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Guitar Craft

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Guitar Craft (GC) was a series of guitar and personal development classes, founded and often presented by Robert Fripp, who is best known for his work with King Crimson.

Contents

[edit] Courses

GC includes three ways of developing relationships:

  1. A way to develop a relationship with the guitar;
  2. A way to develop a relationship with music;
  3. A way to develop a relationship with oneself.[1][2]

[edit] New standard tuning

GC popularized New Standard Tuning (NST), Fripp's guitar tuning using the notes (C, G, D, A , E, G low to high). Learning NST enabled guitarists to experience playing the guitar as a beginner, albeit usually a sophisticated beginner.At Guitar Craft seminars and courses, students work exclusively in NST. The education is not completely centered around the tuning; however, it was originally used as a tool to push students to begin from scratch, renew themselves and approach their playing in a different way. The idea is that with a completely different guitar tuning than the one you're accustomed to, none of your regular chords or licks will work, and you will have to find new ways of musical expression with the guitar.[3] Guitar Craft courses welcomed students with no previous experience of guitar playing, although most students had been playing for at least two years. Fripp has stated that previous experiences sometimes burdened players with bad habits and inappropriate expectations.[1]

[edit] Personal development

The first Guitar Craft course was held in March 1985 at the Claymont Court site in Charles Town, West Virginia.[4]

Guitar Craft aimed at personal development, not only through guitar playing and music appreciation, but also through improved living. Students were offered instruction in practices such as relaxed sitting (sometimes termed "asana" outside of GC), T'ai chi ch'uan, and the Alexander Technique. These practices are valuable especially for guitarists, who practice for at least an hour daily and therefore benefit from a stable and comfortable posture. While relaxed sitting has been practiced in Hinduism and Buddhism, the GC practice of relaxed sitting is pursued without reference to any religious tradition. Participants are encouraged to think critically and particularly to feel free to decline any practice as they see fit.[1]

To contribute to the community's needs, students performed house and kitchen work.[1]

[edit] Guitars

Fripp recommended that students adopt the Ovation 1867 Legend steel-string guitar, which had a shallow body.[5][2][6] "Fripp liked the way the Ovation 1867 fitted against his body, which made it possible for him to assume the right-arm picking position he had developed using electric guitars over the years; on deeper-bodied guitars, the Frippian arm position is impossible without uncomfortable contortions", according to Tamm.[5] While the 1867 Legend is no longer manufactured, it influenced the design of the Guitar Craft Pro Model of Guitar Craft Guitars, which has been endorsed by Fripp.[6] Besides the Ovation 1867 Legend, other Ovation shallow-body guitars are widely used in Guitar Craft and recommended for use in related performing groups, such as the European Guitar Circle.

[edit] Community

GC-related Guitar Circles and Ensembles work and perform in Europe, USA, Argentina, and Mexico. Courses take place regularly in Latin America, North America, and Europe. GC's official performance ensemble has been The League of Crafty Guitarists,[7] which has been directed by Hernán Nuñez since 2002; Nuñez, a long-time instructor of GC, is one of the developers of the Guitar Craft Pro Model, whose design has been influenced by that of the Ovation Legend.[6] Guitar Craft inspired the founding of the Seattle Circle Guitar School in 2010 by a GC instructor, with the patronage of Fripp.[8]

In February 2009, Fripp recommended that Guitar Craft cease to exist on its 25th anniversary in 2010.[9] Guitar Craft has announced that it has ceased functioning, although it contains links to related and successor organizations and associations.[10]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Tamm (2003, Chapter Ten: Guitar Craft)
  2. ^ a b Fripp (2004)
  3. ^ Tamm (2003, pp. 134, 142, 148 (Chapter 10); c.f. pp. 160, 4)
  4. ^ Tamm (2003, p. 127)
  5. ^ a b Tamm (2003, p. 130)
  6. ^ a b c Guitar Craft Guitars
  7. ^ Tamm (2003, Chapter Eleven: Guitar Craft in the world)
  8. ^ Fripp, Robert (html), A Few Words from the Patron, Seattle Circle Guitar School, http://seattlecircle.org/guitarschool/a-few-words-from-the-patron/, retrieved 19 November 2011 
  9. ^ Robert Fripp's diary
  10. ^ Website of Guitar Craft

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[edit] External links

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