six-course instruments dates from 1759. By the next year, records show six-course guitars outselling five course Baroque guitars in Spain. These mostly seem to have featured six courses of double strings. But in southern France and in Italy, guitarists and luthiers began to favor six single strings. The holdovers from the lute also began to disappear—most notably the intricate rosette was replaced by an open sound hole. Wooden tuning pegs gave way
FERNANDO SOR
to keys and metal gears. Fixed frets replaced the gut tied around the neck.
one of seven ballets he composed. He also wrote three symphonies and two operas, as well as numerous works
One of the most accomplished players of this early six-
for the guitar, one of the best-known being “Introduction
string era remains one of the greatest contributors to
and Variations on a Theme of Mozart,” based on music
the guitar’s repertoire: Fernando Sor. Sor was born in
from “The Magic Flute.” He published his “Methode pour
Barcelona—the exact date is unknown but records show
la guitare” in 1830—a work that is still studied today.
he was baptized in 1778—to a family of soldiers. Luckily,
Fernando Sor died in Paris in 1839.
his father introduced him to music. By the time he was 11, Fernando was writing songs. He wound up in military
While Sor was composing and dazzling audiences, two
school anyway and when Napoleon invaded Spain, Sor
other noted composers became enamored of the guitar.
wrote nationalistic songs to be accompanied by guitar and
Niccolo Pananini, the virtuoso violinist, set that instrument
may have even fought against the French. But when Spain
aside briefly to take up the guitar, writing a number of solo
fell, Sor took a post in the occupation government. When
and ensemble works for it. Hector Berlioz was reportedly a
the Spanish overthrew the French, Sor fled to Paris and
passable guitarist and observed something that holds true
began a career as a traveling recitalist. By some accounts,
today: “It is almost impossible to write well for the guitar
he was the best guitarist of his day. He traveled to England
without being a player on the instrument.”
and his talents are credited with single-handedly sparking a revival of interest in the guitar there. While in London,
Meanwhile, in Italy, Mauro Giuliani was coming up. He
he not only continued to compose for the guitar but
actually made his name as a performer in Vienna during
also wrote the acclaimed ballet music, “Cendrillon,”
the first two decades of the 19th century. Like Sor, he was
3
a virtuoso and earned acclaim in a city where Beethoven
By the end of the 19th century, the guitar was a popular
and Rossini were celebrities. One of Giuliani’s daughters
instrument, though it seems to have faded from the
was also an accomplished guitarist and they played recitals
concert stage in Europe. But it was everywhere else: it was
together. Mauro Giuliani wrote some 150 works for the
affordable; it was portable; and it didn’t take up as much
guitar, including three concerti. He also published several
room as a piano. It was an adaptable ensemble instrument:
method books that continue to inform guitar students.
at the turn of the 20th century, orchestras made up of guitars, mandolins, and other plucked string instruments
The instrument itself became more standardized around midcentury. A Spanish luthier named Antonio de Torres Jurado is credited with coming up with a standard of 65 cm for the length of the strings that vibrates and with developing a bridge that remains pretty much unchanged (the bridge is the part of the guitar that connects the strings to the top, or table, of the guitar. The last great guitarist/composer/teacher of the 19th century was Francisco Tarrega—born in Villareal, Spain in 1852. An early illness left his eyesight impaired and one of his only options back then to help his poor family was music. Tarrega became an accomplished guitarist and pianist. He also taught and two of his students became respected guitarist/composers: Emilio Pujol and Miguel Llobet. In addition to his own compositions—perhaps the most famous being “Recuerdos de la Alhambra,” Tarrega was responsible for another important page in the guitar’s history: transcriptions. Berlioz once complained that the major composers wrote little of value for the guitar (so why didn’t he write more?). Tarrega’s solution was to use his knowledge of the piano and adapt keyboard pieces by Chopin, Beethoven and Mendelssohn for the guitar. It helped fill out recital and concert programs with more “substantial pieces” but it was no real substitute for music written for the instrument. 4
abounded in Europe and the U.S. The instrument that is ubiquitous today began its ascendancy less than 150 years ago. It would be looked down upon in “serious music” circles until Andres Segovia hit the stage in the second decade of the 20th century.
The Guitar in North America
sentimental American popular song. He also taught and
As mentioned earlier, the guitar spread through conquest
was stoked by amateurs. Its size and affordability made
and missionary zeal. The first guitars on this side of the
it a popular alternative to the piano. At a time when the
Atlantic arrived with the first Spanish soldiers, sailors,
inexorable gears of progress and the Industrial Revolution
settlers and priests. They were used for entertainment and,
threatened traditional values, music in the home was seen
more ominously, to try to separate indigenous peoples
as an indispensable antidote. In the Northeast, the primary
from their traditional culture.
providers of this tonic were women. Their instrument
wrote articles and instruction methods. But concert programs took a back seat to minstrel shows in the 1840’s and the guitar’s continued success in the U.S.
and style became known as “parlour guitar.” The music In this country, Ben Franklin plucked a stringed instrument
was mostly accompaniment to popular songs and the
called an “English guitar,” but this was a wire-strung
occasional simple solo piece.
instrument similar to a cittern which, in turn, looked something like a stripped-down, flat-back lute. One of the
In the South before the Civil War, the guitar was an
first references to what might have been a six-stringed
instrument for both men and women of the leisure class
classical guitar dates from 1774.
and a link to the severed ties with European aristocracy. It may well have been through white plantation families
By 1833, Christian Frederick Martin had emigrated to the
that their slaves picked up the instrument. African slaves
U.S. from Germany. By 1860 he was selling about 300
were forbidden to play their own music. The vestiges of
Martin guitars a year. By 1899, the company that made
the cultures from which they were ripped were basically
Washburn guitars (Lyon and Healy) reported that it had
reduced to the songs they carried in their hearts and some
sold 20,000 of its guitars through Montgomery Ward—
form of the stringed instrument that became the banjo.
many of them likely through mail order. Mail order was
They were allowed to learn the guitar to entertain their
key to the proliferation—and so was price. At the turn of
“owners.”
the last century, Sears, Roebuck and Company was selling guitars for under $3.00.
In the Southeastern states the music that developed among African American guitarists was a remarkable
Guitar concerts and recitals were also a popular form of
blend of black and white. One of the best guitarists of the
entertainment in the mid 1800’s. There were a number
1920’s recorded under the name Blind Blake. Very little is
of acclaimed concert performers in the U.S. Dolores de
known about him, though on a recording he said his first
Goni was born in Spain and came to this country from
name was Arthur. The intricate finger picking made Blind
London. She enjoyed a successful career as a recitalist and
Blake a revered and influential musician in the acoustic
she endorsed Martin guitars, as did John Coupa, another
blues tradition may have evolved from the way the banjo
concert guitarist who became Martin’s business partner.
is played—which, in turn, may have evolved from the way
Perhaps the most colorful performer was G.E. Bini, a
the West African ngoni is plucked with the fingers. The
serious musician and guitar maker who also performed
ngoni—which has a varying number of strings and is made
regularly at P.T. Barnum’s American Museum in New York.
of an animal skin stretched across a hollowed-out calabash
Toward the end of the century, William Foden made his
gourd—is often cited as the direct ancestor of the banjo.
name as “the Wizard of the Guitar.” He composed a
The Reverend Gary Davis, another brilliant guitarist, was
number of pieces for guitar that incorporate ragtime and
also an accomplished banjo player. But their syncopated, 5
ragtime style may also have evolved from the music their ancestors learned from white parlor guitarists and passed down. Blake was born in Florida or Georgia; Davis was born in South Carolina and this ragtime style stretched up and down the East Coast to include Blind Boy Fuller and later, John Jackson and Etta Baker. It came to be called Piedmont or East Coast Blues. The story of the Mississippi Delta blues that traveled up the river to electrify Chicago is well-known. Its most famous players include Charlie Patton, Robert Johnson, Son House, Muddy Waters, B.B. King and Elmore James. The music is more strident than the East Coast blues—perhaps because life was harsher. And the guitar playing—though no less complex—seems to be more closely linked to the singing: the guitar erupting in quick bursts between verses and soloing after a chorus—as opposed to the more instrumentally-focused East Coast playing, where the singing sometimes seemed to accompany the guitar playing (as in Blind Blake’s “Too Tight” or “West Coast Blues,” both from 1926). In New Orleans, as you might expect, things were a little
JEF LEE JOHNSON PERFORMS SOME OF THE MUSIC OF LONNIE JOHNSON (PICTURED ABOVE) ON FEBRUARY 10, 2011 AT STRATHMORE.
different. Though the Spanish were the first Europeans to visit Louisiana—and likely brought some stringed
Okeh Records—one of the leading “race” labels at the
instrument or another with them—it was the French who
time (labels that recorded black music). In seven years, he
settled the region in the 17 century. Remember Louis
cut more than 100 sides for Okeh—solo discs and as an
XIV was an amateur guitarist, so odds are that more than
accompanist. He had a smooth singing voice that would
a few of those Baroque guitars landed with the settlers.
yield a crossover hit in 1948 with the ballad, “Tomorrow
Cultures seemed to mix more freely, with Caribbean
Night.” But his guitar playing was nothing short of
influences carried in by slaves and traders blending with
dazzling. He was accomplished on both six- and twelve-
the indigenous culture of the different Indian tribes and
string guitar and his solos had the complexity of jazz. Some
that of the European colonizers.
credit him with being the first to record a full-blown guitar
th
solo—the kind that characterizes every rock, blues or jazz Out of this gumbo (forgive the cliché but it fits) came a
tune that features a guitar solo.
remarkable guitarist: Lonnie Johnson. He was born Alonzo Johnson in Orleans Parrish in 1899 to a musical family—all
In 1929, Johnson teamed up with the pioneering white
of whom died save one brother in the influenza epidemic
jazz guitarist Eddie Lang to record some of the first jazz
of 1918. Lonnie Johnson played all kinds of popular and
guitar duets—setting a benchmark that guitarists have tried
dance music on violin and guitar until he entered a blues
to meet ever since. Johnson went on to record with Louis
contest in 1925 in St. Louis, where he settled with his
Armstrong and Duke Ellington—but there was a problem:
surviving brother. The prize was a recording contract with
How to make the guitar heard over the ensemble.
6
The Pursuit of Volume
string guitar.” Joseph Bohmann, a Chicago guitar maker,
Most of the music we’ve talked about so far has been
first patent for a guitar built to steel string specifications in
played and written by and for solo performers—in the
1904. Around 1915, C.F. Martin came up with what would
proper setting, it’s no problem for them to be heard. But
be a prototype for its “Dreadnought” guitars (named for
the guitar does not project the way violins or trumpets do.
a battleship, in apparent reference to its larger size)—for
beefed up the bracing under the table in the 1880’s. August Larson (of the Larson Brothers) apparently filed the
another company! Martin didn’t start marketing its own
Once an acoustic guitar is placed in a group with other instruments, it’s usually drowned out.
celebrated D-18 and D-28 models until 1931. These larger, louder guitars became the foundations of hillbilly music and blues. But another kind of guitar was also under development during this period. The arched-top guitar is an American invention (though this too is up for some debate: in the early 1820’s, European makers introduced a six-stringed instrument tuned like a guitar but meant to be played with a bow—called an arpeggione—that had a curved, carved top). Orville Gibson experimented with carved-top guitars and mandolins in the 1890’s but the instruments weren’t
Guitarists have struggled with this problem from the
commercially produced until the 1920’s. One of the first
earliest days of the instrument. They only began to
and most famous of these is the Gibson L-5, designed by
overcome it in the mid 1800’s with the introduction of
the legendary luthier Lloyd Loar.
steel strings. These instruments were designed to be played in dance Up until then, guitar strings were most often made of
bands. Until then, the louder banjo provided rhythm for
animal gut—usually sheep or goat. The bass strings usually
these groups. But with the advent of the arched-top,
had silk cores wound with wire. Remember the cittern
guitarists began to take over the rhythm role and even got
and English guitar had wire strings but players and makers
to solo. These were the beginnings of jazz guitar—Eddie
probably favored gut for its warmer sound. But by the
Lang played an L-5.
end of the 19th century, the guitar was playing in string bands and string orchestras. It had to compete with other
In Europe, Mario Maccaferri designed a flat-top guitar—
instruments, notably the much louder mandolin.
with a distinctive D-shaped sound hole and an added sound chamber inside the body—for the French Selmer
Steel strings helped. But they also put greater tension on
company. It became the instrument of choice for the
the guitar’s neck and top (table). The very construction of
remarkable guitarist Django Reinhardt. He was remarkable
the instrument had to change to accommodate them. This
not only for his unique impact on the American art form of
presents us with another mystery. For even though we’re
jazz, but also on how he made that impact. Reinhardt was
well within the era of documented history, there seem to
a Roma, the proper term for the derisive “gypsy,” born in
have been so many luthiers experimenting that no one
a caravan outside the Belgian town of Liberchies in 1910.
knows for sure who designed and built the first “steel
By the time he was 18, he was already a virtuoso guitarist
7
THE PUNCH BROTHERS HIGHLIGHT THE GUITAR AND MANDOLIN ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2010 AT STRATHMORE.
and banjo player. Then he suffered a terrible accident.
Before we go electric, there’s one more mechanical
Returning home late at night after a gig, he knocked over
modification luthiers tried to get more sound out of their
a candle which ignited some celluloid flowers his wife had
guitars: the resophonic or resonator guitar. The idea was
made to sell at funerals. His caravan went up in flames and
simple: rest the bridge that anchors the strings on the
he was badly burned saving his pregnant wife. Reinhardt
small end of what is essentially a loudspeaker cone, with
spent more than a year in treatment—his chances of
the open end pointed into the body of the guitar. The
playing again were all but nil. Nevertheless, through
vibrations of the strings would vibrate the cone (in the
determined practice, he came up with a way to use the
same way electrical impulses cause the speakers in your
two fingers on his fretting hand that weren’t burned and
stereo to vibrate) and amplify the sound. The “cone”
went on to record the astoundingly fast and musical solos
actually looked more like an inverted pie pan made out of
that made him internationally famous.
thin metal. Credit for inventing it goes to John Dopyera, the son of a Czech violin maker. He and his brothers ran
His Maccaferri was the perfect foil for Stephane Grappelli’s
the National String Instrument Corporation and the name
violin in the Quintet of the Hot Club of France. But even
by which you may know this instrument comes from a
Django began to experiment with the electric guitar in the
contraction of “Dopyera brothers:” Dobro. While the
final years before his untimely death in 1953.
instrument most often seen today in bluegrass bands
8
has a wooden body with the metal cone inside, the early
the man who put the ES 150 in the spotlight: jazz guitar
Nationals were nickel-plated brass. They rang like bells and
pioneer Charlie Christian.
were favored by such blues guitarists as Son House and Tampa Red.
Floyd Smith is credited with recording the first electric jazz guitar tune: “Floyd’s Guitar Blues” in 1939. Eddie Durham,
Now it’s time to address electricity and another guitar
George Barnes, and Eldon Shamblin (with Bob Wills) had
mystery: who came up with the first electric guitar? Les
all played swinging electric guitar on records before Charlie
Paul claimed credit. Leo Fender claimed credit. So did
Christian.
several others. The debate has raged for years. It actually seems that Hawaiian musicians first pressed for electrification because their guitars carried the melody in Hawaiian dance orchestras. They also made some of the first electric guitar recordings in the early 1930’s. We’re talking here about the Hawaiian slide guitar that produced the weeping waterfalls of tropical melody we’ve come to associate with Hawaiian music from that period. There’s another kind of Hawaiian guitar playing called “slack key,” notable for its varied tunings that have produced some
But Christian really seemed to understand the possibilities of the electric.
of the most beautiful sounds to be conjured from the
He was born in Texas in 1916 but raised in Oklahoma City.
instrument at the hands of such masters as Gabby Pahinui
His father died when he was 12 but by then Charlie was
and Ledward Kaapana.
already playing guitar. By 1936, he was playing electric throughout the mid-West. The story goes that pianist,
As with earlier guitar innovations, there were likely a lot of
composer and arranger Mary Lou Williams heard Christian
people experimenting with ways of electrifying the guitar
and recommended him to the powerful record producer
around the same time. George Beauchamp was one of
John Hammond, Sr.—who in turn recommended Christian
them. He was playing resonator guitar in a Hawaiian band
to Benny Goodman. The first meeting between the two
in Los Angeles in the late 1920’s. But the resonator still
musicians in 1939 did not go well, so Hammond decided
didn’t produce enough volume, so he began to build his
to sneak Christian onto the bandstand during a Goodman
own electric guitar out of two horseshoe magnets. He got
show that night. The clarinetist and bandleader was not
together with engineer Adolph Rickenbacker and in 1931,
pleased. He decided to mess with Christian and called
they came up with their first electric guitar—the body was
a tune he was sure the guitarist did not know: “Rose
made out of cast aluminum and looked like the name it
Room.” But Christian had learned it as a very young man.
was given: The Frying Pan. Beauchamp filed for a patent
He reportedly took some twenty solos in a jam on the tune
in 1931 but it wasn’t granted until 1937 and by then a
that lasted more than half an hour. Christian was hired. In
number of companies were selling electric guitars.
just three years with Goodman, Christian made the electric guitar a force to be acknowledged in jazz. And it was—
In 1936, Gibson introduced the ES 150, an electric arched
Christian won numerous polls and is credited as one of the
top. It bore a pickup (the device on the guitar top under
founding forces of bebop. And he did it all by the time he
the strings that “picks up” the string vibrations and turns
was 25. Charlie Christian died of tuberculosis in 1942. He’s
them into electrical impulses) that came to be named for
buried in an unmarked Texas grave.
9
the M.G.’s. Washington’s own Roy Buchanan and Danny Gatton played indescribably beautiful and powerful music with their Telecasters. And Joe Strummer pummeled his Tele in the Clash. The Telecaster was followed by the Stratocaster, whose indisputable master was Jimi Hendrix. ‘Nuff said. Gibson Guitars originally rejected a design for a solid body electric submitted by none other than Les Paul. But, seeing Fender’s success, the company relented and released an instrument named for the ingenious musician and inventor in 1952. The Gibson Les Paul was played brilliantly by its creator, followed by the likes of Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Duane Allman, Bob Marley, Pete Townsend, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Gibson produced other models that have put their stamp on rock and blues. Rock would not be rock without the musical ideas Chuck Berry voiced through his Gibsons, FENDER TELECASTER GUITAR
most notably the double-cutaway ES-355. That was also the guitar that, in the hands of B.B. King, became famous around the world as “Lucille.”
WWII slowed electric guitar production but the experimentation continued. Leo Fender, then a California
Since the earliest days of the electric, there have been
radio repairman, hooked up with a musician named Doc
almost as many variations and makers as there have
Kauffman and, in 1943, they built their prototype electric
been professional players. It’s an understatement to say
guitar. But it took them another seven years to figure out
that their efforts changed the sound of music in the 20th
how to set themselves apart from the rest of the pack.
century. But we’ll say it: the electric guitar CHANGED THE
They did it by figuring out a way to pair a simple design
SOUND OF MUSIC. But it didn’t drown out everything else
with mass production. Their first model was the Esquire,
that was going on.
followed by the Broadcaster, then—drumroll please— the iconic Telecaster, the first successful—and longest continuously-produced—solid body electric guitar. It became the signature sound of 1950’s country music and one of its first and best players was Georgia born, California based Jimmy Bryant, who made a number of hot country jazz records for Capitol. James Burton used his Tele to back up Elvis Presley. It was the sound of Muddy Waters’ blues and Steve Cropper’s R&B with Booker T. and
10
The Guitar Takes a Trip Abroad and Back Home
in that instrument) and championing challenging modern
A quieter revolution was taking place at the instigation of
debut at the age of 13. After service in the British Army,
Andres Segovia. The story goes that Segovia complained
Bream became a session guitarist for films and the BBC.
at a party in the 1940’s about the difficulty of obtaining
This varied experience led to an ecumenical approach to
his favorite gut strings in the U.S. A short time later, he
music. In addition to performing and recording the work of
was presented with nylon strings made by DuPont. He
such contemporary composers as Malcolm Arnold and Toru
liked them OK. Then he was introduced to luthier Albert
Takemitsu, had an affinity for Spanish and Latin American
Augustine. They worked together for three years and in
music. Bream officially retired from performing in 2002.
music: notably one of the great works written for the guitar, “Nocturnal” by Benjamin Britten (a non-guitarist, buy the way). Bream was born 40 years after Segovia. His father was an amateur jazz guitarist who introduced young Julian to the music of Django Reinhardt—Bream named one of his dogs Jango. Bream made his recital
1949, Augustine came up with a design for nylon strings that met with the maestro’s approval.
He had a lot of music from Latin America to inspire him, written by guitarists and non-guitarists alike. Among the
Segovia was a particular individual—he liked what he
most notable in the former category are the 5 Preludes
liked and he didn’t hesitate to say what he didn’t like.
and 12 Etudes composed by Heitor Villa Lobos (who also
He was born in Linares, Spain, in 1893. He studied piano
played cello, piano, and clarinet). The Brazilian composer
and cello as a child but, it seems, fell in love with the
was born a year before his country abolished slavery. Until
guitar—to the dismay of his parents. For, at the turn of
then, European music held sway. By the time he started
the 20 century, the guitar was not held in high regard
composing, Villa Lobos was not alone in incorporating his
as a concert instrument—something with which Segovia
country’s folk music into his work, alongside inspiration
himself seemed to concur later in life when he claimed
from the likes of Bach. His earliest compositions reportedly
to have rescued the guitar from flamenco (a fate from
grew out of guitar improvisations. Villa Lobos mined the
which some people might say that the instrument did not
music of Brazil’s indigenous peoples as well as the African
need to be rescued). Nevertheless, with the strength of
influences brought by slaves. His country’s folk and popular
his convictions, Segovia was single-handedly responsible
music can be heard in his “Suite Populaire Bresilienne.”
th
for bringing the guitar back to the concert stage—and for encouraging composers to write for it. Federico Moreno
Villa Lobos was not alone in these explorations. In
Torroba, Joaquin Turina, and Joaquin Rodrigo all wrote
Paraguay his contemporary, guitarist and composer Agustin
for him. Though, if he didn’t like what you wrote, he
Barrios, also drew on his country’s folklore. Barrios was part
wouldn’t play it. Another story goes that when Swiss-
Guarani—a group of indigenous peoples from Paraguay,
born composer Frank Martin presented his “Quatre Pieces
Uruguay, Bolivia, Argentina, and Brazil. Barrios was a
Breves” to Segovia, the guitarist rejected them, leaving
fascinating character. In addition to composing, he wrote
Martin despondent. The work went on to be taken up by
poetry all his life. He could read five languages and remains
Julian Bream.
one of the youngest people ever admitted to university in Paraguay. He would also perform in the clothes of
The English guitarist covered the waterfront—performing
indigenous peoples, adding “Mangore” to the end of
Renaissance music on the lute (helping to revive interest
his name—a word for the leader of a particular tribe. His
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performances also became legendary for their virtuosity.
Antonio Carlos Jobim; to the all-around greatness of Baden
Barrios is considered one of the greatest Latin American
Powell and Egberto Gismonti (both of them awe-inspiring
guitarists of the 20 century and his compositions reflect
guitarists and composers); to the playing of Bola Sete
his talent. Even Segovia liked “La Catedral!”
and Laurindo Almeida (whose 1950’s collaborations with
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saxophonist Bud Shank are credited by some with inspiring A 1932 Barrios concert in Caracas, Venezuela, so impressed
bossa nova when their recordings got back to Brazil). And
a young music student named Antonio Lauro that he
we should not forget Virginia-born Charlie Byrd, who went
gave up piano and violin for the guitar. Like Villa Lobos
to South America and brought its music back to us.
and Barrios, Lauro was interested in creating a national music for his country. His compositions incorporate both folk dances and parlor waltzes into swinging, syncopated gems. In the early 1950’s, he was imprisoned by the ruling junta for his belief in democracy. He composed his “Suite Venezolana” while in prison. Lauro’s work has been championed by his countryman, the great guitarist Alirio Diaz and by Australian virtuoso John Williams.
The Guitar Today— Conclusion Guitar is everywhere. In Mali, acoustic guitarists like D’Gary
Mexican Manuel Maria Ponce was not a guitarist, yet
rival the best in the world. In the Democratic Republic
he composed one of the most widely played works for
of the Congo, Mwenda Jean Bosco is a legend. The
classical guitar of the 20 century: “Variations and Fugue
instrument that was taken to the continent by Portuguese
on ‘La Folia’” (1929). Ponce was born in 1882 and was
sailors in the early 19th century has evolved along with its
a prodigy on the piano, yet his works for the guitar are
counterparts elsewhere: from the Ghanaian Highlife of
substantial: “Sonatina meridional” and Concierto del
the 1950’s to the electric playing of Congolese groups like
sur,” dedicated to Segovia. Ponce was also known as “the
Tabu Ley Rochereau and his Orchestre African Fiesta and
creator of the modern Mexican song” for such works
Zimbabwe’s Thomas Mapfumo. The Indonesian kronkong
as “Estrellita.” After meeting Ponce, Villa Lobos wrote,
is a five-stringed instrument, also likely of Portuguese
“It gave me great joy to learn that in that distant part of
descent as is Hawaii’s ukulele.
th
my continent there was another artist who was arming himself with the resources of the folklore of his people in
Plucked string instruments date back long before the guitar
the struggle for the future musical independence of his
was invented. The appeal of that feeling of strings under
country.”
fingers and the sounds they make is universal. It seems to be part of our DNA. Yet what is it about the guitar that’s
Three contemporary guitarist-composers merit mention:
allowed it to supersede all of these other instruments. Is it
Brazilian-born brothers Sergio and Odair Assad are
just musical-genetic evolution?
stunning performers who are writing music that is being taken up by other guitarists; and Quique Sinesi, from Argentina, who plays a variety of stringed instruments and straddles the worlds of jazz and classical music. In popular music and jazz, Latin America is one of the guitar’s most fertile fields. From the widely-played music of
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Or is it… a mystery?
Guitar Festival Asteria, soprano & lute duo
Joe Satriani
Thursday, September 23, 2010, 7:30PM
The Wormhole Tour
Listen & Learn! FREE post-concert discussion with the
Wednesday, December 15, 2010, 8PM
artists moderated by Robert Aubry Davis. Joe Lovano & John Scofield NOW Ensemble
Friday, January 28, 2011, 8PM
Monday, September 27, 2010, 7:30PM Jef Lee Johnson Band Paul Galbraith, classical guitar
Thursday, February 10, 2011, 7:30PM
Thursday, October 7, 2010, 7:30PM
Listen & Learn! FREE pre-concert lecture at 6:30PM by Seth Kibel on the history of blues guitar including some of its
Lecture/Concert: History of American Classical &
greatest performers.
Popular Guitar with Phil Mathieu Monday, October 11, 2010, 11AM
Taipei Chinese Orchestra & Wu Man, pipa Tuesday, February 15, 2011, 7:30PM
Jason Vieaux, classical guitar Thursday, October 14, 2010, 7:30PM
Strathmore presents Blues at the Crossroads
Listen & Learn! FREE post-concert discussion with the artist.
featuring Big Head Todd & The Monsters, David “Honeyboy” Edwards, Hubert Sumlin,
Guitar Masters: Eric Johnson, Andy McKee & Peppino
and Cedric Burnside & Lightnin’ Malcolm
D’Agostino
Thursday, February 17, 2011, 8PM
Friday, October 15, 2010, 8PM Discover Strathmore Guitar Festival Chuck Berry featuring Daryl Davis Band
Monday, February 21, 2011, 11AM–4PM
Friday, October 22, 2010, 8PM An Evening of Jazz & Jobim with Ron Kearns & Paul Bang on a Can All-Stars Plays Steve Reich
Wingo
Thursday, November 11, 2010, 8PM
Thursday, March 3, 2011, 8PM
Listen & Learn! FREE post-concert discussion with the artists.
The Del McCoury Band Sunday, March 20, 2011, 7PM
The Punch Brothers featuring Chris Thile Friday, November 12, 2010, 8PM
The Los Angeles Electric 8 Thursday, April 29, 2011, 7:30PM
An Evening with Kris Kristofferson Saturday, November 13, 2010, 8PM
Aaron Grad’s The Father Book Thursday, May 19, 2011, 7:30PM
Ana Vidovic, guitar & Anastasia Petanova, flute Thursday, November 18, 2010, 7:30PM 13
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