Spanish Romantic Guitar by Broca/Ferrer/Tarrega - Rob MacKillop, gut-strung guitar

[@MichaelNeverisky]

At moments like this I think of the lyrics of Paul Simon. "These are the days of miracle and wonder..." and then on about technology. Rob, you have once again changed the launch trajectory of my day! From my breakfast table in New Hampshire USA to your home in Scotland, a heartfelt thank you for the beautiful music.

[@RobMacKillop1]

Cheers, Michael. I hope you have a beautiful day!

[@davidhayes7596]

I bet he can make that telecaster in the background sing. Love the live performance. Great touch. Organic and pure.

[@RobMacKillop1]

Hi David. Thanks for your comments, here and elsewhere. I have a video of the Tele, but I was suffering from finger pain at the time, and it takes me a while to get focussed, but here it is: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f5bZpICCgryoedE

[@torinduboshit2478]

Оооо я потрясён,такая потрясающая игра👏👏👏Здоровья Вам крепчайшего и всех благ💪

[@RobMacKillop1]

Спасибо тебе, Торин!

[@collectiveknowladge2921]

Beautiful organic guitar sound I have ever heard. Thank You for Your Sensitive approach and knowledge to the instrument. You are masterfully executing every note. Thank you and God Bless you. Exceptional Musician.

[@RobMacKillop1]

Thank you, sir!

[@gilbert6023]

I Like gut Strings, without or with little Nail. Rob Sounds good !!!

[@RobMacKillop1]

Cheers, Gil!

[@Michajeru]

This was a truly beautiful musical experience listening to you play these tunes with gut and slik strings. I will liten to this video again and again.

[@RobMacKillop1]

Thank you, old friend! Nice pieces, rarely played.

[@bz1994]

Excellent ✅

[@RobMacKillop1]

Thanks, B Z.

[@JayNewberyy]

Stunning, numinous even

[@RobMacKillop1]

Ha, there's no deity about me! But I appreciate your comment.

[@joata43]

Obridado Senor. Muito lindo..

[@RobMacKillop1]

Thank you, Raymond!

[@pedromtorres]

Bravo Rob ! You inspire me !

[@RobMacKillop1]

Thank you, Pedro!

[@fredoliveira4882]

So beautiful... That's music from Heaven. Thank you so much for this video, Rob.

[@RobMacKillop1]

Cheers, Fred.

[@Miekerijk]

🤗👏 Love it!

[@RobMacKillop1]

Good to know, Mieke!

[@ArielGuitars]

Great!! Perfect interpretation

[@ericphillips7057]

Other than the Tarrega, I had never heard any of these pieces. Now I’ve learned them all! Thank you so much for introducing me to this wonderful music. I only wish I could play them as beautifully as you!

[@RobMacKillop1]

It is my sincere hope, Eric, that you one day play them better than I ever could! Best wishes!

[@stevendolinsky]

Beautiful music my friend. Thank you.

[@RobMacKillop1]

Cheers, Steve!

[@ClassicalGuitarMusings]

Excellent

[@RobMacKillop1]

Cheers. Glad you like it! They are on an inexpensive download album I made called The Romantic Spanish Guitar on iTunes, Amazon, etc. using a guitar from the 1890s.

[@Ericejazz]

Absolutely beautiful playing. Also, I love the telecaster headstock in the background.

[@RobMacKillop1]

Cheers, Eric. It's a good Fender Tele :-)

[@raulcalderonbird]

Very beautiful, Rob. A beautiful sound.

[@RobMacKillop1]

Thanks, Raúl. I've just recorded these pieces for a download album, out soon.

[@rudel1939]

It is nice and relaxing leastening at you Rob. I am falling in love with the "no nails technic". Ciao

[@RobMacKillop1]

The technique is worth a try, Ruggero, but give it six months, not six days :-) It takes time to get used to. I suggest tuning down a semitone, so that the tension is less. And use hand cream - any kind - on your fingers, to keep them soft, not hard. I mention this just in case you are tempted to try!

[@rudel1939]

@@RobMacKillop1 Thanks Rob for the advice. I will try because I like the sound and....I have continuous problems with my nails!!

[@spirospetro]

Really great sound!!! I think this light guitar with the gut strings is on of the best combination that I ever heard!!! Well done!!

[@RobMacKillop1]

Thanks. Me too!

[@GK-we4co]

I think I know which pieces I'm going to learn next! Thank you, sir, you're opening the world of classical guitar music to me :)

[@RobMacKillop1]

Excellent. My pleasure.

[@MagicIsMusic]

Thank you so much for a very moving listening experience. Such delicate intimacy with this music and with the guitar you have so lovingly matched with gut an silk. And your soulful playing : beautiful !

[@RobMacKillop1]

Thank you, MiM! Glad you like it.

[@JonathanBarquero]

Beautiful interpretation. Thanks for sharing!

[@RobMacKillop1]

Cheers, Jonathan. Glad you like it.

[@neilsmith6799]

Thanks for introducing me to some wonderful music that I probably would never have heard, and being a continued source of inspiration to a finger tip player like myself... I love the tone you produce with your guitar playing.

[@RobMacKillop1]

Cheers, Neil! I like to dig up rarely-heard pieces, as opposed to playing the same old warhorses. As for tone, I know I will never play with nails again. Flesh on gut strings, on a lightly-constructed guitar like this flamenco negra is my ideal.

[@MLA50]

Inspiring Rob! Love your music!

[@RobMacKillop1]

And I love your comment, Michael :-)

[@MLA50]

Rob, what brand is the guitar you are using here?

[@RobMacKillop1]

@@MLA50 The one that is mentioned at the end of the video ;-)

[@いのうえこういち-v6k]

ブローカ、フェレール大変勉強になりました。😂　タルレガ以前のギター作品は日本では余り演奏されない。残念😢　ギターはおとぎ話の国から来た不思議な楽器。😮

[@graytonw5238]

That was beautiful! I started playing classical guitar in my 30s and just got sidetracked with a lot of "stuff", but at 64 I'm getting back into it again. Watching your videos, I feel like I can re-develop my love and appreciation for great guitar music, and especially for being able to learn and play it on my own again. Subbed!

[@RobMacKillop1]

Cheers, Grayton. I wish you well as you make up for lost time. I recorded these pieces on s download album called The Romantic Spanish Guitar, using a guitar from c.1870. good luck with your studies!

[@Nylon_and_Gut-MatteoLaurenzi]

Wonderfull. Im being playing without nails for almost a year now. After finding your chanel (thx to Brandon Acker) i´ll buy also the gut and silk 900 class. guitar strings.

[@RobMacKillop1]

Thanks, Matteo. Those 900 strings have varnished trebles, which are for nail players. For flesh players, plain gut is best. I suggest DamianStrings.com for plain gut, and Rayon basses from Aquila.

[@Nylon_and_Gut-MatteoLaurenzi]

@@RobMacKillop1 thank u so much.

[@wapolo1974]

I did indeed like it; very much in fact. :)

[@RobMacKillop1]

Cheers, Wilson. I like the fact that you like it.

[@SaintOsburg]

excellent. :)

[@RobMacKillop1]

Thanks, Soozie. :-)

[@joata43]

One of my favorite musicians and overall interesting human beings. I always visit his utube sites. This man mever.stops learning and unselfishly shares his unique knowledge with guitar aficionados which I for one appreciate. Mahalo nui loa.

[@RobMacKillop1]

This man thanks you ;-)

[@maib6307]

Beautiful music and I agree I love the sounds of that guitar. Tuned lower lower/ tension because gut strung?

[@RobMacKillop1]

It could be tuned to 440 with gut, but the first Aquila string would not last very long. Plus I like low tension strings, which allows a subtle vibrato.

[@maib6307]

I wonder if the lower tension is part of the very warm sound

[@RobMacKillop1]

No, that's all Scottish heart ;-) Well, it's a combination of gut trebles, my no-nails technique, and a light and transparent natural sound from the guitar. On a normal classical guitar, the sound can be a bit wooly. Which is why I chose a flamenco guitar, which has enough clarity to give definition to the sound. Of course, it doesn't sound like a regular flamenco guitar because of the strings and my technique.

[@Viezieg]

atta masta !

[@RobMacKillop1]

Thanks, Viezieg!

[@Viezieg]

@@RobMacKillop1 np sir, your response is much appreciated since, you might not know, you actually taught me quite alot. go team NO-NAILS go !

[@RobMacKillop1]

@@Viezieg Nice to know. Thanks.

[@Artearq7]

Suena muy dulce sin uñas...

[@RobMacKillop1]

Estoy encantado de que te guste!

[@fredhoupt4078]

Music that Federico Garcia Lorca would have swooned to. A jump forward by association: Leonard Cohen loved Lorca's poetry. What's not to love?

[@piptar1996]

I'm going through some of your videos with "gut strings". In this one your playing is SO NICE & the gut strings sound wonderful as though music is the aim not technique, but it seems to me & I could be mistaken, the bass strings sound a little weak.

[@RobMacKillop1]

The basses are made with real silk wound with silver wire, as they were in Tárrega’s time, when the focus was principally on melody on the upper strings. Perhaps it is meant to sound like this? Perhaps not. I thought it was worth trying.

[@pablorivera376]

Very interesting, as far as I know at the beginning there were no differences between guitars, there was not a flamenco vs a classical guitar. Carles Trepat even said that some old flamenco guitars with their sound are closer to the spirit of the music of Tarrega than modern classical guitars. I am going to try to play classical in a flamenco guitar.

[@RobMacKillop1]

Carles is right. I've tried cypress back and sides (blanca), and it was great, but I like a little more weight to each note, and found the rosewood back and sides (negra) more preferable.

[@pablorivera376]

@@RobMacKillop1 Here is Trepat playing classical music with a Faustino Conde flamenco guitar: kzbin.info/www/bejne/laWzfqqnqsl4a9E

[@pablorivera376]

Another one kzbin.info/www/bejne/fH7NZ2h3fsyFjas

[@RobMacKillop1]

@@pablorivera376 No need for links, I follow his channel.

[@pedromtorres]

Rob, have you played “Un Adios” differently from your album here in this video ?

[@RobMacKillop1]

Well, I hope I played it better, but largely the same. But you might be hearing that it is at a different pitch. The old Spanish guitar I used for the album just refused to be tuned higher than a tone. That's okay, as pitch was not fixed until after the 2nd World War. Cheers.

[@pedromtorres]

@@RobMacKillop1 Now I see !!! Thank you for the attention !!! What kind of tuning this piece requires ?

[@RobMacKillop1]

@@pedromtorres Just standard tuning, but sometimes I tune all the strings down a semitone or two. Pitch was generally lower in the past. But when I tune lower, I still think I am in standard tuning, the music just sounds lower. This is quite normal practice for music from previous centuries.

[@davidhughes7226]

hi rob recently been watching your posts, love the sensitivity of your playing. i have never been able to keep my nails in resonable condition. its reassuring to realise there are other ways. do you think its nessecary to use a 'lute' technique or will my present technique suffice with smaller modifications?

[@RobMacKillop1]

Hi David. There are as many ways to play without nails as there are with. I've found my way, but others do it differently. I suggest you do your own research, see what works for you. If possible, I suggest you tune down a tone or semitone at first, to allow the finger pads get used to their new role, before tuning up again. See my page on technique: rmClassicalGuitar.com

[@murattaner7384]

This sound is like good healthy food and water for beings .JMO :)))