Contributions of the classical guitar

The article published in the scientific journal of the University of La Plata in Argentina was written by the main researcher, Oscar Julián Alvarado Laurín, who has been a professor of classical guitar in the Music Program of the prestigious UCundinamarca for 15 years.

Throughout his long career at this university, he has also served as a professor of Solfège and Harmony, founded the university's Guitar Orchestra and Bolero Ensemble, and coordinated the Plucked Strings program and the University Outreach area. Furthermore, the co-investigator, Oscar Alejandro Beltrán Sánchez, an electric guitar professor at UCundinamarca and director of the World Music Ensemble, collaborated on the production of this scientific article.

Professor Óscar Alvarado explains: “We are working on a program that places greater emphasis on European music and other cultural influences. The goal of this research project is to take popular music and place it within an academic context. My invitation to the students in the program is to explore traditional and popular music, and to put everything they learn in the classroom into practice to enrich this type of music, which belongs to us even more than European music.”.

According to research professor Alvarado, the scientific article is one of the products of the research project entitled: Contributions of the classical guitar to the interpretation of the bolero. “"Where the complementary roles of the two guitars that traditionally make up the bolero ensemble are analyzed and instrumental techniques are proposed so that both parts can be performed by a solo guitar.

The proposed techniques are supported strumming, drawn strumming, pizzicato, natural harmonics, two-note melody playing, slurs and appoggiaturas, slides, and barre chords. These techniques are applied to six pieces, evaluating in each case which one best suits its musical characteristics. The contribution of this research lies in the application of instrumental techniques of solo classical guitar to the performance of boleros, fundamental for the incorporation of this genre into academic settings.

To read the full article, please visit the following link: https://revistas.unlp.edu.ar/Epistemus/article/view/9179

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