JOHNSCHNEIDER:

THECLASSICGUITAR

MusicUnwrappedGuideDecember,2008

Freeofcharge,andlotsoffun,MusicUnwrappedistheidealwayforthefamilyto
spendaSaturdaymorninglearningaboutawidevarietyofgreatmusic.
JoinusforthisspecialprogramasJohnSchneidertakestheaudienceonajourney,
exploringtheevolutionoftheclassicalguitaranditsimmenserepertoire.
Putonyourseatbelts:wellbetravelingfourhundredyearsinonehour!

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ABOUTGUITARISTJOHNSCHNEIDER
JohnSchneiderisaninternationallyrecognizedguitarist,composer,
authorandbroadcasterwhoseweeklyThursdaymorningradio
programGlobalVillageonlocalstationKPFKbringsthesoundof
musicfromaroundtheworldandaroundtheblockintothousandsof
homes.Aspecialistincontemporarymusic,SchneidersThe
ContemporaryGuitarhasbecomethestandardtextinthefield.Heis
theDirectoroftheensemblesJustStrings,Partch,andthefounding
artisticdirectorofMicroFest.HehasjustreleasedaCD,LouHarrison
PorGitaro,onModeRecords,availableonitunes.

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ABOUTSOUTHWESTCHAMBERMUSIC

GRAMMYAwardwinningSouthwestChamberMusic
hasbeenbringingPROJECTMUSEinschoolperformances
toschoolsthroughoutLosAngelesCountysince1994with
musicthatreflectsthevastdiversityofartmusicfrom
aroundtheworld.Weperformthroughouttheyearatthe
ArmoryCenterfortheArts,BostonCourt,NortonSimon
Museum,ColburnSchoolofPerformingArts,anda
summerfestivalatTheHuntingtonLibrary.Tofindout
moreaboutSouthwestChamberMusicandourother
programs,visitourwebsiteatwww.swmusic.org.

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FEATUREDCOMPOSERS

AlonsoMudarra(15101580),wasaSpanish JohnDowland(15631626),
composerandvihuelaplayerofthe wasanEnglishcomposer,singer,
Renaissance.Hismusicissomeoftheearliest andluteplayer.MostofDowlands
survivingmusicfortheguitar.FunFact:When musiciswrittenforthelute,an
Mudarradied,allhisfortunewasdistributedto earlyversionofthemodern
thepoorofthecityofSeville. classicalguitar.Hiscompositions
areknownforbeingmelancholyinmelodyand
FernandoSor(17781839)was lyrics.Inthe1960s,arevivalofearlysongs
knownastheBeethovenofthe andmusichelpedbringmoreattentiontothe
Guitar.Sorcomposedoperas, importanceofDowlandsmusicinthe
ballets,symphonies,andsongs. evolutionofclassicalguitarrepertoire.
Heisbestknownforbothhis FunFact:ThepopularartistSting,isahugefan
guitarcompositionsandan ofDowlandssongwriting.In2006hereleased
extensivesetofguitarstudiesthatincludeall analbumofDowlandssongstitledSongsFrom
aspectsofplayingtechnique. theLabyrinth(DeutscheGrammophon).

MauroGiuliani(17811829)wasanItalianguitaristandcomposerwhospent
muchofhisadultlifeinVienna,surroundedbyelitecomposerssuchasBeethoven,
Shubert,Rossini,andPaganini.Giulianiwroteover150compositionsforguitar,and
agreatdealofchambermusic.Duringhislife,hewasbetterknownasaperformer;
ontheguitar,cello,andasavocalist.

IsaacAlbniz(18601909), AgustnBarrios(18851944),
Spanishwrotemostofhisworks wasaParaguayanguitarist,
forpiano.Manycompositionswere composer,andpoetwhodrew
latertranscribedtoguitar.Asturias inspirationfromSouthAmerican
(Leyenda)ishismostwellknown folkmusic,andtheBaroqueand
contributiontotheclassicalguitarrepertoire. RomanticperiodsofEuropeancomposition.
Originallyitwascomposedforpianoasthe Barrioswaswellknownduringhislife,and
fifthmovementoftheSuiteEspanola,Op.47. wasfamedforhisfantasticliveperformances.

HeitorVillaLobos(1889 MasonWilliams(1938),
1959)waspossiblythemost musicianandcomedywriter,
famouscomposertohavecome wrotethemostbroadcastclassical
fromSouthAmerica.Hismusic guitarpieceinhistory,Classical
wasgreatlyinfluencedby Gas.Releasedin1968,Williams
Brazilianfolkmusicand wasalreadyinvolvedinTV
Europeanclassicalcomposers. productionasacomedywriterandwasableto
Beforebecomingaserious performitseveraltimesonTVwithorchestra
composer,VillaLobosspentmanyyears accompaniment.Thesongsoldoveramillion
exploringnativeBrazilianmusicalcultureand copiesandtoppedtheBillboardEasyListening
performingwithstreetmusicbands. Survey.

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THEEVOLUTIONOFTHECLASSICALGUITAR

THEOUDisapearshaped,stringed THELUTEwasdevelopedinEuropeafter

instrumentthatoriginatedover3500years theOudwasbroughttoSpainbytheMoors
agoinPersia.TheOudhasaparticularly duringtheirconquest(7111492).Themain

longtraditioninIraq,whereasayinggoes differencebetweentheOudandtheLuteis
thatinitsmusicliesthecountryssoul. theadditionoffretstotheneck of the Lute.

THECLASSICALGUITARhassix
strings,andisclosetothecommon
acousticguitarswidelyavailabletoday.
Theearliestsixstringclassicalguitar
wasbuiltinItalyin1779.Allkindsof
musicareperformedontheinstrument,
includingclassical,flamenco,andjazz.

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MUSICVOCABULARY(fromtheCaliforniaStandardsfortheArts)
BAROQUEMUSICdescribesastyleofEuropeanclassicalmusicfrom16001750,followingtheRenaissanceperiod.

NotableBaroquecomposersincludeAntonioVivaldi,GeorgeFridericHandel,andJ.S.Bach.

BOSSANOVAisastyleofBrazilianmusicthatdevelopedintheearly1960sandcontinuestoinspirestandardjazz

repertoire.NotableBossaNovaartistsincludeAntonioCarlosJobim,ViniciusdeMoraes,andJooGilberto.

ACAPOisadeviceusedtoshortenthestringsonavarietyofstringinstrumentsincludingtheguitar,mandolin,or

banjo.Themostcommonformisarubbercoveredbarfastenedtotheneckoftheinstrumentwithaclamp.

DYNAMICSarevariousdegreesofvolumeintheperformanceofmusic,suchasloudandsoft.

TheFINGERBOARD(alsoknownasaFRETBOARDonfrettedinstruments)isathin,longstripofwoodthatis

laminatedtothefrontoftheneckofaninstrumentandabovewhichthestringsrun.Intheplayingofsuchan

instrument,amusicianpressesthestringsdowntowardsitinordertochangetheirvibratinglengths,causing

changesinpitch.Thisiscalledstoppingthestrings.

FLAMENCOisaSpanishartformthatincludessong,dance,andguitarplaying.

AFRETisoneofseveralridgessetacrossthefingerboardofastringedinstrument,suchasaguitar,whichhelpthe

fingerstostopthestringsatthecorrectpoints.

HARMONYisthesimultaneouscombinationoftones.

AHARPSICHORDisamusicalinstrumentthatproducessoundsbypluckingastringwheneachkeyispressed.It

waswidelyusedinbaroquemusic.Manypiecesforharpsichordhavebeenadaptedtotheclassicalguitar.

IMPROVISATIONisthespontaneouscreationofmusic.

AnINTERVAListhedistanceinpitchbetweentwotones.

AMELODYisanorganizedsequenceofsinglenotes.

TheMETERisthegroupingofbeatsbywhichapieceofmusicismeasured.

TheRENAISSANCEGUITARresemblesasmalllute,andusuallyhasfivestrings.FromtheRenaissanceperiod,a

culturalmovementfromthe14thtothe17thcenturyinEurope.

RHYTHMisthecombinationoflongandshort,evenandunevensoundsthatconveyasenseofmovementintime.

ASCOREisthewrittenformoftheentirecomposition.Allplayershaveapartofthescorefortheirinstrument,

unlesstheyhavememorizedthenotes.

SOUNDPERCEPTIONishowyouinterpretwhatyouhearandwhereyouhearit.

TheSTRINGFAMILY(alsocalledChordophones)isthegroupofinstrumentsthatusesstringstoproducesound.

Thestringsaremadeofgut,steel,ornylon.Stringedinstrumentscanbeplayedwithabowalongstickthat

hashorsehairattachedtoit,ortheycanbeplayedbypluckingorstrummingthestringswiththefingers.

TheTIMBREisthetonecolororcharacterofsoundheard.

TheTONALITY(KEY)isthetonalcenterofacomposition.

TUNINGistoadjustamusicinstrumenttothedesiredfrequencyorpitch.

AVIHUELAcanrefertoanearlyguitarfrom15thand16thcenturySpain,ortheMexicanVihuela,typically

playedinMariachibands.

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 CDsfromJohnSchneider&SouthwestChamberMusic
AVAILABLENOWonItunes&CDBaby
&
CheckoutJohnSchneidersperformanceinVolume4of
SouthwestChamberMusicsCompleteChamberWorksofCarlosChvez:

ContinueLearningwiththeseInternetResources:
ListentoJohnSchneidersweeklyradioshow,Thursdaysat10AMon90.7FM:
www.kpfk.org

Formoreinformationonlearningtheclassicalguitar,werecommendtheselinks:
http://www.guitarist.com/classical
http://www.classicalguitar.net
http://www.classicguitar.com
http://www.learnclassicalguitar.com

Formoreinformationonthehistoryoftheclassicalguitar,werecommendtheselinks:
http://www.classicalguitarmidi.com/history/guitar_history.html
http://www.earlyromanticguitar.com
http://www.guitarramagazine.com

Totrytocreateyourowncompositionat
http://www.creatingmusic.com

Anotherexcellentinteractivewebsiteforkidswithinformationaboutinstrumentsis
www.playmusic.org

Formoreinformation,andtoaccessexcitingeducationalvideosandpodcasts:
1.800.726.7147orvisitourwebsitewww.swmusic.org

New!CheckusoutonMySpace,FacebookandTwitter!!
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 SOUTHWESTCHAMBERMUSICUPCOMINGEVENTS

CelebratingWomenComposers!

TravelwithusfromtheAmericastoAsiawithworksby:

TheaMusgraveJoanHuang GabrielaOrtiz UnsukChin

PerformedbyPercussionistLynnVartanandViolinistShaliniVijayan

Saturday,January24@8p.m.
ArmoryCenterfortheArts
145N.RaymondAve.,Pasadena91103

PreconcertTalk@7:30p.m.withArtisticDirectorJeffvonderSchmidt
$38generaladmission,$28seniorand$10student

www.swmusic.orgor1.800.726.7147

SouthwestChamberMusicseducationalprogramsarefundedinpartbythe
B.C.McCabeFoundation,CaliforniaArtsCouncil,TheCapitalGroupCompaniesCharitableFoundation,
DAddarioFoundationforthePerformingArts,DwightStuartYouthFoundation,FriedaC.FoxFamilyFoundation,
GreenFoundation,JamesIrvineFoundation,LluellaMoreyMurpheyFoundation,TheMariandEdmundD.EdelmanFoundation
forMusicandthePerformingArts,MetropolitanAssociates,PasadenaArts&CultureCommissionandthe
CityofPasadenaCulturalAffairsDivision,PasadenaEducationalFoundation,RoseHillsFoundation,RotaryClubofPasadena,
SidneySternMemorialTrust,SupervisorMichaelAntonovich,WeingartFoundation,WellsFargoFoundation.