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Part of these collections: Baroque, Cool Guitar. Customers who bought James Edwards also bought: Magnatune Compilation, DJ Cary, Four Stones, Asteria, Tim Rayborn, Jacob Heringman, Magnatune Remixed, Musica Franca.
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Classical guitarist James Edwards has been a performer, teacher, and recording
artist for over 25 years. James plays contemporary guitars, as well as
historical instruments of the Renaissance and Baroque periods, such as the five-course
guitar and ten course lute.
The five course guitar has 9 strings, as 4 of the "courses" are pairs of the
same string, with the highest string being the only string that is not a doubled
pair. The repertoire for the 5 course baroque guitar is quite different from the
contemporary guitar repertoire, and has a closer parentage to 6 course lute and
vihuela music.
James Edwards' has released ten CDs in his career, as well as several guitar
music books published by Mel Bay Publishing.
The Italians, French, and people of other nations classify the guitar as Spanish.
The reason is that in ancient times it used to have no more than four strings,
and then in Madrid, Maestro Espinel, a Spaniard, added a fifth to it, and
thereby its perfection was attained. The French, Italians, and people of other
nations, in imitation of us, also added the fifth course to their guitar, and
therefore they call it the "Spanish guitar".
Others have discussed the perfection of this instrument, some saying that the
guitar is a perfect instrument, and others that it is not. I take the middle way,
and declare that it is neither perfect, nor imperfect, but what you make it,
since the fault or imperfection is in him who plays it and not in the instrument
itself; for on one single string without frets I have seen many feats performed
for which others would require the registers of an organ. Therefore, each player
must make the guitar either good or bad, since it is like a lady, but to whom
the saying "look at me but do not touch me" does not apply, and its rose is
quite different from a real rose, since it will not wither however much it is
touched with the hands, and moreover, if it is plucked by the hands of a skilled
master, it will produce in them an ever-new bouquet which delight the ear with
their sonorous fragrances.
From Gaspar Sanz' "MUSICAL
INSTRUCTION ON THE SPANISH GUITAR" published in 1674 :
