Guitar Shanghai

this is a beautiful Samba for classical guitar. I ve made that video last friday.

Recently I made a performance for a friend who celebrated her birthday in one of the most famous restaurants in Shanghai: M-on-the Bund. The party was in the afternoon, at the back space, so there were only the bithday guests who attended the room. One of them made a video of my performance.

And I think there is a good idea: if you have a friend who has birthday and you want to make a very spezial present for your friend, why don`t call me and order some life music with my guitar? You can pay a honorar and I have a lot of pieces, so you can choose a special one for your friend. My friend, who celebrated her birthday in M-on-the-Bund wants me to play Astor Piazolla and Astrurias. And this time it was my personal present for a friend I really like and my pleasure to play for free. So here is one of the videos:

because of the better sound quality I also give you the pieces as mp3 files:

1.: Astor Piazolla: Primavera Portena
2.: Isaac Albeniz: Asturias

Yesterday I went to the music conservatory in Shanghai and listened to the concert of Zolan Dukic.

He started with the ciaccona of J.S. Bach. It was this piece why I finally decide to go to the concert. Of course he played it very souveraen and that, even if the people at the beginning of the concert were not really calm and concentrated. Somebody walked in too late, a lot of people didn`t put off their mobil phones, but used them to make fotos during the concert and there were people still talking during the first piece. This is a typical situation in China and I am often angry because of that, special if it is a guitar concert and if it starts with a piece like the ciaccona. This piece really needs concentration and respect!

Anyway: Zolan Dukic played great and he choosed a very interesting nice program for that evening. So I could enjoy an unbelievable virtuos and musician Astor Piazolla (Adios Nonino and Otono Porteno) And I also enjoyed the Six Balkan Miniatures of Dusan Bogdanovic. These pieces are so beautiful! Zolan Dukic also played three Caprichos from „Caprichos de Goya“ of Castelnuovo Tedesco which I like very much and I was happy, that all the pieces in the concert were really musically pieces and not that pieces somebody choose to win a competition. So thank you very much, Zolan!

At the end of the concert happened something, what shouldn`t happen. As Zolan Dukic after a frenetic applaus decide to give us some extra pieces, he told the public that he will play two pieces from Barrios. But after the first piece was finished a young girl jumped onto the stage and gave Zolan a big bunch of flowers. May be that girl can not speak English and didn`t understand that the artist wants to give us two pieces?

as a friend told me, there are two important guitar events this autumn in China. The first is a concert in Shanghai in the concert hall of the music conservatory with Zoran Dukic on September the 25th:

PROGRAM
China 2009

J.S. Bach Ciaccona BWV 1004
(1685-1750)

M. Castelnuovo-Tedesco 4 caprichos from “Caprichos de Goya”
(1895-1968)

M. Llobet 4 catalan folk songs
(1878-1938)

PAUSA

Malcolm Arnold Fantasia
(1921) -prelude
-scherzo
-arietta
-fughetta
-arietta
-march
-postlude

V. Sojo Five venezuelan songs
(1887-1974)

A. Piazzolla Adios Noniño
(1921-1992) Otono Porteño

Dusan Bogdanovic Six Balkan Miniatures
(1955) -Morning Dance
-Lament
-Vranjanka
-Macedonian Dance
-Wide Song
-Tiny-knit Dance

For more information in chinese language please go to http://www.peterfang.com/new6/dispbbs.asp?boardID=1&ID=10790

The second very attractive event is in Oktober in Hongkong. Alvaro Pierri will come to the “Joy of music” festival from october the 12th till 18th giving a concert and some masterclasses. For more information in english and chinese please go to : http://www.peterfang.com/new6/dispbbs.asp?boardID=1&ID=10764

The whoole week is over and I didn`t have any time to read my emails or to write something in my blog. Now sitting in the train to my mothers home the days passes through my head. Every day was full with guitar. Every evening we listened excellent and outstanding guitarconcerts. It is difficult to decide which of the concerts was the best. The first one was on Saturday before the festival really started. Irina Kulikova, the winner of the International Guitar Competition in Iserlohn 2008 made a wunderful performance followed by the Romero brothers on Sunday. On Monday Alvaro Pieri from Uruguay played a phantastic concert. For me he is the most special and outstanding guitar artist I know. From Tuesday there were mostly three concerts every evening, so we came back to our guesthouse always very late, but that doesn`t mean that we didn`t make any parties at night…..

During the daytime we could participate the masterclasses or compare guitars from different guitar builders. There were also a sheetmusic exhibition were I bought a lot of music. The most famous names of the teachers  who were teaching the masrterclasses: Eli and Ann Kassner, Gerald Garcia, Oscar Ghiglia, Alvaro Pierri, Tom Johnson, Roman Viazovskiy, Danielle Cumming, Hans-Werner Huppertz, Dale Kavanagh, Los Romeros, Ulrich Stracke, Andrew Zohn, Laura Yong, Irina Kulikova and last but not least the Baltic Quartett and more very good players I didn`t remember the names …..

The composer Gerald Garcia made a beautifull piece special for the festival essemble. The performance of that piece were on Saturday evening and a full success.

Beside participating the activities we enjoyed delicious food and could socialise with the other guitarplayers who came from more than 48 countries over the whole world . Thanks for Thomas Kirchhoff  the organisator of that symposium for his great job!

El Vito MP3 elvito

As my Macintosh Computer is broken, this recording was made with a very small Lenovo Leptop and without any microfone. I made it for a chinese student, who want to learn some flamenco pieces, but for classical guitar. This small piece is very charactaristic for the andaluzia feeling. It has only four chords: A minor, D minor with the sixt, E major and F major with the great seven and the mixo 11. Oh, I forgot: in the second part is an B seventh accord as the double dominant funktion to the tonica A minor.

As the most popular pieces this piece has eight bar sentences which are divided in 4 plus 4. Very nice and typical: the repetitions of the sentences in another oktave.

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the chords: Cis minor, Fis Minor, Gis minor, E Major

the first verse:
Cis- - - - - - - - Fis- - - - - - - Cis-
she shei dai lai yuan gu de hu huan

Cis- - - -Fis- - - E - - - - - - Fis- Gis- Cis-
she shei liu xia qian niande qi - - pan.

Cis- - - - Fis- - - -Cis- Fis- - - - - -Cis-
Nan dao shuo hai you wu yan de ger

Fis- - - - - -E - - - - - - - -Fis- - - - - - — Gis- - Cis-
hai she na jiu jiu bu neng wang huan de quan lian.

Cis- - - - - - - -Fis- - - - - - - - Cis- - - - - - - - Fis- - Cis-
ohohoh wo kan jian yi zuo zuo shan yi zuo zuo shan chuan

Cis- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Fis- - Cis-
yi zuo zuo shan chuan, xia ng lian

Cis- Fis- - - - - - - E - - - - - - Fis- Gis- Cis-
ya la suo, na ke shi qing cang gao - yuan.

The strokes are not for the rythm, but only because otherwise the chords always moved to another place during the publish process. Please use your ears.

As I am very busy during the last few months I didn`t really work on this site and I am sorry for that. Hope it will become better in the future. But today instead of a new piece of guitarmusic I want to introduce another good guitarblog. Stefan Buschhausen is a German guitarteacher and his blog contains some nice and easy pieces for the begin. He gives you not only the mp3 sound and some instructions, but also the tabulatur, so that it is very comfortable to learn by yourself. Take a look!

Stefan Buschhausen: http://www.guitar-blog.buschhausen.eu/

H.V.Lobos: Etude Nr.3

This piece is not only a very good technical exercise, but on the other side it is great music and it makes a lot of fun to practise that piece. As I recorded this exercise I paid more attention to the music as to the technique and I think I did right so. The musical expression is most important even if you practise technical exercises….

The LB Story is a seldom played but very beautyful piece of Roland Dyens. And the second part is virtuos with a lot of tapings inside. I ve recorded it for you. The name LB Story means Leo Bower Story on the one side, and on the other side it also means Leo Bernstein Story. So at the end of the second part you will meet a motiv of the west side story..

For the people, who can not use Youtube, I uploaded the video again to Youku, the Chinese Version of Youtube

There was no japanese guitarplayer on the Shanghai Conservatory, but a chinese student of Ye De Min (- Ye De Min is the guitar teacher of the conservatory -) made a very good performance. He played a lot of modern pieces and also some Bach and showed an unbelivable virtuosity. But he was not only virtuos, he played with feeling and musicality, too. It seems, that nothing is impossible for that young man! He will participate the international guitar competition in Tokio soon and I think he has a good chance to get a price. The name of that coming guitar king is Wu Long, you should remember, because I am sure you will hear his name again!

Another good student ( Lin Yue Qi)played some Dowland and the Mozart Variations (F.Sor op.9). He is a very musical player, too. So, the niveau of classical guitar in Shanghai is growing up very fast and to a very high level. As I came to Shanghai ten years ago, these young players were just starting with the first lections! I am really impressed and also very happy to see such a developement.

please notice, that today evening, seven o`clock at the Shanghai Conservatory there will be a concert from a japanese guitar player named Wu Long. Whether the name is correct I am not so sure, but I have heard, that this guy is a great player. So, I will go and listen to his music. And if you have time you can go, too!

As I suddenly have to go Germany, I don`t have time to put all the current pieces of my students here. Just one, because I already have a recording. Here is the Marieta from Francisco Tarrega. Important: Don`t play the second part too slow (in comparison with the first part). See you!

Tarrega: Marieta.mp3

This weekend one of my students has birthday and I decide to make him a small present. He is playing Peternas de la Mancha from Siegfried Behrend and so, I ve recorded his music for him and made an exercise and analysis.

Peternas de la Mancha is an easy piece played mostly in the first Barree and with only a few chords: Am, E, G, F, Dm, C and G7. It is a good piece for learning something about form and improvisation. And it has a nice rhythm changing between 3/8 and 3/4 .

The Form:

Am E Am| G F E|
Am E Am| G F E|

Am E Am| Am E Am|
Dm Dm E

Am E Am| Am E Am|
Dm Dm E|

C G7 C| C G7 C|
G F E|
E E A| Dm Dm E

Am E Am| Am E Am|
Dm Dm E|

C G7 C| C G7 C|
G F E| G F E

Am E Am| Am E Am|
G F E| G F E

The Improvisation:

you can use the material of the C-Major scale for the whole piece. But if you already have a little bit experience you will feel that it is more the Phrygian mode in E and the Aeolian (and Harmonic) mode in A .

My improvisation is not perfect - I know it sounds a little bit too classical.
The fact is, that I am always thinking in motives and don`t use the scale like a jazz-guitarist. But it is just an example. Hope you will make it better and most important: you have fun!

First listen to the original version (without improvisation): lamancha.mp3

and then listen for the improvisation example: manch1.mp3

And now your exercise: use my form notice and your ear to play the original version. If you already have the sheet music you can try to make your own improvisation after recording the piece by yourself. And you can use colour to make the form more evident. The same parts with the same color. Then try to make a new piece with the same chords but changing the succession.

Because of some friends, who came to Shanghai I went to that music fair today. Really big. The Germans are here with Hanika, Hoefer, Baerenreither, Ama and almost every important brand. Dadarius from America and Sarvaez from Fance (with a very charmant and nice manager) – every important brand seems to be here! Its very loud there and because of the noise – somebody may still consider that’s all music..- it was not easy for me to find what I am looking for. It is not easy to try some instruments or amplifiers at such a turbulent place! But these exhibitions are not made for the musicians, but for the music-business people, who can use that opportunity to make contacts with other business people all over the world.

I watched the show of my friend Sven Kuehbauch, who played for Farida Guitars, was talking with some nice guys and looking for amplifiers.

The fair is still going on and will be finished at Sunday three o`clock. The address: Long Yang Road 2345, new international exhibition center. If you want to read more about that fair please look at

Shanghai-Megabreit. (German language)

From the 3th  of October till the 8^th of October the  sixth Asian Guitarcompetition will be held in Hangzhou. The first round is on the 4^th of October, one day later there will be the second round and the final. After that competition there are masterclasses with Yang Xue Fei, Denis Azabagic and  Zoran Dukic . The masterclasses are on the 6^th of October.

On the 7^th and 8^th there will be a lot of concerts during the whole days. 

The prices of the tickets are as following:

Guesthouse: 200 RMB/each day

Concert: with foreign performers: 180 RMB/each concert, with Chinese performers: 120 and 100 RMB/each concert. 

For every masterclass you have to pay 50 RMB or 120RMB if you participate on every activity.

For more information you can call the guitarshop of Jiangdamin (13701705039) or Peter :13806000569 (for English

On Friday evening I made me up the long way in windy and rainy weather to the Shanghai Music Hall to listen to the concert of Pepe Romero and his family. The Concert Hall was completely selled out – already three weeks ago! – and so I was really happy that a friend gives me a very expensive ticket. But I couldn`t find my seat – because my seat was already seated by other people. So I just sat down on a free place and listened to the performance. The first piece (Ruperto Chapi y Lorento: Preludio from La Revoltosa) was still a little bit stiff and the guitars were out of tune, but after Celino played the Suite Espanola from Sanz the Romeros becomes more and more lifeful and at the end of the concert as the Romero family played the more popular Spanish songs, the audience were really happy and excited. It is a fact, that most of the people – not only in China – love the simple, more popular music more, than the artistic, high level music. But I am happy that the Romeros not only played these popular pieces, but a lot of other very interesting music from different composers, like: Sanz, Tonadilla, Luigi Boccherini, Torroba, Heitor Villa Lobos, and more. 

As I left the train at Frankfurt Airport to go back to Shanghai I met Heike Matthiesen who helped me to check in with my guitar. We ve never seen before, but we had a very nice time together at the airport and in an airport café where we decide to eat two “Pirate teller”. Heike Matthiesen has the talent and the courage to work as a concert guitarist, what is more difficult as to make a compromise with some of the music schools. No security and always practice to your best form! I really admire that.

She was born in Braunschweig and started early with her musical career learning the piano, but only when she was 18 years old she discovered the guitar. Straight on she introduced herself to Heinz Teuchert and one year later she becomes a student at the Frankfurter Music Academy. But her most important teacher becomes Pepe Romero, who teached her in his Master classes several years. Additional she took Master classes with Manuel Barrueco, David Russel, Roland Dyens, Alvaro Pierri, Leo Brower and others.

Beside her solo career she always likes to play chamber music. Since 1997 she has an alliance with the Villa Musica Mainz. She made performances with the Romero brothers and 2005 she recorded a CD with the Spanish Art Guitar Quartet (“Bolero”, NCA).

Heike Matthiesen made concerts in a lot of countries as they are: USA, Japan, China, France, Spain, Italy, Poland, Island, Austria, Denmark and Bulgaria and she is always welcomed with her performances on different guitar festivals.

Her recordings are published by Tyrolis: “Sol y Luna” with Spanish and South American repertoire and “Tristmusette” with music of Roland Dyens. This special recording got a very good international recommendation.

Her next recording will published in 2009. It was a pity that we didn’t know each other as she made her China tourney last year. She played in different cities
and of course she played in Shanghai, too!

But you can find some videos from her at youtube. I made a link for you to her performance of Roland Dyens “Tango en Sky”.

Everybody knows names like David Russell or Pepe Romero, but there are a lot of other good guitarists, who are not as well known but worth to know!

So I decide to introduce some guitar players to you. I will do this occasionally from time to time and I will start with a portrait of a female German Guitar player.

the tickets are already sold out since around two weeks, but Pepe Romero will only play one time at the 12th of September in the Music Concert Hall. I have tried to get some tickets, but I only got one and this is because of connections. I am sorry for all my students, who really would like to listen that concert, but don`t have tickets!