General FAQ

What is a ‘classical’ guitar? 

Classical guitar – guitars of a certain class - refers to the type of instrument played, with a particular technique, playing a certain class of music. More specifically:

The classical instrument is made for nylon strings. Before nylon, gut was used, and currently carbon fiber strings are showing some very attractive characteristics. Even the bottom three (thickest) strings are nylon, within a wound metal sheath. (Steel string acoustic instruments need be made stronger because of the higher string tensions.) The classical left and right hand techniques are those refined by Segovia in the early 20th Century; the use of right hand nails and so on. (Steel string players generally use a plectrum or thumb/finger picks.)  And ‘classical’ music warrants a book entire to define, and I’m not going to even try! Enough to say that when I play the jazz standard A Taste of Honey, or Jasco from the world of metal, they are played with the same sensibilities, care and attention, as with the music of Bach or Sor. It is this authors opinion that the best classical - whatever that means - is written today for computer games. Large budgets make full orchestras and choirs available, and attract the best writers and production values. See the ABC Radio Game Show https://www.abc.net.au/classic/programs/game-show/