Why are all Guitarists suddenly turning Classical?

[@Project_Cy]

I did it and my playing and technique improved tremendously and it opened up new doors with playing fingerstyle. The best part is learning what a good practice regimen is. I took flamenco lessons afterwards because my skills took such a big leap. It also opened me up to a whole new world of music and influences.

[@Muzikman127]

A little known detail of this topic in the Anglosphere which you didn't mention in your video is that South American "classical" guitarists pretty much all played on steel strung instruments until around half a century ago. Gut strings simply didn't travel well or handle the climate there well, so I'm told, and so steel strings were essentially the only option until the introduction of nylon strings with Segovia, which nevertheless didn't become widely popular until another couple of decades after their invention. Listen to recordings of e.g. Dilermando Reis for "classical" steel strung guitar. Nowadays, many of his works are in the standard classical repertoire I believe, but today more often played on nylon strings - but the older recordings are all on steel strung classical guitars (wide necks, presumably fan braced, etc.). In Portugal too today, _Fado_ music is often played on guitars that are more like a Torres than a Martin, but strung with steel strings. That instrument is most often called "Viola de Fado", and if you ever get the opportunity to play a decent luthier built one, it's uncanny. It feels like a classical guitar in its dimensions, and the tone it produces at times sounds much more like a classical guitar than a conventional martinesque "acoustic", but, at the same time, obviously sounds like steel strings also. Very interesting playing experience - I was lucky enough that a Portuguese musician let me play theirs on a few occasions (on one of these, quite an old and valuable instrument I later found out) Old Brazilian samba records are also full of “steel string but different” tones too (albeit less classical in their approach, samba is its own thing). Dino 7 cordas was the king of this fingerpicked steel strung guitar (with a 7th low C string for lower bass lines woven through the music). “Preciso me Encontrar” by one Cartola is a good record to hear this classical-ish technique of Brazilian popular 7 string guitar playing. Nowadays that piece is most often played on nylon strung “classical” guitars (you can see some very good performances of this and other similar repertoire on KZbin) I'm glad you highlighted the somewhat arbitrary nature of the divide initiated by Segovia. That mentality is almost universal in Europe and the broader Anglosphere, but it became apparent to me how artificial the divide actually was when living in Brazil, and seeing how fuzzy the line between "classical" and "steel string/acoustic/popular" guitar is in actuality, both in the construction of instruments, and in the technique of the players, Brazil being a country where that line simply isn't drawn in the same way (the idea that a classical guitarist might also play and be equally versed in popular styles like choro & samba there is the rule rather than the exception). I also think it's probably no coincidence that some of the most interesting modern guitar playing is coming out of Brazil or with Brazilian influence, a country where all guitarists, including the classically minded/trained, are drawing from a rich well of popular guitar traditions also. I also think some of those historical instruments which sit somewhere in between "acoustic" and "classical" guitars, that you can see a lot in pictures of guitarists in the past in South America, produce some really interesting sounds too. (that are now sadly being lost as Brazilian mass produced guitar makes follow international models of "classical" and "folk" guitars with a sharp division; X braced steel stung acoustics on the one hand, which are sold as "violão folk" there, and Torres copies on the other, sold as "Violão clássico"; i.e. the same bifurcation as in the rest of the world) Like the Portuguese viola de fado and, I imagine (not having played one myself) some of the small-bodied “parlor guitars” that are having a bit of a resurgence now, the interesting thing to me is always steel string guitars that aren't just build for thunderously loud "cowboy chords", and who refuse to sing when played otherwise, but those which also allow you to play expressive single note lines, and more sparsely plucked closed chords all the way up the neck, while still sounding full and resonant. Personally I would love it if "Classical guitar"ists and non-classical alike would take more of an interest in such instruments. But that's just me 🙃

[@VenancioPaiolaTonon]

What an insightful comment! You seem to be very knowledgeable on this subject, would you mind sharing with us where to find more information on this?

[@P.B.andJam]

Part of that reason is , spanish type guitars are made as fragile as possible for that proper drum like note attack, they mostly all crack, break and fall apart after a while.

[@XE1GXG]

Fixe! Interessante .

[@marpsr]

Thank you. Now I don’t have to feel vaguely guilty practicing Bach on my Stratocaster.

[@CanadianDivergent]

I'm a cellist but play a Strat copy tuned down to C G D A with ample distortion and play the Bach cello suites on it. I use my fingers and do mostly hammer ons/pull offs to get a liquid like legato "bow" feel. no guilt here!

[@elementsofphysicalreality]

I am on a classical binge. It started with David Russell, Pepe Romero, John Williams, Julian Bream, Kazuhiro Yamashita, Segovia, Manuel Barrueco, Paco de Lucia, and Vicente Amigo. But now it’s deep… Alkan, Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Dvorak, Bartok, Brahms, Schumann, Schubert… all of it. I chat GPT’d every single good classical composer. Purcell, Saint Saens, Stravinsky, Debussy, Mahler. It never ends. On top of that I already jumped into jazz. Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson… too many. My brain has been warped. I don’t know how to interact with normal people anymore.

[@wigman1962]

Welcome to the real world of music

[@SixStringSteve]

I began learning classical guitar in 1976 and have no doubt the skills I developed made playing blues and rock from around 1985 a lot easier. Learning classical guitar makes your left hand very strong, and develops stamina as bar chords are often employed, sometimes relentlessly depending on the key. Another skill is imagination. Classical guitar covers five centuries of music, from the renaissance thru baroque, classical, romantic, impressionist, abstract. These feed our database with many moods, melodies, rhythms, odd time and key signatures, which we apply to writing progressions and melodies that are off the beaten track, which is what it’s all about - invention.

[@davidschwartzguitar]

Take a listen to Ben Monder. Though he’s typically considered a jazz guitarist, many of his compositions are through-composed, and feature the kinds of techniques you’d encounter in a Villa-Lobos etude. I highly recommend the albums “Excavation,” and “Oceana.”

[@solyounan]

Really great deep dive that I'll definitely use with my students as well! Thank you, Jakob! Beautiful playing, as well! Now to go practice...:)

[@RobertHershkowitz]

Some great playing here.

[@ThiagoMatarazzoGuitar]

Just found your channel. Man, what a quality content! Really nice work (:

[@Biensche-3566]

My ears are definitely more used to the sound of classical guitar, but I couldn't say which version of Tango en Skai I like better. You play it brilliantly (so it doesn't need to be hidden at the end of the video :-). Interesting topic in any case! Thanks for sharing ❤

[@stephenashworth2480]

I started playing classical to improve my sight reading and there is more graded music in that genre. Never looked back. In time I was able to look at the music and hear it without playing it first. A very satisfying skill and not common amongst guitarists. That also made music easier to understand and was a transferrable skill to violin and piano. For anyone interested in progressive classical guitar pieces that sound very nice start with Fernando Sor Opus 44, 24 progressive lessons, Opus 35, 24 Very Easy Lessons and Opus 35, 24 Very Easy Lessons.

[@crisoliveira2644]

My first reaction to the subject of this video was "Wait, that's not a new thing. It's just that rockers in the 70's and 80's didn't have KZbin." 😛 Funny thing, Brandon Acker is shown briefly in the video and he used to play in a metal band during his youth.

[@ritupabankotoky]

Best video. shared with all my students

[@CalvinLimSH-ld5le]

Classical guitar strings gives us the warm dark mellow beautiful acoustic sounds. It is much easier for beginners wanting to learn the basics of guitar playing minus all the expensive electric gears. It also more gentle on your finger tips when you are starting to play slides on the nylon strings as compared to the hard metal strings. The quality of the guitar wood parts used also gives you another acoustic characteristic sound options to play beautiful fingerstyle pieces.

[@dpepepewpaeifjbwefoinrvodunaeg]

As a painter and also a classical guitar aficionado player I would suggest to any serious guitarist out there that really wants to improve the guitar technique and take it to the next level to practice drawing and sculpting with clay or developing other abilities besides the classical guitar techniques, guitar players don't realize how important it is to acquire other skills with your fingers (specially for the left thumb finger which in my observations is the finger that most of the guitar players out there struggle with the most) I am a gifted left handed artist but I would suggest if you are a right handed guy to use your left hand in other skills as much as you can, that is so important that its really interesting how that is so overlooked even at the highest levels of the instruments, hydration is also extremely important.

[@ianflurrance8438]

Love seeing this topic being addressed. I defiantly am seeing more break down between the worlds. For any classical player wanting to adventure into electric, the world of jazz Chord Melody playing is an amazing place to start. So much cross over, it’s pretty much the same thing.

[@CanadianDivergent]

We always go back to our roots. I started as a country blues player, then developed pure blues, then Yngwie came out, and that was it, I wanted to play pure classical. Got rid of my electric, bought a classical guitar and the rest is history. now I'm a cellist, and tune my electric down to C G D A and I don't use the bottom two strings ( B. E) play Bach on electric with some compressed distortion with sustain, . like the The 6th Suite for cello.

[@Mangoré1885]

I switched to classical from electric guitar 10 years ago. I still play electric guitar but I only use my classical technique to play. I like to play classical pieces using various effects just for fun. Ive had numerous classical guitar teachers tell me its not possible to use classical guitar technique on electric for various reasons lol. Coming from teachers that didn't play electric guitar at all. The more you play it becomes natural to separate the voices and control the sustain.

[@ed713ca]

Who is Adrian Papez. Experimenting with Koyunbaba tuning. Classical education and technique. Is good for all musical genres. This a good example.

[@ToastandJam52]

Great video and a thought provoking topic! I agree that Tonebase is a fantastic resource however for me, even with the Black Friday sales, it is too expensive. However, I do enjoy the Tonebase KZbin channel. Keep up the good work! Thanks!

[@rockstarjazzcat]

Very nice! Subscribed. Cheers, Daniel 🤙🏼

[@mer1red]

I don't think it's a good idea to make a distinction between generations. *All guitarists did not turn to classical recently* . I know many older ones who started with a classical training and switched to other styles, among others because in the past there was no organised educational system for pop and jazz. Other older self educated pop players switched to classical. By the way, there do exist professional level music schools that offer pop or jazz training nowadays. KZbin is not the real world. The KZbin community consists mainly of people that for different reasons cannot or do not want to go to a music school. There is a mutual influence in this community that causes some seeming, not representative trends.

[@average-team-kid]

Chet Atkins is a good example here in the opposite direction

[@metalpuppet5798]

A lot of creators on KZbin have a formal musical education and are inspiring people to get one. even though imo its irrelevant if you have it or not.

[@FenceThis]

you can study music at universities, but instruments ? do you mean conservatories ? you can certainly study electric guitar at conservatories, and not just jazz

[@mer1red]

​@@FenceThisDepending on the country they call it conservatories or universities or something else. Meaning: any educational system that provides the high level professional training.

[@FenceThis]

@ usually studying music at universities isn’t about training but has an academical approach leading to to some sort of masters degree after years of going through the theoretical and historical overview. It is of course a requirement that the student is instrumentally well trained and skilled as well, and universities do provide training facilities for this objective but the end goal isn’t to train students to become elite musicians but rather educate them to become elite teachers and researchers. To become knowledgable and well versed rather than technically outstanding

[@GuitarraErudita]

Luv this! I'm on it for a bit more than 20y!!! Its just amazing what is happening in the electric guitar world.

[@williamveramendi7738]

This tango sounds good with electric guitar ❤bravo I will definitely try that. Thanks

[@Knu1sed]

Yngwie got me into classical music, I love the sound on electric

[@carolaguitarra]

Always very interesting your documentations! Only for my the background music is rather disturbing and it makes not want to listen anymore. Can you help me what study said it's an advantage to play background music?

[@Nordic_Sky]

Had played steel string my whole life. About 20 years ago I switched to classical and went after it hard. A whole new world. Classical technique has taught me so much more about music than I ever learned in my previous life.

[@P.B.andJam]

@Nordic_Sky Me too 100%, I put away all my amps cords pedals knobs dials and electric 10 years ago, and embraced classical and flamenco. I'm so neurotic about it, it's worse than going to the dentist. I just can't do electrics or distortions anymore. I can still listen to my heavy metal, but I won't play or touch an electric or steelstring the rest of my life, too many regrets and irritations wasting a literal 10,000 hours messing with dials , effects, changing batteries, tripping over cords , and never getting anything done. The minute I try, all those memories come back, I get angry and I want to throw it out the window

[@Nordic_Sky]

@@P.B.andJam Exactly my friend. It's just me and my Romanillos, Fleta, Friederich and Rodriguez. No technology involved.

[@jimicunningable]

I'm old af. Yngwie had us doing Bach & Paganini aeons ago too. Fashion..

[@Mangoré1885]

Barrios la catedral prelude sounds great with some effects. The whole song sounds great but especially the two slow movements

[@markfristedt3270]

This is what I thought when I first heard Roncalli. All he had was a fragile baroque guitar, but his soul wanted to shred.

[@Codename-l8o]

Weirdly, you have a point. Finger picking on guitar will make you learn a whole lot faster than normal.

[@truescotsman4103]

Randy Rhoades is a better example of a classical approach to hard rock/heavy metal than Yngwie Malmsteen. Both are institutions in their own right but with completely different approaches to guitar. Randy had a traditional approach to classical guitar and was a hard rock player spawned in 70s club scene in LA. Yngwie was Swedish kid exposed to some of the great music we had in the US but he was limited in what he had access to because of that European market. He gravitaged more towards classical composers and violinists like Vivaldi. Yngwie took more of a virtuoso violinists approach while Randy was more of a traditional classical player with his own amazing ideas. To me what stands out between these two is the songwriting. Randy's songwriting is far beyond anything Yngwie ever achieved. Yngwie was more focused on presentation and blistering speed and some really innovative techniques and special scales he created for himself.

[@JazzyJunior]

I did not grow up with “classic rock” per se from the 60’s-70’s. I love classical, jazz, metal, fusion, etc. It’s all good music!

[@kasunmaduwage2316]

Dear all, he mentioned a name of a musician at 3.46, may I know the exact name please! I heard it as G.G Onshishaben

[@Muzikman127]

I've been playing a lot of Bach these last few months, on steel strings. I didn't realize that I was following a trend! 😅 I've just been playing for myself, I like the way it sounds on steel strung instruments. I'm sure my technique is all wrong from a classical guitarist's perspective though (although I try to play the music dynamically, rhythmically and timbrally in a way that suits the music, so “classically” in that sense)

[@jahuti5065]

One of the reasons that classical guitar is becoming cool is because it is one of the last bastions of honest music making without the hype and general bs that has crept into music over the last half century or so. On top of that, there are some truly incredible players nowadays who really are the antithesis of the old image of the "boring classical guitarist" Ever since Kazuhito Yamashita blazed onto the scene in the 80s there has been a steady rise in players who are not only more exciting on the instrument but also as performers in general. Check out Vera Danilina for possibly the most notable example amongst the younger generation.

[@luserdroog]

You're not wrong about the difficulty of articulating accents with the natural compression and saturation of amplification, BUT there are techniques to address this by careful control of the gain staging. With each volume or gain pot in the chain, you can find the spot where clipping happens, and then the amount you pull back from there defines your headroom. NB. Be Super Careful with piezos that have on-board preamps (if you put in a battery)! Never push a piezo preamp to 10 if you value the hardware that's receiving that signal. Dial those in from zero.

[@P.B.andJam]

Cool thing is, I keep finding nylon guitars worth thousands for 1 or $200 because they all look the same to the metalhead second stores and pawn shops still stuck in thier heavy metal world.. these guys really need to learn the difference between flamenco guitars/classicals and what brazilian rosewood looks like

[@antoniodespenteado]

Not before I find myself a Brazillian rosewood, please let's keep it a secret ;)

[@Identitees]

Punk Rockers were not against classical music! They were just fed up with the then current mainstream.

[@mitsanut5869]

Anything was better than punk

[@joex9865]

Suddenly, over the past 50+ years

[@ritvikchaturvedi7983]

What is his name?

[@johnoffutt898]

I can say that classical style requires much more technique and precision and perfection for each note blends together smoothly. I strum rhythm and flatpicking bluegrass and lead. If you watch Ana Vidovic, John Williams and David Russell you will see how much time and study. Between right hand, left hand, Giuliani and Sor etudes and Arpeggios. The Aaron Shearer complete scales studies, repertoire and Techniques studies. Takes time and focus. But it is worth it and I love learning. But remember Andres Segovia said you can play professional guitar for 90 years You Never Master The Guitar Only Getting Better.

[@ekwnfhwndgv561]

Literally me, im playing disgorge and bach's bwv 825 gigue

[@osamucabral]

This vídeo is about the Zeitgeist seen by a classical guirarist like us.

[@leandrotibirica8761]

could someone transcribe the names he mentions, please? I couldn't take all of them

[@chrismuratore4451]

Pizzicato on electric without a pick is definitely harder, but that's pretty much the only thing I've found so far. Everything else is easier

[@stephenyatesacoustic]

Great video and most interesting but, at the risk of seeming to nit-pick, deciding to use fingers rather than a plectrum (which is what most of those guitarists you mention have done) is hardly "turning classical". Neither Tim Henson or Matteo Mancuso have ever played classical guitar, they just happen (for different reasons) to prefer fingers and Tim uses a plectrum half the time, anyway. However, there is a groundswell of interest in classical guitar at the moment for a number of reasons, most of which are to do with the current crop of awesome young guitarists but both Tim and Matteus are just brilliant young virtuosi who have enlarged the compass of their own genres by taking technique seriously and therefore adopting similar methods to those discovered over 200 years ago by the first generation of guitarists. Great vid though, I love your comparison at the end. I play both electric and classical and it is the extra "oomph" that you can give a classical guitar that makes it my preferred instrument. Also, it's always nice to see anything that brings musicians from different styles together rather than splitting them into "camps"' Thanks.

[@tonebase]

Both Henson and Mancuso never publically performed as self-described classical guitarists, but they were influenced by classical (and in Henson's case also the violin) in their early education. Especially Mancuso I find really fascinating because his approach is so efficient and methodical, I suspect it's a similar mind-space to some of the more technical-focused classical players. Whether he came to similar conclusions because of this mindset or because his starting point was classical-influenced is of course a chicken-or-egg situation, I guess it's both. Thanks a lot for the comment! -Jakob

[@paulysguitarjournal]

Classical Guitar (acoustic, natural sounds) always sounds better. I think one of the things you didn’t cover was neck width and how classical guitar is made for finger style. That being said, there are companies making some very beautiful electric nylons. It would be nice to see an electric nylon guitar made like an electric with a 2 inch neck and that connects at the 14th fret instead of the 12th. 😊

[@jfo3000]

Godin Mutiac. Connects at 15th fret on top side and connects farther up at the with cutaway. Wide fingerboard. I played a used one at GC last week. I was tempted...

[@paulysguitarjournal]

@ ah, I haven’t seen one that connected at the 15th with a 2” neck width. Maybe I’ll have to tempt myself. 🤣

[@Obi-WanKannabis]

The neoclassical movement was almost turning what the violin used to be in classical music and putting it on the electric guitar. The current movement is to play literal classical guitar

[@musica-333-sx]

Bassists are the ones who have come closest to classical guitar techniques, especially because when using a 6-string bass, they dedicate themselves to making bass, harmony and melody. The biggest problem with the classical guitar is that no one knows its repertoire, that is, even classical music for orchestra and piano continues to be seen by the masses as elitist music, now the classical repertoire for the guitar is even more unknown ( basically only classical guitarists know about it) and the guild of classical guitarists around the world is not very large, just look at the subscribers who have the KZbin channels that disseminate classical guitar.

[@georgeoffenberger1262]

Suddenly? Someones been living under a rock.

[@josdurkstraful]

For good measure I think you should have mentioned John Williams, who bridged the gap between classical and electric guitar for the first time.

[@georgeoffenberger1262]

Everyones an expert on youtube smh

[@creepyinformation7620]

So this is where the comments i have seen seem to come from 🤣 some guitarists now think that everything is classical music, even if its rage against the Machine or nicki Minaj they still think that.

[@williamlovering973]

Please do a Master of Puppets performance video!

[@fleetwoodmac7873]

Some styles are better performed on a nylon classical guitar. So i would say every Music Style has it's own Instruments. It's difficult to compare.

[@FrancisFurtak]

I'm so sick of all the analyzing! Before the digital age we heard something on the radio, bought the record, learned the song and played it. We were happy. No pedals, loopers just live music.

[@ed713ca]

Times are changing. It's all good.

[@kali2109]

tango en skai intermediate level 😮‍💨

[@DebbieBarrette]

You CAN study electric guitar in universities and conservatories.

[@luserdroog]

subito!

[@analizandoliteratura9958]

Are they getting older ???

[@misterknightowlandco]

Because rock n roll and metal is for kids and dying off anyways. Classical music is much better.

[@flyvendegrise]

You need to do a lot more research there’s a lot of conservatory’s you can study electric guitar

[@ed713ca]

How many world class schools for electric guitar. Five ? six ?

[@dtanaka869-d]

I think math rock is the perfect bridge between electric and classical guitar. Bands like Hella and Tera Melos have both the virtouosity of classical, and the devil may care attitude of punk

[@thepigeondev2943]

You also gotta take the fact, Generation Z just isn't into metal music. You can say the Genre cannibalized itself. Which is pretty metal, not gonna lie..- A Gen Z

[@MethenySco]

Are they? Like who?

[@marcod9626]

a bit of an overgeneralisation - but classical guitarists , get some rhythm and learn harmony!

[@mooseymoose]

To be fair, I've been doing this for over 25 years. Definitely not "suddenly".

[@DeutschlandGuy]

You lost me with "all" in the tag line. "All" rarely happens, if ever. I expected more from Tonebase.

[@Sylkis89]

You absolutely can study electric guitar at the uni. There's been a lot of rubbish said before that as well but at this point I stopped watching to make this comment, give a thumbs down, and move away from the video. Reeks of pseudointellectual snobbism whilst you clearly don't know what you're talking about.

[@rigelloar7474]

Awesome ! Maestro Segovia, with a surrogate wiener guitar !