PG Music Home Forums General Discussion Off-Topic Are there any classical or flamenco guitar players here ?

I happen to be a jack of all (I'm leaving the second part of that phrase out intentionally, because it hits home too much).

I'd love to talk classical and or flamenco guitar with you - both in and out of the context of PG music products.

I used to play and I still deal in them.

As for classical guitar VIs, I have a few. There's a freebie that's pretty good and uses the Aria Player but I'm blanking on the name at the moment.

I play guitar and several of those are acoustics but I don't play classical or flamenco...well aside from that Spanish chord progression that everyone knows. You know the half step bar chord thing.

I had a band many years ago when I was in my 20s..... let me back up a bit on this story..... before that band, well actually at the very beginning of that band.... The drummer brought his GF over to my house and her little brother was with them. He saw my SG and asked if he could play it since he was just learning how to play.... The kid was really good. Anyway...fast forward an unremembered amount of time.... we had put the band together and had a gig. So I returned home to find my door open and the glass broken. My SG, a Teac 4 track, a bass, and an amp were gone. Nothing else was touched. The lady 2 doors up told me she saw someone throwing something in the back of a small grey car and speeding off. I knew a musician who drove a similar car.... So I went to see him. He was working and I had to go to his place of work. As soon as he saw me he had a look of panic and said he would come to see me when he got off. I told him I'd be at the club.

So I go home and call the law, who are mad at me because I didn't call them first but I told them I think I have it solved and they just need to come to a certain club after 9pm.

I get to the club running late and the bass player was really mad thinking I had set them up and wasn't going to show. NOTE: this was our first gig with this band and while we had played together in another band previously, there were some bad feelings between the bass player and myself and this band was starting on thin ice as a result. But that's a whole different story for another day...... I told him to can it and I would explain it all at the first break. Fortunately, I had a second guitar and my gigging amp was in my truck and not in the house so I had gear to play.

As we're playing, in comes the guy who did it.... gets a beer and sets down at a table. 10 minutes later in walk the law in plain clothes. They walk up to the stage and flash their badges and motion for us to stop. I point out where the guy is setting and they escort him out of the bar. The guys in the band are really curious now and I tell them again...I'll explain is all at the break. Up to this point, the guys in the band know absolutely nothing about what had happened and still didn't. All they know is I was late, law comes in and takes out someone they faintly recognize but don't know exactly who he is.

At the first break.... I tell the whole story. End of this part of the story...He was taken down to the station and questioned. He confessed and cooperated fully. I got all my gear back the following day. LE said they would handle the case and urged me not to press charges, and that they would request leniency due to the circumstances.... first time offender, full cooperation, etc..... and so I went on with life.


THE POINT OF THIS STORY:

One year or so.... maybe two years later, the band broke up and I had replaced players as they left. Since the new players didn't have the same playing style, I needed to add another guitarist to compliment the sound. I thought about this guy, the one who stole my guitar. So, yep, I called him and identified myself..... silence..... I said hello? He said..... yeah?... (very hesitantly).....what do you want? I asked him if he wanted a job playing guitar and after a while, talking it out, and mutually agreeing to burn that bridge behind us, he agreed to come play. He stayed with the band for about 9 months total.

So one night, in a cheap motel in NC, I woke up about 3:30am and I hear guitar playing..... not just any guitar playing but classical guitar playing....Andres Segovia kind of playing..... and it was coming from the bathroom. I laid in the dark and listened for several minutes. I got out of bed and went to the bathroom door and pushed it open and there is my guitar player, who had now become a friend, sitting on the commode, with the lid down for his seat, with his classical sheet music spread out on the floor. He looked up startled. He explained that he couldn't sleep and decided to rehearse his classical music and then he apologized for waking me. Dude, you didn't wake me up. Carry on.

He was so talented.... he had actually taught himself to read music so he could learn the guitar classics of the masters.

Cool stuff. I'm always amazed to see people who can play the classical music written on and for guitar.

although i don't play classical much anymore, most of my guitar stuff is rooted in spanish fingerstyle. love flamenco and the studying of the anatomy (for technique) and dance to influence the rhythm. i hope to see more flamenco-esq packs. i have obsessions with ear training but as well as instrument technique and could go on and on about it. nice to meet you, message me anytime
-raquel

Hi Raquel - there aren't too many flamenco players on here, though I can at best call myself a "previous flamenco student" at best. But if you aren't aware of it - here is an excellent website that might rekindle your interest:
http://www.foroflamenco.com/