Xue-fei Yang, Classical Guitarist

[guitalvaro]

What denverexec2000 doesnt understand is that barrueco and williams are no longer references in THIS generation of guitar playing.

The same way running the 100m in 9.9 is no longer anthing impressive, in that regard, Xuefei is an excellent guitarist for 1950's standards, but nowadays there are , to say the least, dozens of guitarists which, in my opinion outpace her greatly:

Marcin Dylla, Goran Krivokapic, Rafael Aguirre, Gabriel Bianco, ETC...

[thejugglenaut91]

what are you talking about? Williams, barrueco, and bream, will ALWAYS be references to new generations!

[guitalvaro]

Again....check out the names i mentioned earlier...then please watch the great classical musicians of all time (barenboim, argerich, karajan, bernstein, rostropovitch, etc etc etc) ...and we'll see if you think the same

[thejugglenaut91]

no, no, no! You have got to be daft to think that someone like Marcin Dylla, or yourself, is better or even COMPARABLE to the likes of Julian bream or williams. Your initial analogy doesn't make sense at all by the way. Is Lang lang better than glenn gould for sake that he's newer? Absolutely not!

you think you're fucking god of the guitar but you're not shit. You're telling me all these names as if I didn't listen to them for ages. You're not going to make it with that bitchy attitude

[guitalvaro]

Interesting how your only argument is to be rude and state things you know nothing of (like my music listening habits...do you live with me or stalk me to know this?).

I never said that winning competitions gave you credentials to be "better", this is music, not sports.

The piano is a completely different story because they have some things that the guitar doesnt: More competition (theres much more pianists) and a tradition of quality.

"Make it"? who wants to make what?

[thejugglenaut91]

besides, you do realize marcin dylla is OLDER than xue fei.

The thing that you don't understand is that there is a massive world of BETTER musicians outside of the popular light. You know why? They don't debase themselves to competitions. Some people do no competitions whatsoever. Some do one or two to get their feet in the door. And then there are the so called more popular musicians who do nothing but that. The thing is, winning competitions has nothing to do with good music.

[guitalvaro]

when you have a musical argument to give (for example, how they treat the melodic lines, sound quality, technique, phrasing, voice leading, harmonic rythm, etc). The names I mentioned happened to be competition winners..there are many others who are not and still have this qualities.

Can you confidently state that those qualities are present here? i dont know..

[IgnacioBarra]

@guitalvaro Tienes mucha razón. Xuefei Yang, a pesar de tener muchas habilidades y de ser una de las mejores guitarristas del oriente, no se compara al nivel musical alcanzado por los guitarristas que tu has nombrado. Sin embargo, esto no le resta merito a los logros (musicales) que ha alcanzado.

[denverexec2000]

Yepes has great talent but I never liked his interpretations - that is a matter of opinion of course. The mature Yang has terrific interpretations of several pieces such as the Villa Lobos #7. But to say Yang is not a good guitarist is without merit. One example is to compare her tremolo in Recuerdos to that of any guitarist, and I include Bream and Williams, and she is at least technically unmatched in that regard. Her speed and tone on the Villa Lobos #7 is again exciting and musical.

[bibimbab111]

why are there subtitles?

[Thymonico]

Because they speak in Jap or something! Daah! ;)

[mayorde18]

it is harder to play scales in guitar than in violin... even if you are a guitar god you can't do as fast as a violin.... unless you use an electric guitar and a pick

[reaperofgenocide]

or unless your paco de lucia =D

[Thymonico]

W00T Do you mean? oO

[hulkman007]

Yeah I 'll held a race of scales! the fastest win! LOL

[alexguitar140]

I agree, I have dedicated MANY hours to playing scales as fast as possible on the guitar; but have only spent a minimal amount of time practicing piano---and speaking of sheer speed (not counting musical complexity, accuracy, creativity), I find that it is possible (and "easier") to play scales faster on the piano than on the guitar.

[Thymonico]

Ofcourse! But the guitar sounds so much beautifuller (in some ways).. ;)

[jonnythrash]

The people talking about not being able to play scales as quickly..you are stupid idiots! check out steve vai,ynwie malmsteen, jason becker or eddie van halen only to name a few i got dozens more guitarist but these guys are not only some of the fastest but most technical and have a complete mastering of the theory of there instrument and from what i know they all play piano too maybe other instruments... (to be continued)

[jonnythrash]

Continued)just because your not that good doesnt mean the instrument is.idiot. its the player not the instrument.humans play them.they dont play them selves. so yeah fuck all you wanna be snobs that think you know shit about music. also your saying guitar is hard.which it is because a 4 year old can play a piano.that also is saying it takes more skill to master it. so shut the fuck up.

[jonnythrash]

The people talking about not being able to play scales as quickly..you are stupid idiots! check out steve vai,ynwie malmsteen, jason becker or eddie van halen only to name a few i got dozens more guitarist but these guys are not only some of the fastest but most technical and have a complete mastering of the theory of there instrument and from what i know they all play piano too maybe other instruments... (to be continued)

[hellow326]

If you have such fantastic ideas and you are such a fantastic player then why are you quite so less substantially known then Xu Fei or Michael Lewin? I'm afraid I have quite a lot less respect for an unknown, unproven guitarist like you.

[nuncperludum]

Because insubstantial froth always has the tendency to float while things of substance sink. This is the nature of the world we live in.

[hellow326]

That is simply a poor reply. If this were true of what you apply it to, all well known musicians would be "insubstantial froth," but only little known musicians are amazingly fantastic. Even though it may apply to some amazing unknown musicians, I don't think it applies to you somehow as you have nothing to prove that you are "a thing of substance."

[hellow326]

Michael Lewin happens to be one of the most respected guitar teachers in the business today, and he didn't become head of guitar studies at the royal academy by being "retarded."

[nuncperludum]

his "retarded", old-fashioned fingerings for scales, for example, say otherwise. he has no concept whatsoever of good string crossing and RH fingering. and he thinks xuefei is good. HAS to be not the brightest bulb on the billboard. if he's respected, shows you what morons the rest of the guitar world is comprised of, especially in the UK. No wonder considering the influence of amateur nitwits like Duarte on the minds of UK guitarists.

[hellow326]

Until I see you play or teach better than Lewin or Xufei I will regard pretty much anything you say as complete bollocks. Where are your fantastic fingerings for scales or brilliant recordings of peices? And also, what, for you, constitutes a good guitarist then? Is there anyone other than yourself who you feel is good then? Or is everybody a moron who doesn't agree?

[nuncperludum]

The fantastic fingerings (not my own) are out there, but people like your teacher like to disregard advances in guitar technique because they don't understand them. Look at his scale books and see how often he suggests crossing from m to i when going from a lower- to higher-pitched string. One of the worst possible RH fingerings & completely dated amongst those in the know. It's impossible to play scales like this at a top speed & evenness remotely compared to those of violinists & pianists.

[hellow326]

If you would care to have a lesson with him you would realise that he will try at all costs to avoid doing what you just described. When I go through scales with him from the ABRSM book he pretty much completely changes all of the fingerings in there which to me suggests that it isn't him doing the scales for them.

[hellow326]

And also, the violin and piano are completely different instruments! How can you even compare the guitar to them, they require completely diffeent techniques to guitar playing. An instrument like a violin can easily play legato whereas with a guitar the note decays immediately, so of course we cannot play with the same eveness of a violinist.

[nuncperludum]

So there should be double standards. Guitarists can be considered great (even though, compared to violinists/pianists they are mediocre) because these are "completely different instruments". I beg to differ that "we cannot play with the same eveness of a violinist". I'm sure Lewin can't, nor can Xuefei, and you must be less proficient to worship them. But some guitarists could play scales as fast/even as a violinist.

[hellow326]

XuFei can easily play as fast as a violinist but you seem to think she is not great. All a violinist has to do to play a scale is move the bow back and forward on the string whilst using the apprpriate fingering. With a guitar it's alot harder to do this, your hands have to be perfectly together, which is alot harder to do than with a violin scales.

[hellow326]

And do not say I don't know about this because I play violin and piano aswell as guitar so I know it is alot easier playing scales quickly on piano or violin that guitar. It is possible to get close to them but not as good, and until you post a video proving otherwise I will maintain that.

[nuncperludum]

A good guitarist (in other words not Xuefei) can't play scales as fast and evenly as a violinist or pianist? Prove otherwise? OK. See the video of Narciso Yepes playing Passapied by Bacarisse and wait for the scale at the very end. (Also some short scales in Yepes' performance of Elegia by Peris are worth viewing.)

[nuncperludum]

For me, I don't care for good "guitarists", only guitarists who are good "musicians". I won't mention the very best because your miseducation up to this point will not allow you to appreciate their work & you will just go criticise them. But I will mention 2 other female Chinese guitarists who are far superior to Xuefei, technically &, more importantly, musically: Su Meng & Li Jie. But it's always the rotten musicians who are idolised while the good ones are hidden.

[hellow326]

When I say a good guitarist I mean one who is good technically and musically. It is pretty much assumed when someone says that someone is a very good pianist they mean that the have great technical skill and musicality. I wouldnt say "that person is a great musician who plays the piano," would I?

[nuncperludum]

So much fuss over a girl with such DREADFUL tone and complete lack of musical sensibility. Why didn't they make a fuss over Li Jie? At least the latter has talent.

[sweeper1977]

You don't know how to play guitar do you? Her tone is beautiful and musical sensibility is good if not great. Most importantly her techniques are ASTONISHING. If you have ever watched her play, you will know her physical skills are already on top of ALL classical guitarist in the world right now. Talk about talent? Lol.

[nuncperludum]

1) Yes I can play guitar. Better than she can. As can most professional guitarists today. 2) Her tone is metallic and monotenous (always as loud and as sharp as possible). The tempi are always as fast as possible. There is no sense for phrasing, articulation or dynamics. As for her technique, she can play fast, but this does not always suit the music, and her technical approach is old-fashioned (second-rate copy of that second-rate guitarist John Williams).

[sweeper1977]

Why not upload some of your clips and let's see how you play "better" than Miss Yang or that second-rate guitarist John Williams? And who told you she always played fast?

[nuncperludum]

How do you know they're not already on under another name?

[sweeper1977]

Because I've not seen a better performance of comparable work on youtube yet. If you know one, please point it out and let me comment.

[nuncperludum]

There are plenty of far superior performances of both Asturias (Leyenda) and the two Etudes (Estudios) by Villa-Lobos.

[MelkorNoir]

the 2nd interviewer is retarded

[nuncperludum]

Agreed, this is Michael Lewin, the person who edits the Royal School's scales (with idiotic fingering) & repertoire for guitar. No wonder the guitar never progresses.

[rds769]

i thought the second guy was blazed

[CCTV9]

that second bold dude is a eff'ing pervert

[ChrisArnold2006]

Li jie and xue fei yang are NOT the same person, please check your facts before posting a comment telling other people that there idiots.

[dboy4ever]

OMG this video is just 4 interviews where people talk about how great she is... I was expecting to see some clip of her playing. What a waste of time. This video is CRAP.

[stotes]

thank you for the warning about this video being crap...i want to see some intense Chinese classical guitar action dammit! also- the second guy really does look quite baked, eh?

[angiegurl2007]

you idiots They're the same person

[OktoberStorm]

It's great to see an interview with people around this talented guitarist. Thanks for uploading

[sifrael]

Lie Jie is very good, but not as good as Fei.

[tchoe06]

No Lie Jie and Zue-fei are not the same Guitarist.

Please do a search to find Lie Jie videos to find out for yourself. They don't sound same either.

[mfischer1]

yes

[Jitpring]

Is Xue-fei the same person as Li-Jie?