# An introduction :)



## SpanishFly (Oct 13, 2012)

Before I get any busier posting and replying to threads on here, I thought it would be appropriate if I gave myself somewhat of an introduction.

Music is my foremost passion. Yes, I am only 17, and it may seem like an early age to have such a passion, but since I turned 7, when I first laid hands on the classical guitar, I have been so enthralled with music that nary a day passes where I don't play an instrument of some sort! 
Classical guitar has taken me to so many wonderful places. I have performed many times in many places, by myself, with a duet partner, or with an ensemble. I have had the opportunity to travel to Austria with a six-piece guitar ensemble, performing in various venues around the country. I have competed for three consecutive years at the provincial level. I love and live for performing with my classical guitar. One might say I have been 'bitten' by the proverbial performing 'bug.'

I couldn't just play one instrument, however. A few years after I had been playing classical guitar, I took up the trombone for the school band, and enjoyed a 4-year long stint as 1st trombone. After that came violin, but only for a year, as guitar soon ramped up its time demands. 

For Christmas one year, my grandparents gave me a beautiful Ludwig drumset. I now play drums, much to my parents' chagrin.

Then, to go along with the theory I had been taking, I took up piano lessons. I am now in Grade 5, woohoo! :lol: 

My dad spontaneously bought an old Hohner accordion at the auction some time ago. I started out by teaching myself 'The Yellow Rose of Texas,' and soon followed with some other traditional songs. I enjoy it...it must be my Italian background shining through...

In the midst of my teen years, 'when loud music is good music', so they say, amplifiers soon filled the previously vacant space beside the drumset, and an LTD Warlock bass and a Epiphone Les Paul appeared. I play electric guitar in a floundering metal band - the bass is just for fun. 

More recently, just this past August, I completed my RCM Grade 10 classical guitar exam with Upper First Class Honours, and am now working towards my performer's ARCT.

As you can see, I fully enjoy the short-term and lifetime rewards that music, in all shapes and sizes, holds for me personally. Music makes life a great deal fuller, not to mention a lot of fun. It is a very creative way to express yourself, as well as interact with people whom you do not know and share with the world what you love to do.


----------



## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

I've been warned about you! But welcome to talk classical.


----------



## MaestroViolinist (May 22, 2012)

Hi and welcome to Talk Classical. You sound very... Enthusiastic.


----------



## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Have you played _Changes_ by Elliott Carter?


----------



## jani (Jun 15, 2012)

Yes, one of the most important things is that he also likes metal!!!!

Welcome!


----------



## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

Talk about a wide array of instruments! How much time in a typical day do you spend playing? I am very passionate about music of many genres myself, though until recently it was listening only


----------



## SpanishFly (Oct 13, 2012)

Thank you everyone! And it depends, really: I practice my guitar for at least an hour everyday, usually about 1 1/2 hours, and practice piano for about 30 mins...all the other stuff varies greatly, but some days I have been known to play for half the day


----------



## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

You did not answer my question. Here's another question for you, do you like *Ligeti?*


----------



## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Welcome! I look forward to seeing you around these parts.


----------



## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> You did not answer my question. Here's another question for you, do you like *Ligeti?*


That's a big question to ask. Hope he gives the right answer.


----------



## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

neoshredder said:


> That's a big question to ask. Hope he gives the right answer.


The right answer being "no" of course? :lol: Just teasing CoAG.


----------



## SpanishFly (Oct 13, 2012)

Sorry about that. If I remember correctly, I have in fact played only a passage from 'Changes,' a year or two ago now. Cool piece, perhaps almost a tad obscure for me  

As for Ligeti - not my favourite composer, however I do appreciate greatly the complexity of rhythm and the typically driving pulse.


----------



## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

The correct answer is... "Ligeti is a bum!"


----------



## Turangalîla (Jan 29, 2012)

CoAG, he is likely to dislike most 20th-century classical...ask him about Romantic Spanish composers


----------



## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

@SpanishFly, what is your opinion on Fernando Sor?


----------



## Turangalîla (Jan 29, 2012)

^ He loves him. But maybe he should tell you himself


----------



## SpanishFly (Oct 13, 2012)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> @SpanishFly, what is your opinion on Fernando Sor?


Now this is a question I can more easily answer: I enjoy Fernando Sor a great deal 
Now, I enjoy him not only because his music for the classical guitar changed how composers and musicians alike thought of how the guitar carries out its role as a performing instrument, but because his music is stylistically ahead of the other 'great' guitar composers of the time - Carulli, Aguado, etc - without being overdone. Simply, his music, as far as periodically-accurate 'classical' music goes, is quite advanced but is easy to listen to.

However, interestingly enough, one of my favourite Spanish composers is Isaac Albeniz. Andres Segovia's transcriptions of Mallorca, Cordoba, Asturias, Granada, are some of my favourite pieces and are truly beautiful on guitar.

For the record, @CarterJohnsonPiano is incorrect when he says I do not like contemporary music. I am very much into the works of Roland Dyens, Carlo Domeniconi, Richard Fortin and Robert Benedict (the latter two are both Canadians). I have performed Dyens' 'Tango en Skai' and 'Songe Carpicorne' as well as Fortin's 'Chinatown,' and these three pieces are easily considered three of my personal favourites. But I don't like contemporary music....


----------



## BurningDesire (Jul 15, 2012)

bigshot said:


> The correct answer is... "Ligeti is a bum!"


You're on fire lately with these impressive contributions to our musical discourse!


----------



## Subra (Feb 26, 2013)

Hello all.....
I am Jhone from USA . i am new here with name as Subra. I love to play Guitar, its my hobby. i am here to find out the solutions of problems face day by day. I hope you guys will help me out.


----------

