Classical Guitar; The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

A couple of weeks ago, Ernie Rettino (of Psalty Fame) had given me a last minute call to play Classical Guitar at the Saddleback Church Traditions Venue. The musical selections of this service typically consist of Hymns and Sacred Music.  I was to play at the end of the service during the offering.

I had created a somewhat simple arrangement of “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” for this particular service.

Playing classical guitar is the ultimate workout for any guitarist.  If you play Rock, Jazz, Country, Blues, etc, having a classical repetior will definitely improve your playing.  My wife always noted that my electric guitar playing sounded better after practicing my classical guitar.

I began playing classical guitar at age 18 upon entering U.C. Irvine’s Music Program.  Basically, I was really horrible at it.  My right hand fingers could never find the strings (because they were shaking so much) and my left hand would get cramps.  I just sounded really bad!

One day while destroying a classical tune in a group guitar class, fellow guitar student Kirsten Weymar (an incredible flamenco guitarist) told me “just listen to yourself”.  Boy, that was an eye opening statement!  I had gotten so bogged down with my technical issues that I had forgotten about making music. With that simple suggestion, I had improved greatly but, I still had some lingering issues.

Through the years, I would occasionally do a “classical” date at a wedding, dinner party, senior citizen’s home, etc.  No matter what classical guitar date I did, I would always get a little more nervous than normal.  I could play (electric guitar) in front of thousands at a weekend Saddleback Church service without any mental anguish whatsoever.  Put me in front of a couple of folks with a classical guitar, and the sweat starts flowing.  My best classical performances are usually in my living-room with only God listening!

I think my nervousness is due to the fact that there is no band to hide behind.  When playing classical guitar, you are the entire band; Melody, Harmony & Rhythm.   Any slight mistake seems to be magnified a thousandfold.

The one major survival tactic I have for playing the classical guitar is do not mess up on the melody.  You can flub on a bass note or an internal harmony voicing but the melody is sacred ground.

Well, I went on to play my arrangement of “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” (with nervousness in tact) and all I can say is that the melody was there! Mission Accomplished!  (In my opinion, it was a really safe performance)

“Great Is Thy Faithfulness” must have been the right song for the service because the Pastor had the congregation sing it as they exited.  People even thanked me for playing!

God is faithful!