GuitarSongs

Published on August 16, 2004 By acohen843 In

I am sitting in front of my Yamaha electronic keyboard practicing music for a CD that I will soon record. The CD will be called "GuitarSongs 1".

The idea for the CD came from a philosophical question. If you listen to music that sounds like it was played on a classical guitar and later learned that it was played on an electronic keyboard, were you listening to a guitar?

For example, I am recording a CD of guitar music. However, I am playing the music on my electronic keyboard using a guitar sound. If you do not know that the music was performed an a keyboard, but believe it to be a guitar, are you listening to guitar music?

I love classical guitar music. I play a bit of classical guitar but I am a better keyboard player.

One day I took a book of guitar music and began playing it on the keyboard. That was the beginning of my GuitarSongs project.

Playing guitar music on a keyboard is interesting. The music is written for the six strings of the classical guitar but I am playing it on the keys of a keyboard. Sometimes the space between the notes (the intervals) are awkward. It makes sense on the guitar, but not on the keyboard. However, I play the arrangement exactly as it is written for the guitar. I make my own decisions as to fingering and which hands play which notes. I use fingering and hand positions that are the easiest for playing the keyboard.

The real challenge is to play the music as it would be played on a guitar. I need to play each phrase as it would be played on a guitar. I need to feel, touch, and play the keys to produce a guitar sound the sounds like it was played on a guitar.

This is the trick. You don't want to produce a guitar sound that sounds like a keyboard playing a guitar sound, but a guitar playing a guitar sound.

When I play I imagine playing the guitar. I picture myself holding and playing my classical guitar. I imagine pressing the strings against the frets. I imagine my hand traveling across the guitar's neck. I imagine the fingers of my right hand plucking the guitar strings.

I am practicing and plan to record pieces by the following composers:

Johann Sebastion Bach
Francisco Tarrega
Ludwig van Beethoven
Mauro Guiliani
Ferdinando Carulli
Fernando Sor, and
Mateo Carvassi

I will write about the progress of this project. I will write about the rehearsals, my thoughts, the recording process and techniques used, and so on. Feel free to share your comments with me.

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