As a classical guitarist, I really love the live sound of the guitar. At the same time, I have always been interested in how to further expand the expressive capabilities of the instrument and fit it into the context of a wide range of music (not only classical).<\/p>\n
In this sense, I was very inspired by the work of an amazing musician, balalaika player Alexei Arkhipovsky. He managed to create his own style by skillfully combining traditional playing techniques with a modern sound (including elements of electronic music). His solo performance on the balalaika has aroused increased interest in this folk instrument both in Russia and abroad.<\/p>\n
The first piece by Alexey Arkhipovsky that I decided to arrange for guitar was Cinderella.
\nFor about a year, I gradually tried to find the right techniques and fingering to adequately play it on the guitar. I used the SLG200n instrument, a “quiet” guitar from Yamaha. This made it possible to achieve sufficient volume when playing with flageolets and eliminated the risk of “turning on” the instrument in large halls (although this piece can be performed even in acoustics, on an ordinary guitar without effects). Of course, this implies sufficient purity of execution.<\/p>\n