Repertoire - telling a story

Guitar is the most widely played instrument of the late 20th and early 21st century.

The guitar repertoire is vast. Guitar is found is practically every style of music.

Although most music shares the same basic elements of
rhythm - melody - harmony -
these elements are put together in different ways, rather as people speak the same language in different regions with particular "dialects" and local "accents".

These differences make up musical styles, and they are useful for categorising music and organising your learning. Just remember that in real life people don't live in boxes and it is rare to find a musician or composer who only understands or works in one style exclusively.

Ok, so here is a very incomplete list of genres and styles I have looked into, and information about the artists and composers that I have either wanted to emulate, or been inspired by.

Make up your own map, it helps to chart your progress and make decisions about directions for your playing and study. There is a guide to guitar tuition here - tuition - which has forms and suggestions to help you work out what you want to play, and create a plan for achieving it.

Here is an example of a simple map - Baroque to Rock

• Acoustic
• Ambient - New Age
• Blues
• Classical - Baroque
• Classical - The ultimate storytellers What is classical music?
• Classical Guitar
• Classical - Romantic
• Classical - Russian
• 20th Century Classical
• Classical - Solo Instruments
• Comedy
• Country
• Dance
• Jazz - Dancing, and sometimes thinking on your feet.
• Jazz - Bebop
• Jazz - Big Band
• Jazz - Drums
• Jazz - Fusion
• Jazz - Guitar
• Jazz - Keyboard
• Latin
• Musicals
• Rock - The people's voice!
• Sound Effects
• Soundtracks - Most people's introduction to sophisticated music.
• Spoken Word

Australian musicians



Other repertoire considerations...


How to use the CLASSICAL FAKE BOOK


Strategies for Learning Music by Carl Seashore

Strategies for learning pieces

Is guitar the best instrument?

OK, I'm biased, but here are my thoughts on the matter. In popular music of the past 50 years it's no contest but in other fields there are still illusions around about the musical worth of our 6 stringed friend. Let's see how guitar really stacks up in the hierarchy of instruments.

The Robot guitar
Watch out for this guy - he's a monster!




As an example of how guitarists are well advised to look at the practices of other instrumentalists, I have put up a gallery of my Keyboard magazine collection, along with a few notes about the contents. Magazines like this are a goldmine of information, containing as they do interviews with living artists who share tips on practice, and talk about their concepts of music and style. They also talk about equipment, the music business, and provide musical samples, a great example of which was the Xmas 1979 edition which contained versions of the Xmas tune "Good King Wenceslas" by Keith Emerson, David Burge, Roger Williams, Anthony Newman, Bill Irwin, Tom Darter, Chick Corea.

In the course of time I'll add some notes and observations relating the material to guitar.



Links

Click here to see VIDEOS of Peter Inglis performing at the Art Gallery of N.S.W. featuring Guitar, Violin and Cello as well as SOLO GUITAR.

"It's a great resource. It covers many things that traditional tutor books leave out." Richard Charlton is one of Australia's most respected composers for the guitar. www.richardcharlton.com.au Click the cover to read about "Guitar Playing and how it works" and how it can improve your Guitar Playing !