Recent Posts Scheit ArchiveJune 1, 2019The Scheit Archive as cataloged by Stefan Hackl is now available in the Archive Search. Details about the rare items in the archive are available on his site Gitarre-Archiv Österreich and some good background on Scheit and the archive is available in this Classical Guitar article. The Scheit Archive is currently housed at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst (MdW). Large European Guitar Archive Now Available Online... Yablokov M.S. – “Classic guitar in Russia and the USSR” (1992)April 21, 2019The large encyclopedia of Russian guitar has been made publicly available in PDF format at vk.com by Sergey Bizin. Classic guitar in Russia and the USSR (1992) https://vk.com/topic-15164027_37910829?post=50586 Sergey’s original post I’ll add here below translated by DeepL: Friends! Today I am glad to present you the result of my work, which lasted quite a long time – 1 year and 3 months. During this time, the translation of the legendary book into electronic form was made Yablokov M.S. – “Classic guitar in Russia and the USSR” (1992) The work was done with the permission of the author, Mikhail Yablokov, who also approved the free publication of his book online in a personal telephone conversation with me. I would like to say a lot about our colleagues here, without whom this work would have been either impossible or extremely difficult: Sergey Ivanov (Novokuznetsk) and Igor Shramko (St. Petersburg) provided the initial materials (books); Gorbunov Mikhail (Moscow), Makarov Grigory – I consulted them on the technique of postscanning image processing. I am very grateful to all of them for their selfless and friendly cooperation. Thanks also to those who were aware of the ongoing work and supported me with their periodically expressed interest in its results. Now the result is at your disposal! I wish you interesting and informative reading!... Russian GuitarJanuary 28, 2019After recently acquiring a Russian guitar I’ve gone through a number of pedagogic resources to find those that might help others interested in learning this instrument. (Updated 3/18/2019) The Russian guitar has little exposure outside of Russia, but here are some of the best players and resources in English: Oleg Timofeyev John Schneiderman Mårten Falk Stefan Wester Rob MacKillop – Sarenko and Co In Russian there are quite a few resources but the language barrier can be quite immense. The Russian national libraries contain a large amount of digitized music (and surprisingly so do the Rischel and Boije collections in Europe). The most comprehensive site for music and methods is Sheet music for Russian Guitar. There are many methods for the Russian guitar and I focused on the 19th century publications rather than the Soviet ones, although most follow similar patterns starting with many pages basic music reading and diagrams where the notes fall on the 7-string neck. I chose the V. Morkov School for Guitar (Jurgenson, Moscow 1886) because it moves more directly to short pieces which are musically interesting. The Soviet methods seem to be heavier on fingering and take more care to introduce different techniques with simple examples and appropriate musical pieces, but would require more time in translation. For now I will present the works from Morkov and will expand to others if there seems to be some interest. For this process, I engraved a few pieces of similar style for each file, converted the finger numbering to modern pima format, corrected mistakes and added tablature. There are places where Morkov was more specific than others so Oleg Timofeyev has graciously reviewed my work where Morkov made no clear indications to ensure the positions and fingering are idiomatically accurate. There are versions with and without tab so you can start with tab to understand positions and fingering, then switch to the non-tab PDF or disable tab in Soundslice. Moving away from tab will make the rest of the Russian guitar repertoire more easily accessible to you. 3/18/2019 – PDFs and Soundslices updated with position/fingering fixes from Oleg; numbers 3-5 added. Pages 13-14, Exercises for Both Hands PDF SoundslicePages 14-15, Exercises with Double Notes PDF SoundslicePage 15, Exercise in Chords PDF SoundslicePage 18, Exercises PDF SoundslicePages 19-20, Preludes PDF SoundslicePage 21, Preludes PDF SoundslicePages 22-23, Etudes PDF SoundslicePages 23-26, Etudes PDF SoundslicePages 27-28, Caprice and God Save the KingPages 28-29, Songs by YavkovlevPages 29-30, Songs by Pashkov and Gurilev… Russian guitar fretboard layout influenced by 19th century method formats.... Paris, Lacote School, imported by Metzler & Marcus MosesDecember 15, 2018I am selling my 19th century French-made guitar. Metzler & Marcus Moses were the noted importer of Lacote’s guitars. It comes with an original coffin case (broken and no attempts have been made to repair it) with an extra Moses label. Great sound and good playing instrument. It was purchased in September 2008 from England. There are some old repairs to splits in the sides and there were newer splits repaired in 2009. The sides are perhaps rosewood, but not veneered so are prone to splitting. All repairs to the sides are very solid. The back is rosewood veneer over spruce. The long split was there when it was purchased and had old repairs, but is solid as it hasn’t changed since 2008. The soundboard is in perfect condition. Everything appears to be original. Dimensions: String length: 620mmFretboard width at the nut: 44mmFretboard width at the 12th fret: 55mmUpper bout width: 233mmWaist: 160mmLower bout: 295mmDepth at upper bout: 75mmDepth at lower bout: 80mm For sale. Located in Dallas, Texas. Contact me for price and details.... Napoléon Coste: Composer and Guitarist in the Musical Life of 19th-Century ParisAugust 29, 2018The latest publication from DGA Editions is now available! This is an updated version of the biography from Ari van Vliet’s two-volume dissertation on Coste. It includes many edits, improved photos and some additional information. The print edition includes the same CD that was available with the dissertation. There is a digital edition available which does not include CD, but it can be purchased separately from CD Baby.... Le Donne e La ChitarraAugust 28, 2018Guitar Music by 19th Century Women Composers A new exciting recording project by Jamie Akers will be available soon. Jamie used the book “Emilia Giuliani” by Nicoletta Confalone and myself as the source of some of the music on the CD. The CD is part of a series of 5 with more information available on the DONNE | Women in Music site.... Morishige Takei filmsDecember 30, 2017Morishige Takei was a lover of film in addition to the guitar and mandolin. He entered several film competitions, although I don’t currently have much details about his film work other than the films I was allowed to copy from his daughter in 1997. I have uploaded all of them to YouTube. I believe these were all taken in the 1930’s.... The Takei Collection and a Brief History of Morishige TakeiDecember 30, 2017Here is a short history of Morishige Takei that was included in the introduction to a book on Takei’s music published in 1965 by Zen’on Music Publishing Company (with some clarifying edits). During recent discussions (2017) with the Kunitachi College of Music (Tokyo) librarians I learned they plan to catalog the Takei Collection and post the list on their website. I don’t know the schedule for their plans, but it is good to know it is in progress. I visited the library with Jun Sugawara sometime in 1996-97 with only a short list in hand and I was not allowed to see the collection directly. I have a number of articles on the collection published around the time it was given to Kunitachi and when I have time I’ll post translations. Please see my older article on Takei for additional details. 1890 (11 Oct.) Born in Tottori City. 1911 (March) Finished the first year grade of the Italian Section of the Tokyo Foreign Language School. Recieved a scholarship fund from the Italian Society. 1911 (10 May) Went to Italy for study. 1911 (19 Oct.) Returned from study abroad and returned to the same school as a second year student. 1913 (28 March) Graduated from the same school first on the list. Given a prize from the Italian Government. Began to learn to play guitar by himself and learned harmony. 1915 (26 Sept) Began an ensemble of mandolin with Mr. Tsunehiko Tanaka and others. Took the guitar part. 1916 (4 May) Named the ensemble “Sinfonia Mandolini Orchestra.” Started publication of a monthly journal titled “Mandolin and Guitar.” 1917 (28 Dec.) Appointed a ceremonial Officer of the Department of the Imperial Household. 1921 (March) Held a guitar concert. 1921 (26 Dec.) Held an additional post as Chief of the Music section of the Department of the Imperial Household. 1922 (7 Nov.) Took over the larger part of the (Philip J.) Bone Library in England and called it “Takei Library.” His guitar music “A music dedicated to Tarrega” and “Picnic” were published. 1923 (21 Jan.) Sponsored the 1st All Japan Mandolin Ensemble Concours. It was the first occurrence of the concours in Japan. (Called in Italian “Concorso”). 1923 (1 Sep.) The Takei Library and musical instruments were burned in a fire started from the Great Kanto Earthquake. 1923 (11 Dec.) The orchestra was restored and named “Orchestra Sinfonica Takei” (abbreviated as O.S.T.). 1924 (1 March) The monthly journal was renamed “The Study of Mandolin and Guitar” and the first issue was published. 1924 (Oct.) The first Concert after the restoration was held to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the orchestra. Published “Mandolin, Guitar and their Orchestra” in book form. 1924 (28 Oct.) Sponsored the First Concours of Composition (called “Concorso” at that time) The prize-winning music was performed in the 16th Concert of the O.S.T. 1924 (30 Nov.) Held the Second All Japan Mandolin Orchestra Concours. 1924 (Dec.) Mr. Calace, a famous Italian mandolinist, visited Japan. A concert was held by the O.S.T. 1925 (April) Four European music libraries were taken over and the “Takei Library” was restored. 1925 (Oct.) The book “Glimpses of Mandolin and Guitar” was published. 1926 (Sept.) A performance was given in the presence of the Swedish Crown Prince and the Princess in the detached palace of Kasumigaseki. 1926 (July) Received the title of Baron. 1927 Sponsored the Orchestra Composition Concours. 1929 (Oct.) Mr. Segovia visited Japan, and by his request wrote the commentary of the program of his recital. 1928 (Nov.) Commemorative Concert of the 15th anniversary of the orchestra was held, and a congratulatory present was given by Baron Aloisi, then the Italian ambassador. 1931 (March) Appointed as a member of the committee of the Second Conference of the International Mandolin Music Federation in Zurich, Switzerland. 1941 (June) The Orchestra was renamed “Takei-Gakudan” and the 43rd Concert was held. 1942 (Jan.) The first issue of “The Material for the Study of Mandolin and Guitar” was published. The succeding volumes were issued every other month. 1943 (Dec.) On account of the war, the 48th Concert of the Takei-Gakudan was held for the last time. 1945 (25 May) His house in Nakano was burned in an air raid. The Takei Library was saved from the fire as it was kept in a cellar. 1946 (1 April) Appointed the Grand Master of Ceremonies. 1947 (27 March) Received an appointment equal to that of the Shinnin rank, and retired. 1949 (6 Nov.) The 49th Concert (The first concert after the restoration) of the O. S.T. was held. 1949 (14 Dec.) Died suddenly, falling ill in the evening on the 12th while he was conducting a rehearsal of the orchestra. 1949 (20 Dec.) Promoted two ranks by special Imperial grace. (To the Junior Grade of the Second Rank).... Regondi guitar in Japan, 1926October 29, 2017I originally wrote in 1997 about the guitars purchased in 1926 by Japanese collectors from Philip Bone, but never shared a copy of the original letter received from Bone listed details on the guitars. I stumbled across my correspondence with Nakano recently and realized he had sent me a copy of the letter. Here it is! Thanks to Shintaro Yana sharing a link on Facebook to recent photos of the Stauffer guitar at Nobe Guitar Gallery....
