I totaly agree with Hobgoblin Lord regarding Andres Segovia. As a classical player myself for well over a 15 years now i've gotten to know how important Segovia was in the re emergance of the classical guitar in the 20th century. He basically single handedly made the instrument popular again through his constant touring, compositions, transcriptions and general popularising of the instrument.
He also had a big influence on the invention of Nylon strings, giving valuable input on tone, feel ect. Nylon strings were a huge technological advancement over the old Cat Gut strings previously used and gave far better tone and volume.
Two more classical players which motivated me to learn the instrument were.
John Williams - probably the most famous of modern players, often quoted as having a perfect technique and also a student of Sergovia.
Julian Bream - awsome classical and Lute player. Great feeling with his playing.
I think Steve Vai deserves a mention by me also, not for his virtuosity but for his inventiveness on the electric guitar.
He can make the guitar sound like a human voice purely through his technicl playing, even a horse in Bad Horsie lol, very original. He was also great in Crossroads, a must see film for all fans of the guitar.
Talking of crossroads, the original crossroads guitar legend of Robert Johnson is worth mentioning too. Raw basic guitar blues. A a huge influence on many of todays players.
Still talking of crossroads, i read somewhere that the original legend goes all the way back to the virtuoso violinist, Pagannini who was said to have sold his soul to the devil for his virtuosity.
Anyone know if the legend dates back even further ?
A choc a day keeps the doctor away
