10-string Classical Guitar (Juan Hernandez)

[rNeil]

My curiosity was piqued...

That guitar in person is like no other. FULL ... rich and sweet ... heavenly. But amazingly full!

A very large sound if the player wishes, without any sacrifice if tone.

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[rNeil]

Interesting reading about that harpo-lyre guitar though. Apparently Sor wrote some pieces for it, and John Doan has arranged them for 6-string classical guitar.

It intrigues me how ‘experimental’ they were back in Sor’s time, building all those weird hybrid string instruments.

I've the CD as a gift, and heard most of those live.

It is a very sad thing that is apparently the only one like it, and we aren't hearing more such instruments and music.

One issue many have with Segovia is he used his name and force in the classical guitar performance business to stamp out any performance not on 6 string as non-authentic.

Up into the 1930's a number of types of guitar were made.

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[neatomic]

remember gibson did not start out making 175's and les pauls!!...founder orvile gibson was making mandos and harp guitars (no wonder they got rid of him!!! haha)




cheers

[Rob MacKillop]

Back in 2015, someone loaned me this instrument for three days, dating from the early 19th century. It arrived with a Method from the inventor, with a few tunes:

[neatomic]

^ beautiful!! listening to that was a great way to start the day...lovely instrument..bravo


cheers

[Rob MacKillop]

It does a great Giant Steps!

[reventlov]

Interesting to hear some views of Yepes - he tends to be overlooked by many people who would probably enjoy his music.

During my time in London, I studied classical guitar with Tim Walker, who had been a student of Yepes. Walker was fulsome in his praise of Yepes, and regarded him with both respectful reverence and also with genuine personal warmth. He showed me some of Yepes right hand fingerings involving all 4 fingers and thumb, long before such innovators as Koshkin and Rak did similar work, and also suggested spending some time on playing one octave chromatic runs with one left hand finger; the coordination between the two hands required to do this accurately, with a clean note on each fret, has a great knock-on effect to accurate technique even if you never use the technique in an actual piece of music. This has echoes of Django, who was known to do the same finger-sliding technique on chromatic runs. The impression I gained of Yepes from Walker over a period of two or three years was of a dedicated man of intellect, who approached his work with a seriousness of purpose and total integrity.

Good thread Rob!

[Rob MacKillop]

Cheers, reventlov. Tim was a fine player too. Was it he who wrote an African Suite?

Yes, Yepes' technique was formidable, probably the most technically gifted player of his generation, and that's saying something!

[reventlov]

Yes, that was Tim - the African Light Suite - there's a video of him playing it on Youtube in fact. He was actually born in South Africa, and raised (by British parents) in Durban. He was introduced to Yepes during Yepes' first African tour, and played for him; on the strength of that, Yepes invited him to study with him in Madrid, which he did for the next two years, then settled in London and soon became established as a chamber music specialist and teacher. Fine musician, fine guitarist and in general, one of the good guys. I have many nice memories of him. He also introduced me to John Renbourn and Bert Jansch; Renbourn had studied with him for a while, and had dedicated one of his compositions to Tim.

[Rob MacKillop]

Thanks for the info on Tim Walker. I vaguely remember seeing him live on late-night TV in some contemporary-music ensemble, playing something quite bizarre, just before I went to bed. I remember thing, "What the hell is that?!" LOL. Is he still with us?

[neatomic]

great stuff neil...here's the renbourn track

Ladye Nothing's Toye Puff (John Renbourn) ...John studied with Tim Walker - this is a result.

cheers

[grahambop]

Thanks for the info on Tim Walker. I vaguely remember seeing him live on late-night TV in some contemporary-music ensemble, playing something quite bizarre, just before I went to bed. I remember thing, "What the hell is that?!" LOL. Is he still with us?

Seems to be still around:

Staff - Timothy Walker - Royal Academy of Music

[reventlov]

Rob - Yes Tim's still with us. Regarding the performance you saw with a contemporary music ensemble - Tim did lots of chamber music of various kinds, he was known for that and was in demand for it. He was a member of Peter Maxwell Davies group "the Fires of London" - it may well have been that group you saw, Max's music could be very strange indeed.

neatomic - yes, that's the very track. I was a major Renbourn fan as a teenager, and first heard of Tim on the sleeve notes of that album. When I got to London and had the chance to study with him, I didn't hesitate - Tim was a major feature of, and influence on, my young life and as mentioned above, he later introduced me to Renbourn himself. Happy days!

I don't know how active he is nowadays, I'm not in contact with him any more, sadly. He's in his mid 70s now, and whatever he's doing, I hope he's happy and fulfilled - he deserves to be.

[Woody Sound]

Cheers, lads, especially as it's not jazz.

Woody - I don't have any way of measuring the height. It's fairly low, and I was thinking I might raise it a little bit by placing a strip or two of card under the bridge saddle. Otherwise, the guitar is perfect. You should make a video of you and your wife playing Bach. I'd love to hear that!

Well I don't have a recording right now, but I found a picture!

[Rob MacKillop]

"Rock" music, by the looks of your yard.

[Woody Sound]

"Rock" music, by the looks of your yard.

I *wish* it were my yard! Lakefront restaurant.