Vida GQ relaxing on a beach in Brittany, France.
I am writing this blog following one of the most diverse and interesting summers I have experienced for some years. I have performed as a soloist and with my quartet ‘Vida’, coached ensembles, adjudicated at music festivals and given masterclasses. I also participated in a pantomime, but the less said about that the better. Thanks Sandra!
Throughout my travels this summer, one thing I am certain of; that the love and enthusiasm for the guitar is most certainly alive and kicking, whether that be through an 8 year olds eyes or an 88 year olds.
Peter Nuttall directing his Mass Ensemble.
There were two sights that will remain with me forever, both occurring at this years World Youth Guitar Festival held just a few weeks ago. The first was the awesome sight and sound of over 100 guitarists under the age of 18 performing Peter Nuttall’s specially written work for the occasion. The sound, energy and heat coming from the room was immense and intense. The second was an incredibly serene moment before the student concert at the same festival. No-one was on stage but it was beautifully lit and was full of chairs and music stands with each guitar of all sizes and colours (including pink!), precisely placed on every chair . Both visions although very different were for me magical moments and made me feel incredibly lucky to be doing what I do for a living.
There were also two elements of guitar playing that kept cropping up this summer in my classes that I also feel compelled to write about.
*Giving a Masterclass to Michael Oram
The first is something that seems to be so misunderstood by guitarists of all ages and abilities. This is the question of ‘rubato’ or when the indication in the music says something like ‘expressivo’ or even ‘cantabile’. I said on more than one occasion after a student had played for me “it lacked a sense of pulse in this section”. The response was usually “but if I played it in time it would sound boring and without emotion”. “No, no, no ,no”, I said back! Beautiful phrasing with the utmost expression, rubato and feeling still has a pulse.A listener should still be aware of where the downbeat falls and even possibly the subdivision in the bar, for example beat 3 in a bar of 4. It is the ability to move around with the smaller note values in the bar that can give it that magical elasticity but still managing to arrive on the important beats in time. A great example for guitarists is of course the Adagio from Rodrigo’s ‘Concierto de Aranjuez’. An awareness and careful study of the exact rhythm that Rodrigo has written is paramount if the opening section is to work. I keep going back to the original to make sure I haven’t moved too far away from the score but eventually you just need to make sure you fall on the beats with the double basses and move around with the notes in between. Of course this is to do with the direction of the phrase and the touch you give to the lyrical line as well, not only pulling the rhythm around. Simply doing this would make it sound quirky rather than having direction and purpose. Identifying not just the important beats but also the notes or chords you want to give weight too can also help where to push and pull with the music. You must always remember that whatever you take from the note values you must always give back, thus giving the music an underlying pulse.
*Vida GQ performing at WYGF
The second element that came up a number of times was the question of ‘characterisation’ and ‘story telling’. Believe me I here a lot about ‘story telling’ as my wife is a musical theatre actor and coach, and in her line of work it’s all about the ‘story telling’! Some pieces lend themselves to story telling better than others. The examples that came up this summer were all sets of variations which are prime examples to work on. Characterising each variation is paramount to making any set of variations work. One way is to give each variation a adjective. It doesn’t have to be complicated, it could be something like: happy, energetic, disjointed, soulful etc, etc. The other way is to literally make up a story about what’s going on in the music. Of course the 19th guitarists were heavily influenced by Opera so a story is sometimes very easy to imagine. There was an interesting story that some students came up with about the Sukura variations. The story went something like this;
- ‘The curtain opened to reveal a beautiful cherry tree full of blossom….
- Theme- A young girl carrying a basket comes onto the stage and sits by the tree….
- Var 1. The wind blows and the cherry blossom falls to the ground….
- Var 2. The young girls father is looking for her in the forest. She runs away…… and on and on.
There was one suggestion of aliens landing but we didn’t go with that! Anyway the point is, it doesn’t matter what your story is or even if you let anyone else know your story, more that you have one and you use it as a tool to help you characterise the music. Phrasing, dynamics, colour, articulation will all come into being when you start to characterise the music.
Anyway I really had the best summer. It was at times exhausting but more often than not exhilarating and I still managed to paint the outside of the house and build the best sandcastles on the beach with my daughter. Husband and Daddy points all round!!!
There are so many people to thank for making this a very special summer not least for looking after me (and Vida), but also for their enthusiasm, kindness and absolute commitment in their love of music and especially the guitar;
Ashley Hards, The Corinium Players, Chris Ballantyne, Steve Gordon, Christine Carling, all at WYGF ‘ll including of course Helen, Sandra, Trevor & Sally-Anne.
*Photos courtesy of Ben Mitchell
