Introduction
This
bibliography focuses on information about
classical guitar technique appearing in books
and periodicals in the English language. I have
limited selection to works containing an
expository presentation of technique. Thus,
interviews of performers, philosophical
discussions of technique, exercise and scale
books, and method books consisting of a graded
sequence of pieces are excluded. You will have
to visit a major university library to find most
of these sources.
Annotations cite
the topics covered, approach, reviews if
available and critical observations when
necessary. Not all the items listed were
available for annotation. When possible, I've
included descriptive comments from secondary
sources for entries without
annotations.
Justification
and Findings
The recent
advent of the guitar as a serious instrument of
study has prompted a need to elevate the
instrument to a status equivalent to strings,
winds and piano in terms of repertoire,
literature, pedagogy, technique and performance
standards. The quest of a viable repertoire has
over shadowed the attention needed to clear up
pedagogical deficiencies. Thus, a primary
concern for guitarists is the lack of
methodology in technique and pedagogy. The
guitar's instructional literature is rarely as
sophisticated as that for other instruments:
most method books are a mere gradation of pieces
and exercises filled with vague, scantily
written instructions shrouded in unfounded
tradition.
The methodology
of the guitar's technique and pedagogy has
mainly existed as an haphazard oral tradition.
The need for accessible instructional literature
can not be stressed enough: the books and
articles cited here only begin to fill this
need. There is an inevitable unevenness of
quality inherent in an amalgamate such as this:
some authors are content to recite mindlessly
the traditions of their teachers; while others
painstakingly attempt to establish a rational
basis for technique, which may or may not
coincide with the traditions of the old
schools.
Recently, a
number of books on the subject of technique have
appeared. An outstanding work, written in the
form of a treatise, is Charles Duncan's The Art
of Classical Guitar Playing. Duncan sets a
precedent in the methodology of technique by
systematically presenting the various techniques
in light of the musical, physical and anatomical
properties that demand and govern them. The many
articles by the same author display similar high
scholarship and clear thinking. Another
noteworthy book is Ronald J. Sherrof's Discover
the Art of Guitar Fingerings. His methodology is
not as refined as that of Duncan. However, the
work is valuable as a much needed reference
source for notation and terminology associated
with technique.
One of the most
difficult and controversial areas of technique
lies in the use of the right-hand. The
importance of the role of the right-hand is
reflected in the literature: 45% of the items
listed deal specifically with right-hand
technique. Within the context of right-hand
technique, 57% of the literature addresses
problems of tone and articulation, mostly in the
Segovia tradition. In contrast, literature for
the left-hand represents only 12% of the works
cited.
Interpretation
is the highest level of technical consciousness.
Interpretation demands the knowing of musical,
anatomical and physical properties to determine
the very best way to present a piece of music.
Most authors advocate the use of musical
analysis in determining which techniques will
have the most meaningful effect on the
music.
The technique of
practicing is another area receiving excellent
contributions. Effective practicing involves a
conscious and organized approach to all aspects
of performing. These authors discuss in varying
degrees the development of an awareness of the
components of playing: musical, technical,
mechanical, etc. The nearest thing to a
comprehensive work on this subject is The Art of
Practicing, by Alice Artzt. Noteworthy also is
Janet Marlow's analytic approach in "What Every
Great Guitarist Knows About Practicing," and
Richard Provost's use of visualization concepts
in "Visualization: An Aid to
Memorization."
The systematic
teaching of pedagogical and technical
methodology has not yet been widely established.
The articles and books cited here represent the
strengths and weaknesses of a growing
discipline. In many ways the stereotype of the
classical guitarist as an incompetent musician,
when compared to players of other instruments,
is confirmed by the ill-equipped graduates of
many universities. Amazingly, many guitar
degrees are still conferred without course work
in guitar pedagogy or literature. On the
positive side, the sheer volume of people
interested in the classical guitar is a major
factor in propelling the instrument into a
position of prominence and, thus, accelerating
work in deficient areas out of
necessity.
End
Notes
1Ferdinand
(Fernando) Sor, Method for the Spanish Guitar,
trans., A. Merrick (London: R. Cocks & Co.,
c. 1832; reprint ed., New York: Da Ca po Press,
1971), p. 46. In this early 19th century method,
actually a treatise on guitar playing, Sor
speaks of a similar deficiency in the
instructional literature: "I am of the opinion
that, when the matter in question is to
methodize an action, it is essential to know the
agents of it in order to establish rules for the
purpose of employing them in the manner most
analogous [sic] to their functions. . .
He who desires to have only a collection of
numerous progressive airs, will do wrong to
purchase a work which I never should allow
myself to use as a means of selling productions
which I could or could not dispose of otherwise.
. . . An author should give his work an
appropriate title: method, exercises, lessons,
and studies are by no means
synonymous.
