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  • johnson's the man. how he didn't have a heart attack i'll never know haha

  • My, what wee, skinny fingers he has. I would be like Paganini if I had fingers that small!

  • My teacher have been touching ANDRES SEGOVIA !!! :D

  • Al gore is The Devil. Why even bring his worthless ass up on such a nice thing as Bach and Segovia? You ruined my day Sergeantk, thanks!

  • who won the first prize?

  • O^O "...momento..."

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  • maestro Rafael Puyana is sitting right next to Segovia

  • Probably the most intimidating masterclass environment I've ever seen. I feel like the poor schmuck is on trial for his life.  JESUS!!!!!!

  • I play the whole 998 fairly well when I'm sitting alone in my apartment, but I'm pretty sure I'd fall apart if I had to play for Segovia. 

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  • great masters

    

  • Your grandfather was a master.

  • was andres segovia ever young?

  • @shaq147 no he is the grandpa of guitar.. grandpas are always old i guees xD

  • @shaq147 lol! it seems that way when you search him on you tube. Segovia was ruthless!

  • @shaq147 You can find his photo when he was young on Ramirez, M.Ramirez gave Segoiva a guitar.

  • Really good playing, but is it just me when I think that he looks a bit uncomfortable when he plays because his guitar is slanted in his arms?

  • @Shikamaru1212 I think that happens when you play for Andres Segovia my friend...

  • Oh yes, I remember... one of the most absurd situations in the life of a musician is to play in front of a jury in order to be *judged*. (?!) No matter if its Segovia or Mister Nobody, they all look similar in situations like this : professionally bored, pencil in hand, murmuring to each other or hiding their mouths with the hand while sceptical watching the trembling "accused". (!?) Ridiculous situation which has nothing to do with art. Not even when my admired Segovia is involved.

  • @FHgitarre So true.  What the hell is wrong with Segovia? This is not how he learned... Jerk.

  • @erikolten You are somewhat correct, Segovia is a quiet arrogant person indeed. Barrios tried to avoid him at one stage as well because he wanted a copy of a piece from Barrios. Also he was quiet unknown when he first went to the Ramirez workshop and the rest you know the story, maybe that is where his ego is fed... But ultimately, it comes through his playing style, you can feel the ego and pride in his music... he was much better when he was young...

  • Bravo! Bravo!!!!

  • Please, please, PLEASE tell me that someone here can give me the sheet music for this.

  • @mahkilljoy Why don't you go and buy it. Or, if you really can't be bothered to spend twenty dollars on getting a legitimate copy, go to IMSLP. They probably have some editions that fall into public domain.

  • @classicalmannick101 Don't even bother. I already learned it.

  • ok now breath....

  • Good performance but what a bunch of stiffs. Can you imagine Jimi Hendrix showing up? Or even Paco de Lucia? Welcome to Antarctica...

  • Much like the x-factor in every way.

  • Like this performance! He must have nerves of steel!!

  • he was so out of tune :\

  • Terrible, A real horror movie.

    ;(

  • this song is sick! i wana learn it.

  • Imagine sitting there in front of Segovia playing this, quite well. I'm sure the maestro was pleased.

  • I'm nervous just watching, imagine what that poor guy felt. Apparently he did well.

  • Is this their idea of having fun...? It looks like a play or you are dead contest.

  • <a classico, keeping the cool after mistake.

  • excellent, what a scary moment.. i bet he still enjoys this video much to this day.

  • I guess if you can play under that kind of pressure you can play anywhere.

  • a piece of history of music! thanks for sharing!

  • at 2:21 it looks like his foot stool is invisible and he is just holding his leg up haha

  • El amigo Richard toca perfecto, tecnicamente no hay q objetarle, pero la sensibilidad q transmiten las interpretaciones de Segovia son algo nunca experimentado ante un guitarrista, increiblemente hermoso. Gracias Andres querido!

  • looks like the board of directors at a nazi prison camp!

  • HOHO SCARY AS HELL

  • Masterclass ? ! It looks like Spanish Inquisition ! ! But I do love this video ... the nerves, the tension, the concentration, the verdict .... wonderful

  • intimidating but he knows what he's talking about

  • Segovia was over 9000

  • That poor guy must have felt like a rabbit before a constrictor, He did an amazing job then after he set the guitar down the man was talking Spanish with the board, Brass balls for sure. Amazing music!

  • @shizzle5150

    Dick Johnson's got brass balls!

  • That panel looks scary as hell...

  • I think i would be really nervous if i played in front of segovia.

    I would always think that i screw up every note i play because i havent played it as well as him

  • I would hate playing in front of Segovia.

    It would be scary.

  • It certainly would now.

  • LOL...

  • Looks like AJ on the Sopranos.

  • Thank your god for the internet. I would have never seen this if not for the internet.

  • @sergeantk thank Al gore

  • @sergeantk Amen.

    

  • To perform in front of Andrés Segovia... I'd be shitting in my pants

  • haha, i was thinking the same too, before he start playing everyone was like panic.

  • @adrian5b You seem to be doing that continually. Go back to England where they do that.

  • @Kramnosnits But... I've never been there...

  • @adrian5b - haha, it's more polite to say you'd get cold feet. I quite understand. ;- )

  • way thumbs up 4 da comment heheh

  • @adrian5b I know what you mean. That dude like totally just got Knighted in front of his court too, old school style.

  • His tempo is fine, calm down.

  • the guitar is not in tune

  • Amdres Segovia es indiscutiblemente un maestro de la guitarra, pero como enseñante es de la escuela antigua clasica donde prima la mala ostia.

  • Esta gente que está en un entierro?, la verdadera musica no es eso, es tecnica, pero es más sentimiento y personalidad del interprete.

  • jeje...

  • es barroco es dificil poner ese sentimiento que quieres??

  • viva segoviaaaaaaaaaa!!!

  • unos de los astros de la guitarra clasica segovia siempre grande

  • genius!

  • He's out of tune.

  • i used to show up for auditions out of tune too,,, bass would stay in tune for a year and then suddenly drop out of tune the very day of the examination... and playing for segovia must be a real emotional tour de force

  • yes you re right

  • If nothing else, this video shows how far the classical guitar has come in the last 40 years. Today, Johnson's performance wouldn't even advance him past the qualifying round of a local guitar competition. But we owe a lot to the ground-breakers like Segovia and his students. Without them, we would not be where we are today.

  • Yeah i feel you on that one. It has brought us to where we are now. But do you hear the distortion? Do you think maybe the microphone is really bad? Segovia must have picked him for a reason>

  • I wasn't thinking about the sound. I was thinking about the fact that the piece was not challenging (any good high-school-level guitarist could play it these days) and the interpretation was almost entirely without musicality.

  • i think you are not really listening :-), even if technically it is not perfect, it sounds good

  • I'm not talking about the technical aspect, nor about the sound. I'm talking about musicality. Johnson makes hardly any attempt at phrasing, for example. He plays like a robot.

  • dont agree, i hear every phrase

  • the phrasing is emphasized even there are accents on the bottom notes in each phrase, listen carefully

  • for me this is a good performance regarding phrasing, it's not excellent, but it's not bad at all. and i think almost no high school student would play it very well either

  • lol right...maybe its not brilliant but you're greatly overrating the "high-school-level guitarist".

  • I am not talking about one mistake, i think he has given little thought to his interpretation- i see little merit in it.

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  • a few shots of whiskey works too

  • Excellent!

    Recomend also "David Moreno" in youtube.

    David Moreno was one of Segovia's favorite students.

  • I get the impression that he is incredibly nervous, of course, i would be to. I have played worse.

  • yeah I get that impression too

  • good

  • OMG...I am breaking out in a cold sweat! I thought it was a fine performance...ademas, he is a student!

  • Yeah I'd be uncomfortable too if Segovia was studying me every move...Cut the guy some slack.. It was a fine performance.

  • Having had a brief encounter with the great Segovia I can assure you it is a daunting experience....................­..........but very worthwhile

  • I think Richard made one or two mistakes, plus his la guittara wasnt tuned. Good Pre, he got second place.

  • simply nostalgia.

  • Thank heavens we got passed this period. Though orderly, too stodgy. The ideal is be magnificent and 'romantic, ballsy', not merely narrowly magnificent.

  • To mechanical no dynamics!!

  • Wow! This is my gandfather playing, and he looks so young! No matter what anyone says I think he plays wonderfully, and I will always love his music!<3

  • @kagome596 did your grandfather find his way in the music field?

  • @kagome596  dude if this was you grand papy he is the man and its beautifull in all the ways that are to be....

    supper cool men

    Jorgelale@yahoo.com

  • @kagome596 Yea and I'm Segovia's illegitimate love child.

  • @musmann Hmm, I sense some sarcasm. But he truly is my grandfather, whether you choose to believe it or not.

  • @kagome596 Yea and I'm Segovia's illegitimate love child.

  • @kagome596

    r u serious?!

  • @kagome596 Regardless of whether or not he is your grandfather, he played well.

  • I love how they are so nervous at the beginning-wiping their hands and such. that cracks me up. I understand the feeling. yes, the fella is out of tune by a few cents. you can see it in his face he's off. poor fella.

  • guitar sounds a bit out of tune..

    the g string or intonation problem

  • Definitely the G string. The right hand is impecible - excellent rest strokes though the dynamics are wanting.

  • yes!

  • Ouch!!!What's up with this guy's left hand??? This guy didn't stand a chance against Miguel Barbera! No way! In regards to Segovia,we need to take into account the "methods" for passing on information.Guitar Pedagogy was still in it's infancy compared to today.Credit should be given where credit is due and Segovia did a tremendous amount of work to get the guitar to be taken seriously.Now everyone and their grandmother plays or wants to learn how to play the guitar. Salud!
  • I see what you're saying about the left hand - bring that wrist down! Looks like there's a lot of tension in his fingers. His thumb (right hand) is quite curved too. Still, he played the piece better than I suppose I could.

  • Carlos,

    It looks like someone told him to place his left hand thumb between 2nd and 3rd fingers. Weird.

  • I'm glad Aaron Shearer really observed the

    mistakes he and other players were making in

    those days.Too bad he hurt his hand in the

    process to discover "correct technique".I'm

    a big fan of the Shearer Method & the Pumping

    Nylon Method.I think it's safe to conclude any

    extreme bends in either wrist is bad news and

    will only lead to problems later on.

  • yeh looks real uncomfortable, his right hand thumb looks pretty unnatural too.

  • No sé por qué marca la gente tu comentario como spam. Lo que dices es totalmente cierto.. Mangoré fué un gran guitarrista, en mi opinión mejor que Segovia, escuchen grabaciones de Barrios.. están llenas de virtuosismo y musicalidad. Qué lástima que por orgullo Segovia no se dignara a tocar música de él.

  • I couldn't make out whether this was a chapel of rest where the curtains had just been drawn,or a court of law where the 'judges' were about to sentence the poor sap to death if he dared hit a bum note!...what a sad film to put on YouTube indeed!

  • Congratulations Mr Segovia ,one more robot

    guitarist leaves your production line.

    And he won't be the last one either because

    West Dean guitar summer school is about

    to knock some more out in august.

  • Nobody critisises Ronald McDonald for making his burgers taste the same all over the world

    mmmmm!

    In other words you know exactly what

    you are going to get when you go to see a

    recital these days and you have to thank

    Segovia for that.

    What a mess the guitar world would be in if we all started playing these pieces in our own style.

    Segovia knew what was best for us and if that wasn't the case guitarists all over the world would all be doing there own thing by now but they are not.

  • Quote 'Suddenly I decided to become the apostle of the guitar'said Segovia back in 1909.Never mind the fact that he had been copying Tarrega who just happened to die the same year...

    It's no wonder Tarregas pupils and fans never accepted him!!

  • I think you are right about that. But Segovia deserves his credit and Tarrega should not even be included in any talk like this. Because Tarrega was a humble man who play mostly to make others happy, not to become a famous jerk.

  • I don't mind he fact that segovia ripped off tarregas style and sanitized it for all the other wooden classical guitarists to copy . Somebody had to get the recognition for it and Segovia decided that person would be him. Talent will only get to so far and then you will have to rely on slagging off anyone who has another approach to guitar music. And you all grabbed onto it hook line and sinker. So there is little point in moaning about it now. You only have yourselves to blame.
  • I am not to blame about anything, because I haven't agreed on any wrong action taken by Segovia. I only said that he deserves credit. He did made the guitar be seen and respect as a classical instrument. They didn't make the guy a statue for copying Tarrega's work.

  • Don't get me wrong the guys a genius!

    He had the midas touch and he didn't

    care where the money came from

    If you had real talent he could make

    money from it and that's worth a statue

    in my book.

    p.s.

    Did they make his statue out of wood?

  • Oh dear josue,so you agree he copied Tarregas work yet you think Tarrega should not be included in this talk?Well poor ole Tarr lets just forget about him shall we? lets just talk about the great Seggs instead. It sounds to me that you have been brainwashed my friend,Have you sacrificed your originality too in the name of the Segg God?Have you had to pay megabucks for tickets to see the old man bang out his old mates songs??If so then Prof Shnagel was right!YOU ONLY HAVE YOURSELF TO BLAME!

  • What? I have a biography on Tarrega that was written in Spain. Tarrega is my favorite classical guitarist of all the time. I have almost everyone of his songs and really enjoy and learn from his ways of playing and the things he said about playing.

  • I am relieved that you are not a Seggs Robot after all! but tell me something..what have you learnt from Tarrega?Has he inspired you to experiment with the bigger picture ie elaborate on his work by giving it your OWN interpretation or maybe even compose your own classical masterpiece that you could share with us on YouTube.that would be cool indeedy! or maybe instead you just copy HIS work note for note? So be creative!Throw away the books,Drop the E to a D,Roll a fat one and enjoy being young!

  • I do not comprehend what roll a fat one is. But I have learned a lot just by listening to his songs. And I have indeed completed my first work.

  • Who are the three gentlemen alongside Segovia?

    Who won first prize? John Williams?

  • @reformedman I'm not sure, but I think it was Oscar Ghiglia...

  • wouldnt you love to just break out into , i got the jack , from acdc.

    ol sausage fingers segovia , couldnt compose to save his life , repressed other composers of greater talent , dominated and muscled his way to the top . just look at the tension in that room , that is NOT the sharing of music .

    unhappy old farts.

  • hehe very true indeed.

  • With deep respect, a little bit "thumb under" technique, but the biggest mistake is the music. The music not in the style. It should not any slide technique in Baroque music.

  • I agree with you, I didn't think this performance was very good, the style was not "baroque" enough.

    a little btw, we all know Bach wasn't one of Segovia's specialties, but it was definitely fun to watch him in the works for sure..it's so cool to see the maestro at work!

  • poor guy's out of tune. And did you see them all constantly wiping the sweat from their palms?

  • Who are those men with Andres Segovia?

  • Thas his posse, dawg!

  • Probably esteemed classical guitarists/composers, to judge how the performers do OR just to look menacing to them....either or

  • man seriously i cant believe they pull it off, its so intimidating, not only some very powerful people but amidst them Segovia himself... thats like playing for the god of guitar, tryin to impress him...

  • In your mind you must realize the truth. You are all human beings, and you are showing him your efforts in studies. One should only fear when one is ashamed.

  • It's like American Idol for people with real talent, ha ha...

    That was one intimidating arena to play in, wow.

  • ha ha ha!! xD xD your right!!

  • easy

  • i would have just shit all over my pants at his presence

  • does anybody know if segovia ever transcribed anything by debussy? he seems to like those tower chords, i notice johnson throws in a couple which arent in the music for this tune i've heard, and i think debussy was one of the first characters to introduce jazz-type chords to classical music.

  • u mean classical music chords to jazz

  • you split the hair one way, i split it the other evidently.

  • Well said.

  • scary to play infront of segovia

  • Awesome post... listening on headphones, love

    the whispering they are doing, Trippy

  • 1 - he takes the guitar from behind - tuned before begining

    2 - he verifies the bass E string changed in D for this piece

    3- there are not many ways of according the guitar because it is a tune D major & because the guitar is a TEMPERED instrument

    4- the G string is false - he clearly understands it at 1:14 - look at his face !!!!

  • Segovia was asleep at the wheel here, I think. The technique is surely fine, but to award second prize in the presence of such disastrous tuning suggests either (a) Segovia was tone-deaf or (b) he valued technique above being in tune. Or was he too indolent to stop the performance and gently suggest retuning?

  • who's to decide on whther a tuning is 'right' or 'wrong' ? The fact that the note A has remained unchanged with the times is a little far fetched, i would think. It just sounds out of tune for the modern ear. The above suggestion of yours is a little, if not a lot, presumptuous.

  • I totally agree with you on this!

  • It doesn't have anything to do with the reference pitch A but instead with the tuning between the strings, which is indeed off. It doesn't really matter in this case because this was in 1965, and the state of classical guitar was not at all then like it is today. He was a student in earlier times! Give him some slack.

  • oh please ..... think before you write ... a) this a very old an low cuality recording b) have a littel respect to Segovia

  • I respect Segovia, and I also respect physics. The tuning is off.

  • it is off

  • It is probably due to the inadequate recording equipment that was used to film this masterclass. Most analogue forms of recording (Cassette, and other reel based mediums) have a tendency to speed up or slow down a minute amount, which unfortunately can be detected by most an ear.

  • No, it's just out of tune. Very consistently out of tune. No need to try to blame the equipment. Come to think of it, that's what so many guitarists say: "It would sound better if I had a better guitar!!" ;-)

  • try to play it yourself!

  • I thought it was beautiful, but everyone is always better on Y.T. comments: X is better than Y because . . .

  • Yes, ten8goa, it is out of tune, darn it, but the guy was committed, or it might have been the guitar- maybe in the sun and he brought it in to a cooler room or something.

  • what's the title of tha tclassical melody?

  • This is the Prelude from Bach's Prelude, Fugue & Allegro or PFA for short. Reference: Bach Prelude (BWV998)

  • That comment was for zajorcretin by the way

  • Great posting. Fascinating stuff.

  • Sounds out of tune.....may just be the recording quality though....

  • ya thats definitely it.

  • Please note: This performance was in 1965. The first classical guitar in North America was not for another ten years, Toronto 1975. The first GFA was not until 1982. It would be nice to see how well one would do growing with such a history and playing in front of Maestro Segovia along with four of the greatest composers and musicians that were with him at that table, not to mention a couple dozen of their international peers.

  • I'll be honest, before reading this post I thought that the piece did sound a little unprepared but you're are. Those are very overwhelming circumstances and I have trouble just playing for my guitar class.

  • you're are right*

  • Sorry for the typo: The first classical guitar "COMPETITION" in North America was not for another ten years, Toronto 1975.

  • Actually to be honest, I have been playing strictly classica guitar for about 6-7 months, and Im sorry but I think i play the prelude a little better than that.