May you live in interesting times is an ancient Chinese curse that perhaps was wished upon all humans living presently. What interesting times affords us, other than corporate slavery and the end of the Mayan calendar among other things, is a trans-cultural vision that connects us to the paradoxical diversity of cultural manifestations that hint at common origins. How this reveals itself in music and, more microscopically, in plucked or plecked (picked) string instruments, brings to light great meaning for the guitarist of this so-called post-modern era.
The path of the tar to the guitar is rich with spiritual and cultural significance that can be traced to Paleolithic times and yet lives among us now through the myriad styles of the great players of the oud, of Renaissance lutenists, of arch top guitarists improvising and classical guitarists playing Britten’s Nocturne.
The first thing we’ll do here is look at how this profound human heritage that is seeping into our intelligence via trans-cultural drift and through the research of earlier periods can bring us closer to the reason we play music in the first place.
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