JJ Rocks article # 6: Andres Segovia

By James (JJ Rocks) Johnston:

In the beginning, there was Andres Segovia. Now, he wasn’t the first guitar player in the world, but he was the first to bring respect to the instrument. Most articles on maestro Segovia talk about him being the father of the classical guitar, but there is much more to the story than that.
Andres’ incredible life began in Spain in 1893. He began playing at the age of four. Being a guitar teacher myself, I find that to be incredible. He would go down to the local guitar-builders and hang around and watch them make and play their guitars. During this period in history, the guitar had about as much respect as the kazoo does today. It was only played on street corners or in the back of a local bar. I’m talking no stage at all. The guitar had no place on the stage. Actually, bars didn’t even have a stage. The only stage in that part of town left every morning at 8:00 am. But this didn’t stop little Andres. He knew what he wanted to do the first time he heard someone play the guitar. Believe me, i know the feeling. But this kind of ticked off his dad. You see, everybody else who played music back then played violins and pianos and other “proper” instruments. So when Andres asked for a guitar, well, you can imagine what his father said. (If you can imagine in Spanish)

I’m not sure where his first axe came from, but he managed to get one from somewhere. Not only did the little guy play this very unpopular instrument, but he started transcribing classical music over to the guitar. The other musicians around town said that he would be laughed off the concert stage if he ever got on one with a guitar. Well, guess what? When he reached the ripe old age of sixteen he got his first gig. He blew them away! Finally, the guitar was on a real stage! And it was because this kid stuck to his guns. He was pulling off Bach and a bunch of the other great classical composers at that time on his guitar!

I guess business increased down at the guitar shop. The only problem is that his beloved instrument wasn’t loud enough. Of course there were no amps back then so he started making modifications to his guitar. I guess he was the predecessor to the “marshal stack” seeing on how he was the first guitarist who wanted to be louder on stage.

After awhile he got some gigs in America in 1928 and continued to blow people away with his amazing abilities. Then everybody wanted “Segovia”. I once read that he said “I have truly felt the roundness of the earth beneath my feet”. Like that’s not enough; he was the first “real” guitar teacher! And to be a student of Andres Segovia was like winning the guitar lotto. Soon other guitarist were perfecting their craft and passing it on to their students. Guitar finally got the respect that it deserved. It was being played on stages all over the world. It was being taught in the world’s finest music conservatories. And most of all it spread out in more directions and was being played in more styles than any other instrument in history.

So the next time you get on stage or the next time you see a guitarist on tv, think of Andres Segovia………………………. Thank you, Andres.
The greatest thing that ever happened to the guitar died in 1987.
He was 94 years old. – JJ Rocks www.stcroixmusic.com

October, 2006