Sample selections
for 19th century guitar
Before the selection..... Have you changed how you play, yet?
I have
seen (heard) many people playing 19th century guitars in front of me
at occasions like concerts, instrument shows, and having visitors to
my workshop. With few exceptions, most played the instruments with
inappropriate touch. They tend to use strong apoyand and some even
played with extremely long nails. How they play should be no problem
on playing modern guitars or would even be praised by instructors,
because those follow the modern guitar methods. The same methods are
not directly applicable to 19th century guitars, unfortunately.
Imagine what would happen when a modern guitar player tries to play a
lute, a violin player tries a cello, or a piano player tries a
cemballo? The same can be said for modern and 19th century guitars.
Regrettably, even some professionals, who are praised as "first class
player", play 19th century guitars with a modern guitar technique
along with nail noise (don't imitate them). Conversely, some amateur
players who play as hobby on Sundays can generate great sound with
full volume on 19th century guitars. Put musical presentation and
accuracy asides, it is the question of how good they are to create
"best sound" of the instruments. This is a very important thing, even
before talking about string tension and their material.
Without playing an instrument properly, it is not possible to
evaluate and select strings for the instrument. If one is to play an
instrument that sounds better with low tension, it should be played
with an appropriate soft touch. When I pointed out this, many players
replied that they were using "soft touch". However, they often used
rough touch to me and generated noisy and uncertain sound without
volume. Some could not change their touch appropriate to the
instrument and used modern strings on a 19th century guitar claiming
that high tension like modern ones had been used even at the period.
I knew many example of damaged 19th century guitars using high
tension strings to rationalize one's inability to adopt to the period
instrument. Yes, there exists 19th century guitars that sounds better
and produce volume when high tension strings are used. But, they are
rare and sound more like modern guitars. I believe the instruments
that sound better in lower tension posses the classical taste and the
charm of 19th century guitar.
Many players can't stop basing on the previous instruments they have
played when they face a different one. It's not easy to change the
touch appropriate to a different instrument instantly. It should be
basic to play different instruments differently, though. Like violin
and cello or piano and cemballo, it often is better to play 19th
century guitars and modern ones regarding them as completely different instruments. This is
not only how you regard them conceptually but also changing how you
actually use fingers and hands. When you have a chance to hear
someone plays a 19th century guitar, please observe whether the
player is trying to accomplish the same difference between playing
cemballo and piano on the guitar or not. It does not matter how
famous the player is or even an amateur player or not. Sometimes,
beginners and steel string guitar players make better sound on 19th
century guitars. If you encounter these "better sounding" players,
you should learn how they play and try to imitate them.
I would like to emphasize this repeatedly. 19th century guitars are
NOT the same instruments as modern guitars. Although they look alike,
full benefit of the 19th century guitar can be obtained only when a
player device to change how to play it. Being aware of this, the
string selection for the instrument will be quite fruitful.
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