The "other" classical guitar...

[Steve DeRosa]

FWIW most contemporary players are unaware that there was an entire school of plectrum-style "classical archtop" guitar that flourished from about 1925-1940, and upon which Mel Bay based his well-known method; when I was learning in the early-60's the method books bore a statement that they were in fact designed and intended "to place the plectrum guitar in the same class as the violin, piano, and other 'legitimate' instruments" (and if you never hung around in certain so-called "serious" music circles back in the day, it's difficult to imagine the pejorative attitude directed toward the guitar - even in its post-Segovia "classical" incarnation )...

By way of background, in its original form the classical-archtop movement drew its inspiration from the earlier American school of (fingerstyle) classical guitar exemplified by the likes of William Foden, Vahdah Olcott-Bickford, et al. rather than that of Segovia and his Spanish contemporaries, as well as the parlor, "light classical," and vaudeville music of late-19th/early 20th century America. In addition to transcriptions of well-known classical repertoire, a number of guitarists of the day produced original compositions in a late-Romantic, often ethnically-influenced style - music which, while largely out of fashion today, still retains its technical and artistic merit nine decades later. Bear in mind that the original Gibson L-5 archtop guitar introduced in 1923 was in fact envisioned as a "classical" instrument both tonally and visually, intended as a part of the mandolin orchestras of the late-vaudeville era and designed for hall-filling acoustic projection in the days before electronic amplification - something the "American classical" guitars of the day (Martin, Washburn, et al.) could not duplicate; were it not for Segovia's sensational American debut (and the instrument associated therewith) in 1928, the plectrum-style archtop guitar - with its violin-family looks and construction - may well have become the accepted American classical guitar...

For those who may be interested there are a number of recordings of these period pieces on YouTube; to offer a better idea of what the "classical archtop" genre is all about - and a taste of what might have been - here's a few examples from prewar masters, as well as several current practitioners:

A couple of samples from back in the day:



- and a few from modern revivalists keeping this historic style alive:

[evanpyle]

May I add to the mix the great Edin Karamazov?





This one is introduced by Leo Brouwer himself. Interesting piece.

[evanpyle]

Okay, so how do I post a You Tube video?

[FrankHS]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

FWIW most contemporary players are unaware that there was an entire school of plectrum-style "classical archtop" guitar that flourished from about 1925-1940, and upon wof the day ...

You are repeating "classical archtop guitar" but was that term ever used back then? I have a few books 66 years old where they called it a "Spanish guitar."

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by FrankHS

You are repeating "classical archtop guitar" but was that term ever used back then? I have a few books 66 years old where they called it a "Spanish guitar."

For lack of anything better I'm using it here solely as a descriptive term, to define a specific period/technique/literature/group of proponents within the broad spectrum of plectrum-style guitar - much as one speaks of the "Madrid" or "Granada" schools of guitar lutherie - and the parallel attempts to legitimize the plectrum-style guitar in the US/UK (as Segovia was doing at the same time with the Spanish fingerstyle instrument) rather than strict historic nomenclature; for that matter the term "classical guitar" is itself a relatively recent development in guitar history and, as you state, older literature used "Spanish guitar" to reference anything (including dedicated steel-string electric instruments) tuned EADGBE and using the fingers to fret the strings...

[brad4d8]

Johnny Smith recorded several transcriptions of classical pieces over the years. His part on the Legends album (shared with George Van Eps) is almost all classical pieces played with a flat pick, He also recorded some in his days with Roost records (1950s IIRC).

[ceciltguitar]

Steve, I really appreciate you sharing these videos, and the history of classical music played with a flatpick on a steel string arch top guitar! Some of these videos you also shared on a similar thread on the arch top forum recently.

Although the Bach piece in the linked video is not played on an arched up guitar, it is an interesting tangent to the topic of classical guitar played on guitars other than the traditional “classical” or “Spanish” guitar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6N7skE4d57c