Tugging at some heart strings

While the guitar continues to be about screaming leads and deep bass, classical guitar is holding its own with a revival

A way to stand out: Would be by going the classical route Photo: Murali Kumar K.

The classical guitar is timeless has hardly changed over decades of musical evolution. The six-string instrument is making waves with a revival. Even though it has European art music (western classical music) as its core repertoire, with a lot of work from the common practice periods of Baroque, Classical and Romantic, the classical guitar is today a contemporary instrument attracting students to its rich, acoustic vibe.

Icelandic classical guitarist Ögmundur Thor Jóhannesson, who is in Bangalore to train musicians, says that there has been a worldwide promotion for the classical guitar in general through both public and private funded concerts and festivals. Citing the example of the Calcutta International Classical Guitar festival, which brought celebrated classical guitarists together, he says these kind of shows give a great deal of inspiration to youngsters. “There has also been a strong influence of classical guitar music through the internet. The younger generation today is more aware about various kinds of instruments and the possibilities of learning them.”

An exodus

He agrees that there is a great deal of influx of newcomers from the electric/acoustic side to the classical guitar. “There are also students directly coming to learn classical guitar, often inspired by a single concert or even a single track.” Thor adds that the guitar is more accessible compared to many other instruments, regarding availability, cost and size. “At the more advanced stages of learning and mastering the instrument, the guitar starts to sound complete on its own since it’s a semi-polyphonic instrument and does not require accompaniment. It was famously referred to by Beethoven, as being “a miniature orchestra in itself”. This has created the guitar as being a solo-instrument, which has logistical advantages in production of shows for instance. There is a greater emphasis now more than ever before on the chamber music genre.”

On the future of the classical guitar, Thor says it looks good worldwide, in the sense of its promotion and outreach. “The creation of countless upcoming promising guitarists is evident. The main thing which we should be concerned about is the provision of opportunities. For that to happen, creativity has to be implemented in both management and the over-all concept-based production of shows, and work needs to be done to appeal to a broader audience.”

Samuel Jackson, a freelance classical guitarist, feels that there has always been a niche audience for classical music. “The same goes to people who take up the classical guitar. It’s a niche instrument. However, a lot of people now know how to play the regular guitar so I do see more and more students taking up classical guitar to stand out from the rest of the crowd. It’s also widely used in many styles of Latin and Brazilian music as well as pop, folk and jazz.”

However, Simeon Thomas, a sixth grade classical guitarist and a member of city-based gospel band Risen, begs to differ. He says classical music still has a long way to go. “It’s very exclusive. A lot of people may like to listen to it, but I don’t know if many will go to learn it. The music and the musicians still need a lot more exposure, appreciation and encouragement.” Looking ahead, he adds that a future of classical guitar becoming mainstream may be far off. “With a lot of people going electronic nowadays, I don’t know if they will want to return to this purely acoustic instrument.”