Gut-Strung Small-Scale
Classical Guitar

Welcome to this experiment in playing lute and classical guitar music on a gut-strung small-scale guitar, played with the flesh of the fingers (not nails on nylon).

Gut strings were of course used for many centuries before the creation of nylon strings in the early 20th century. Despite the long-established Early Music movement, suitable gut strings for modern guitars have only relatively recently become available. I use the GUT AND SILK SET by AQUILA, so far the only strings I have been very impressed with.

Why small scale? Some of the guitars made by Torres were small scale instruments of between 60 and 63 cms, and were suitable not just for players with small hands, but for an intimate sound with plenty of tone colours to play with. The small scale is also most suitable for playing Renaissance lute music on the guitar.

The good news is that small-scale guitars are often very inexpensive. My own, by Manuel Rodriguez y Hijos (60cms string length), was less than 300 UK Pounds. Judge for yourself whether you think the sound is suitable for the repertoire.

Consider this a small attempt to remind ourselves that bigger and louder does not necessarily mean better...

Here is a collection of videos. I hope you enjoy them. I used a Zoom H2 Recorder for the soundfile.

Your comments or questions are most welcome. Either add them to the YouTube videos or send them to me for inclusion here.

COMMENTS

Wow, thanks for posting! The lighting, the piece, and the sound of the guitar (smaller scale/gut strings/no nails) really pulled me in. Spellbinding. Alfalfa.

Thank you, Rob, that was just beautiful, and the warm, soft tone of the strings sounded perfect for the piece. GeoffB

You get a wonderful tone out of those Aquila strings! Thank you very much for the recording. Vesuvio