Tag: classical music

Eliot Fisk and Paco Peña Tiny Desk Concert

Nicole Neal2 Comments

G’day folks!

A great little post today sharing a fantastic little concert I stumbled across online this week. NPR Music, a US-based public radio offering current and archival podcasts, live concert webcasts, reviews, music lists, news, studio sessions, and interviews, have a series of video podcast concerts under the banner Tiny Desk Concerts.

The concerts feature literally all types of musicians and genres of music – classical, jazz, pop, rock, country, electronic and everything else in between.

And on this wonderful goldmine of musical nuggets I came across a 20 minute concert featuring two giants of the guitar world – Eliot Fisk and Paco Peña. The concert features them playing Scarlatti and BAch before moving into some flamenco including a Peña-penned piece.

Check it out here:

http://www.npr.org/event/music/321681133/eliot-fisk-and-paco-pe-a-tiny-desk-concert?utm_source=tumblr.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nprmusic&utm_term=music&utm_content=20140617

And be sure to head back this way early next week for my review of Joseph Tawadros’ Melbourne Recital Centre concert this Saturday night.

The Benefits of Playing In Ensemble for Classical Guitarists

Nicole Neal6 Comments

The classical guitar tends to be rather a solo instrument with seemingly fewer opportunities for group playing than our orchestral or band-focussed buddies.  Well, perhaps, but only to a degree I think (depending on where you live I suppose). Where there are two or more guitarists, or yourself and another musician there lies an opportunity to play together, learn from and experience a new form of playing and of course have fun.

I was reminded this weekend by the first rehearsal of the season for the CGSV Classical Guitar Orchestra that by playing music with others is a wonderful experience. And playing with other musicians, be they at a similar level or a peg or two above or below you in their technical development can really present some excellent developmental opportunities.

CGSV GO

Playing with others, be it in a duo, trio, ensemble or orchestra, can deliver a umber of benefits to a guitarist. These include:

  • Encouraging you to listen to how others play and exposing you to different sounds and approaches.
  • Encouraging you to listen harder to your own sound.
  • And in combination of the first two dot points, encouraging you to listen to how your sound blends with others in terms of quality, tone colour, volume and dynamics
  • Encouraging you to listen and “feel” the music in synchronisation with others. That pause, that placement, the movement of a line. Of course the conductor helps in this regard, but there are somethings which are definitely “felt” and playing with others helps exercise this.
  • Getting you to look up from your score and watch someone else for cues, timing and pulse.
  • Picking up a pulse and taking it on (whilst watching the conductor of course) and exercising keeping a steady and even pulse, resisting the urge to push on or pull things back.
  • Pushing you a little beyond your comfort zone in playing stuff you wouldn’t otherwise play on your own
  • Improving your sight-reading and fretboard geography
  • Increasing your musical understanding and appreciation of working with others to achieve a musical outcome.
  • And, one of the most important of all, having a lot of fun!!

So, its well worth seeing if there’s an ensemble in your area (just classical guitar or mixed) or playing some duets or trios with another classical guitar (or other instrumentalist) friend. Playing classical guitar is good fun, but it’s even better when shared with others, in my opinion.