A master class with classical guitarist Pepe Romero. Recorded February 7, 2015 at Marylhurst University as part of the Portland Classic Guitar Concert Series. www.portlandcla... www.guitarist.com/
Pepe's teaching, is the result of a lifetime of studying, teaching and performing. All his comments set in place the foundations for good musicianship. Excellent video. Thanks!
Yes, Pepe hits in on the spot when he tells the young lad to "listen" to lots of music. Listen to much guitar, symphonies and such. Find what you like. Find what is beautiful. Be driven by what you love. Love what you do. Bring this love and desire out in your music, and embrace it. You will be only as good as you want to be.
I sat in on a master class by Pepe Romero 35 years ago. I had the privilege to sit next to him for almost 2 hours straight. The kid on the stage played Variations on a Theme of Mozart absolutely *perfectly* from a technical point of view, but you could hear the metronome playing the entire time. Pepe's first comment was "this is the perfect example of a young man with considerable technical skill who simply doesn't understand the music he is playing." Then he told the kid to listen to music from that era so he could understand where the composer was coming from. No advice on the technical side at all, just: "listen to more music from that era." That was all he had to say: "listen to more music." The next day, I saw the kid in the cafeteria. He informed me that he had checked with his Dad and his Dad was going to give him a place to work in teh family business. I was like "say wha?" THe kid said "You heard what Pep Romero said: I have no talent." And I'm like ,"that's not what he said. He said you need to listen to more music..." He insisted that I was wrong and he that knows what Pepe Romero said. Never saw the kid after that. He dropped out of school and presumably took over the family business. Hopefully he's happy.
I feel so SPECIAL while watching this. Thankyou for the insights on the dynamics of feeling the music, Amazing. Its what it's all about. The dream world
To have such a kind teacher supporting and encouraging you all the way through, to help you over the rough parts of your journey , so you arrive safely at your final destination. A lovely man, Pepe Romero. Bravo!. This is what a teacher should be.
Thank you so much, Pepe, for sharing this beautiful master class with all of us! Truly inspiring us both as teachers as well as musicians. I'll never forget your great master class in Lubeck in the summer of 1995!
I think the interaction with the gentleman who played at the 1:17:00 mark was was handled very nicely. I think where other masters might have chastised the musician, Pepe shows how truly excellent a teacher he is. Patience, compassion, and respect for the music above all. Segovia states that 50% of your technique can be lost due to nerves in a performance. Maybe things were a lot easier for the gentleman practicing at home. Hopefully he takes this experience and grows from it.
+89Redge Besides a little clicky-ness in his tone, he sounded like a story teller with that piece. Really impressed, that kid taught me a thing or two about how to make a guitar sing. And I play jazz...
+pickinstone Interesting - do you play jazz on nylon strings? I'm just getting into it myself and have been playing a couple of Earl Klugh transcriptions but don't really know of any other good pieces
Just at home. When I play out, I play round wounds on an archtop. Look up Gene Bertoncini and Charlie Byrd. Recently, I've been listening to David Russell and John Williams to hear what guitar tone SHOULD sound like (I am comparing it to jazz guitar, the kid here is really great :) )
They are all great that little guy at the beginning is angelic though and plays well. Pepe is a wonderful teacher too. I was looking at a class given by Julian Bream and he was inpatient and did nothing to put the pupils at ease. I have Pepe’s method book La Guitarra and you can tell from reading it how much passion he has. I’m also lucky to have an inspiring and enthusiastic teacher.
Señor Romero is truly an inspiring teacher! Wonderfull how he always applaud and encourage and bring out the good in every student. I wonder though if the sound has been edited with a lot of boost in the treble? I thought most of them had a quite harsh tone production with a lot of nail-scratching, but maybe this is due to editing, or maybe it's just a matter of taste? Thank you for sharing, very inspiring!
In the beginning, idk if the boy understands that pepe is trying to get him to play more legato, but pepe doesn't use that word at all when trying to get him to do that. I can see how though it's not just legato, it's supposed to be beautiful and carry you like a dream, as he was describing.
best masterclass I've ever seen online. Pieces eveyone is familiar with played by real students and excellent advice and pedagogy. Guitarists - and teachers of all levels can learn a lot from this !
"Music belongs to the dream world...." Pepé Romero, reminds me of "The sound of the guitar comes to us from a planet smaller, and more delicate than ours" Andrés Segovia. I love BOTH sentiments!! By the way, what piece was that first guy playing? I feel like I know it, but I cannot quite place it.
+Garoosh I think it's Pepe's kind of Spanish/Romantic way to get students to slow down and feel and think before they jump in. I would only hope I could learn the lesson without bursting out laughing.
***** I was watching Miles join Prince on stage for part of a song. And when Prince cued Miles, he waited a few bars and really felt the music first before he started playing.
Personally I think that all master classes should have the teacher with the instrument. It's hard when you try to tell a student to change his or her sound without giving a sample to base upon. Segovia master classes were good because he showed the guitarist how to play it. Still a good master class though!
I don't agree. A masterclass is not for making clones of the master. Here the teacher gives directions for improvement, but the student has to implement those himself, without just trying to imitate what the master is doing.
I, being a student currently studying Western Classical music with guitar as my main instrument, can confidently say that this is a wonderful masterclass taught by a maestro who deeply understands music and how to teach it. After every comment/piece of advice he gives to each student you can hear and see quite a significant change in their understanding of the music and how they play it. As the maestro mentioned, everyone feels differently. Had he had a guitar in his hands to demonstrate, the student would imitate rather than emulate/communicate their interpretation and understanding of his advice. Different people have different teaching styles. Pepe Romero chooses not to have a guitar inn hand and yet he imparts such well articulated emotion and advice. Truly an amazing musician and teacher.
Bob Burgers There were quite a few classes on RU-vid where Segovia sits there without the instrument and just watches and listens with the score in his hands. I do agree though, the examples and problems needs to be demonstrated with the instrument. Even I could sit there and give a master class lesson without the guitar like that, giving guidance to what it should sound like etc
From Wikipedia: "The difference between a normal class and a master class is typically the setup. In a master class, all the students (and often spectators) watch and listen as the master takes one student at a time."
Music should be a liberating experience. Once Mr. Romero started talking about philosophical things, the boy became nervous and lost his spontaneity. The kid played beautiful.
He was doing great he's just getting nervous. I did a masterclass for or with Frederick Hand and the longer I was up there and he was talkin the worse I got. LOL
Poca calidad musical y de sonido en casi todos los intérpretes tal ves x los nervios pero si dajan mucho que desear... En fin.. eso sí el escenario se ve que está de lujo y muy buen audio 👍👍
hifijohn hey, bwv 999 is a song for intermediate, close to advanced players. it has some really hard stretches. either way, he didn't play the song to its full extent.
Everyone who plays gavotte-choro should listen laurindo’ s version first. Thats how the piece should be played. Most of the people play it too fast and with zero passion. Too mechanic.
Student: aaaaaaaaaa. Pepe: no, no, like this: aaaAAaaaAAAaa. Student: ok. aaaaaaaaaaaaa. Pepe: aaaAAaaaAAAaa. Student: aaaaaaaaaaaaa. I have never seen such unprepared and mediocre students at a master class before, except for the first kid (he's good!). They're not ready for a class of this level. The last guy can't even understand what Pepe says (and his guitar is out of tune, for crying out loud!).
