A Few Notes About Me and the Guitar

Though I have been playing the classical guitar since about 1965, I haven't really practiced it seriously for about the last 25 years (I would pick it up only a couple times a week for a few moments, a half hour here and there). Well, in 2007 I suddenly became enthused again and decided to reinvigorate my repertoire. Since many of my friends (and even family!) had never heard me play (or hadn't heard me in years) I have put few things online so that anyone who is interested can listen.

I even bought a new guitar! For all those years, I had been using a 1968 Ramirez, a great instrument which I purchased in Spain in that same year. This guitar was always a little too big for me (665mm string length and a 54mm fingerboard -- terribly challenging at times on the left hand!). So in 2008 I went in the opposite direction and bought an Antonio Picado Concierto model (spruce top, 640mm string length and with the standard 52mm fingerboard). It's much easier on the hands and has a nice crisp sound with impressive basses, even if it is a little thin in the trebles and generally a little less expressive and robust than the big cedar top Ramirez). It's very enjoyable to hold and to play.

Believe it or not, I had never really heard myself play! I mean, this is the first time I ever recorded myself. It is such a great learning experience! Of course, I hear a number of things in my performances that I would like to improve (clearer values in certain parts; different expression here and there, etc.) So even though I'm fairly satisfied with the results, I'll take these web performances to be somewhat less than a "final product."

How I Recorded the Music

As simply as possible! I recorded the guitar on a Roland Eriron R-09HR. It's about the size of an electric shaver (and looks a lot like one too). I used the lowest quality MP3 setting - 41.1 kHz - to keep the file size small. Then I added a touch of reverberation, using a free program called Audacity -- just a enough to take a bit of the "rawness" out of the recording (I play in a cramped corner of an ordinary hardwood floor bedroom with a few pillows stacked beside me).

My Teachers

My teachers were Venezuelan guitarist Rodrigo Riera (about 5 years) and Cuban-American Juan Mercadal (one year).

My Guitars