My Masterclass With Andres Segovia!

byFrankB-1

6.5K followers

2 weeks ago

(Title image by DALL-E 3)

Hi WA Friends!

During the little soiree we had last night for the birthday of the Baroque composer Jan Josef Ignac Brentner, which I wrote about here:

https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/frankb-1/blog/happy-birthday-jan-josef-ignac-brentner-a-baroque-composer-worth-remembering

someone reminded me of the day I had a masterclass with the great Andres Segovia.

That prompted me to write this article on the experience I had when I was living in Italy. Andres would have been in his eighties back then, so it was very unusual and a great honor that he traveled to the music conservatory in Siena, Italy.

If you're curious to learn more, keep on reading!

Who Was Andres Segovia? A Little History

Andres Segovia

(With the help of ChatGPT)

Andres Segovia was born in Linares, Spain, in 1893. He is often called the father of the modern classical guitar. Before Segovia, the guitar was mostly a folk instrument, but he made it a respected concert instrument. He played all over the world, from Europe to the Americas, inspiring audiences with his music!

Andre's playing style was very unique. It was warm and precise, and he made every note count. He worked hard to get the classical guitar taken seriously, and he got famous composers like Manuel de Falla and Heitor Villa-Lobos to write music for the guitar. This really helped expand the music available for guitarists and inspired future musicians!

The Accademia Musicale Chigiana In Siena, Italy

(With the help of ChatGPT)

Siena is one of the most medieval-looking cities you'll ever visit, and the steep hills would be impossible to climb for someone of my current age. I attended their "Palio di Siena" twice, which is a famous horse race and festival that takes place twice a year.

In 1950, Segovia started teaching at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy. This is a very famous music school known for its masterclasses. Segovia's classes became really popular, and students came from all over the world to learn from him.

Segovia routinely taught at that academy until the 1960s. During that time, he helped train many young guitarists who would go on to be very famous themselves.

One of his assistants was Alirio Díaz, a great guitarist from Venezuela who became one of Segovia’s most respected students. Later, in the 1970s, another of Segovia's students, Oscar Ghiglia, took over the guitar classes at the Chigiana. Because of Andre's teaching, the Chigiana became a special place for future guitar legends to learn and grow!

My Journey To The Masterclass

It was the late 1970s, and I was living in Florence, Italy. I wasn't in Italy for music. I was an exchange student from Brown University, doing research on the artificial lung at the University of Pisa for my master's degree in biomedical engineering. Pisa had one of the best research programs for artificial lung in the world. Of course, today, it's all about cloning and 3-D tissue printing, but back then, it was state-of-the-art!

However, as any guitar player knows, the music finds you, no matter what else you’re doing! One evening, while hanging out with friends at a cafe in Florence, I found out that Andres Segovia was going to teach a masterclass in Siena. Siena was just a short train ride away, and I was so psyched. The idea of seeing him in person, let alone learning from him, was very exciting!

The class was in Spanish because Segovia didn’t speak Italian or English. I could understand most of what he said, but thankfully, another student who spoke Spanish really well helped me understand the most important parts!

The Masterclass Experience

The day of the masterclass, I took an early train from Florence to Siena. When I arrived at the Accademia, the atmosphere was amazing! There he was, Andres Segovia himself, looking like a true maestro in his dark suit. He had a calm but powerful presence, and everyone there knew they were in the presence of a legend!

The class was mostly taught by Ghiglia because of Segovia's age, but Andres played a piece to show his technique, which highlighted his tone and right-hand technique, and he summarized all the main points of the lessons.

I remember Andres saying (rough translation), "The guitar is an orchestra in miniature, and each finger must be a different section of that orchestra." That idea really stuck with me. I was taking mental notes not just about the guitar but also about his passion for every note!

The Importance Of Musical Mentorship

Although Ghiglia was a fantastic guitarist and showed how Segovia's teaching continued to influence new generations, one of the things that stood out to me was seeing Alirio Díaz, who also helped Segovia during the class.

Díaz was an amazing player, and he had a warm personality that balanced Segovia's more serious approach. Seeing the two of them together, teacher and student, really showed me how important mentorship is in music. It’s not just about technique but also about passing on a love for the craft!

The Impact On My Playing

Going to that masterclass was one of the highlights of my life as a guitarist! It showed me that it wasn’t just about practicing scales or learning new pieces; it was about digging into my own musical style and finding my own voice on the guitar, just like Segovia had found his! He believed the guitar could express every human emotion, and that idea has stayed with me.

Before I returned to America, I lived in Rome, taught rock and metal guitar at their largest music store, Centro Musicale, and played in the house band on weekend nights at the Mississippi Jazz Club.

Why I Play Rock And Roll

When I first started playing guitar in the 1960s, I took a few classical lessons, but for me, it was always just a hobby, something I did for fun. It wasn’t classical music that grabbed me; it was Rock, Metal (what we called Heavy Metal or Psychedelic Rock back then), and the Blues!

Everything changed when I heard Jimi Hendrix's song "Fire" from his "Are You Experienced" Album playing on the radio in 1967! I was in middle school, and it lit a fire under me to take guitar more seriously.

I realized that Rock came from the Blues, so I started listening to all the great blues masters, both electric and acoustic, like John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf (actually, his guitar player Hubert Sumlin), Chuck Berry, T-Bone Walker, Robert Johnson, Son House, Lead Belly, and more!

Even after all these years, music and playing the guitar is still just a fun hobby, but it's something that still remains an essential part of every day!

Final Thoughts

Looking back at that time in Italy, I feel incredibly fortunate to have been part of a masterclass with Andres Segovia. It wasn’t just a guitar class; it was a look into the mind of a true musical genius. For Segovia, the guitar was more than just an instrument. It was his voice, his passion, and his lifelong friend. And for those few hours in Siena, he shared that with me!

Tell Me What You Think

Have you ever taken a masterclass that changed your life in a significant way?

Was it in online marketing or something totally different?

Let me know in the comments, AND ...

Keep On Rockin' It!

(Pin created by DALL-E 3)

Frank

~80% Human written content.