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Revealing the Timeless Emotional Connection Between Musician and Guitar By: Alex Condoluci Faculty Advisor: Debra Kolodczak, Ph. D. Department of Communication Funded by the Center for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Introduction I am a guitar player. I am one of many who can say they have discovered a love for something that most others would proclaim to be nothing but a piece of wood. For the past ten years of my life I have learned, and continue to explore the relationship a musician feels when playing a guitar. An emotional connection is generated when an individual physically connects with their instrument whether they play by themselves, for an audience, or with other musicians. My inspiration to learn how to play the guitar comes from my father, and despite our differences in terms of style, our feelings about playing the instrument are the same. All can agree that even when playing for an audience, the emotions felt and expressed by the musician are spread to those listening. By interviewing musicians, exploring quotes from famous musicians, and researching archival images of musicians found on the website of the Library of Congress American Memory Collection (LoCAMC), I was able to show that my family is not alone in sharing the passion and emotional connection that a person can experience when playing a guitar. My Inspiration My father is my principle inspiration in learning how to play the guitar. Throughout my childhood, I was lucky enough to be surrounded by music and his collection of guitars. One day, when I was about 11 years old, I decided to pick up a guitar, and the rest is history. For this project, I asked my father to reveal his inspiration and express his feelings when he plays in order to bridge the generation gap and begin to demonstrate that there is a shared inexpressible affection for what the guitar creates for its player. “February 9 th , 1964. Truly a date of enduring personal significance in my life that carries forward till this very day. Over and above my initiation to the guitar itself, I bore witness to its all-embracing grandeur via television on The Ed Sullivan Show depicted by way of ‘The Beatles.’ Forty-nine years, and nearly two dozen guitars, plus a sitar later; I’m still inspired with total awe as to the sheer universal appeal of the instrument’s ability to stimulate the mind and emotions of both its players and/or intended recipients thereof. On a much more personal level, to me the guitar shall stand as an ultimate form of intimate expression. No two individuals will ever quite embrace, pick, and strum in wholly in the same fashion as another. In essence, the instrument shall remain totally dependent on it’s player’s particular ambience, personality and confidence. Fundamentally, you also can’t beat its portability aspect - as you would be hard pressed to walk about with a grand piano or a tuba slung over your shoulder!” - James Condoluci Playing Alone For me, I am most at peace when I am alone with my guitar. It is my escape, and it is a part of me. When I pick up the instrument to play, the strings become an extension of my fingers and my soul. My emotion pours out of my fingertips, and the strings translate my feelings into something that is real and audible. Sometimes, I don't even know what I'm feeling until I pick up a guitar. Playing solo offers an almost out-of-body experience, because sometimes, I don’t even notice what my physical body is doing. I lose myself to both sound and my surroundings as I enter a meditative state from the droning and vibrations of the strings. I located images in the LoCAMC that capture candid shots of musicians who, as they play, seem to be experiencing passions similar to mine. Playing for an Audience For this project, I chose to interview my friend, Faiz Lone, to obtain insight into what a musician feels when playing for an audience. In harmony with Faiz’s statement, I located archival images that support the notion that the emotions felt by the guitarist are not exclusively experienced, but also conveyed to those who listen. Playing with Others When researching this aspect of the project, it was self-evident to ask my friend, Ron Geffen, for his perspective. Ron has played in countless bands, and has plenty of first hand experience as to what a guitarist feels when playing in harmony with other musicians. I also located images archival imagesthat support Ron’s testimony. Conclusion By exploring whether or not my family is unique in sharing the passion and emotional connection when playing a guitar, I was able to appreciate the universal and timeless gratitude that musicians have for their instrument. Researching the archival photos of guitarists allows me to see the emotions we guitar players share. By applying digital effects to emphasize key aspects of those photos, I can highlight a sense of what a musician feels. By bringing together the reflections of my contemporaries, key statements by legendary guitarists, and a selection of digitally enhanced archival photos, one can better understand the timeless emotional connection between musician and guitar. Statements by Legendary Guitarists “My guitar is not a thing. It is an extension of myself. It is who I am.” Joan Jett “An uncle of mine emigrated to Canada and couldn't take his guitar with him. When I found it in the attic, I'd found a friend for life.” Sting “Lean your body forward slightly to support the guitar against your chest, for the poetry of the music should resound in your heart.” Andrés Segovia “The most important part of my religion is to play guitar.” Lou Reed “God is playing my guitar, I am with God when I play .” Link Wray “My guitar is nothing but a manifestation of perfection already from the strings which the mind drives through my fingers...” Unknown “I just go where the guitar takes me.” Angus Young “It's that kind of in-born music thing - I could pick up the guitar and play something. It's not something I consciously do.” Ziggy Marley “When I pick up the guitar I usually don’t intend for it to be about a specific thing … so an abstract thought like emotions can speak for itself. Those are pretty profound and revealing moments of introspection as it happens.” Maneli Jamal “Every time you pick up your guitar to play, play as if it’s the last time.” Eric Clapton “I just loved the guitar when it came along. I loved it. The banjo was something I really liked, but when the guitar came along, to me that was my first love in music.” Doc Watson “I'd think learning to play the guitar would be very confusing for sighted people. ” Doc Watson “I got my first guitar at age of 7 and never laid it down…” Jerry Reed “With the guitar I got a sense of freedom, which was new and exciting.” Usman Riaz “I do music because I can just pick up my guitar and sing, and completely satisfy, instant gratification. I don't need a script, I don't need people, I don't need anything, I just have myself and my guitar…” Jeremy Renner “With a guitar I would be able to express the things I felt in sounds.” William Christopher Handy “It is the most delightful thing that ever happens to me, when I hear something coming out of my guitar and out of my mouth that wasn't there before.” James Taylor “When I'm home on a break, I lock myself in my room and play guitar. After two or three hours, I start getting into this total meditation. It's a feeling few people experience…” Eddie Van Halen “A guitar is a very personal extension of the person playing it. You have to be emotionally and spiritually connected to your instrument. I'm very brutal on my instruments, but not all the time.” Eddie Van Halen “I love that I can express my harmonic, melodic, rhythmic, atmospheric, and emotional ideas through one instrument.” Trevor Gordon Hall “Years from now, after I'm gone, someone will listen to what I've done and know I was here. They may not know or care who I was, but they'll hear my guitars speaking for me.” Chet Atkins “Playing the guitar for me hasn't always been a joyride. It was something I wanted to do before I knew how hard it was to get good at. The only way to reach the point I was aiming for was through practice. Like anything else that requires practice, achieving your goals provides you with good feelings. It's those good feelings that take me beyond enjoyment when I play guitar. It sounds good when chords vibrate in harmony, it feels good to the touch when strings change in tension, it even smells good when the metal from the strings rubs off onto your fingertips. Accomplishing that "lick" of frustration, the one that took you days to play smoothly- that's something like learning another language- you can't wait to speak it to someone who understands and appreciates it. When they appreciate it, you know it. Their eyes follow the progression, they are silent, they are focused. For that period of time, you, the player, have been granted empty ears and thus a liaison to the open mind of another individual. Here you fill in the cracks with your own imagination. Minor key suspension, pinch harmonic, pick slide. In essence, those vibrations become vibes; infectious and piercing, or subtle and entrancing, limitless in possibility and therapeutic by nature. Playing the guitar is like getting it all right at once.” - Faiz Lone “Guitar isn’t just a hobby; it is a passion and emotional release that grows with practice. When each string touches my fingertips, I experience a feeling in my spine that is indescribable. This sensation becomes enhanced when playing with other musicians. Nothing feels more satisfying than being able to bring my musical background and share it with others to create music. When I play with other people, we each turn into a piece of a puzzle, or a gear in a machine. We become something bigger together. When we are in sync, hitting that one note or chord that gives you goose bumps, it is the best feeling in the world. I say in ‘sync’ because it is more than just playing in the company of other musicians. We connect on an entirely different level that is inexpressible unless you have felt it yourself. I have played with 2 serious bands, and am currently involved with a third. Each time I connect with different musicians, I can see how I’ve improved and it adds to the feelings I have. Playing for the past 10 years has granted me a consistent joy, that grows stronger everyday, and it is truly a privilege from God. I have developed a bond with my instrument that is stronger than most relationships I have encountered. I may get married one day, have kids, and travel the world, or maybe life has something different planned for me. What I do know is my guitar will always be in the passenger seat as I journey through my time on this Earth.“ -Ron Geffen Sources Archival photographs courtesy of the U.S. Library of Congress, American Memory Collection. Contemporary photographs courtesy of the Condoluci family photo album.
Transcript
Page 1: Playing with Others

Revealing the Timeless Emotional Connection Between Musician and Guitar

By: Alex Condoluci

Faculty Advisor: Debra Kolodczak, Ph. D.

Department of Communication

Funded by the Center for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

Introduction I am a guitar player. I am one of many who can say they have discovered a love for something that most others would proclaim to be nothing but a piece of wood. For the past ten years of my life I have learned, and continue to explore the relationship a musician feels when playing a guitar. An emotional connection is

generated when an individual physically connects with their instrument whether they play by themselves, for an audience, or with other musicians. My inspiration to learn how to play the guitar comes from my father, and despite our differences in terms of style, our feelings about playing the instrument are the same. All

can agree that even when playing for an audience, the emotions felt and expressed by the musician are spread to those listening. By interviewing musicians, exploring quotes from famous musicians, and researching archival images of musicians found on the website of the Library of Congress American Memory

Collection (LoCAMC), I was able to show that my family is not alone in sharing the passion and emotional connection that a person can experience when playing a guitar.

My Inspiration

My father is my principle inspiration in learning how to play the

guitar. Throughout my childhood, I was lucky enough to be

surrounded by music and his collection of guitars. One day,

when I was about 11 years old, I decided to pick up a guitar,

and the rest is history. For this project, I asked my father to

reveal his inspiration and express his feelings when he plays in

order to bridge the generation gap and begin to demonstrate

that there is a shared inexpressible affection for what the guitar

creates for its player.

“February 9th, 1964. Truly a date of enduring personal significance in my life that

carries forward till this very day. Over and above my initiation to the guitar itself, I

bore witness to its all-embracing grandeur via television on The Ed Sullivan Show

depicted by way of ‘The Beatles.’ Forty-nine years, and nearly two dozen guitars,

plus a sitar later; I’m still inspired with total awe as to the sheer universal appeal

of the instrument’s ability to stimulate the mind and emotions of both its players

and/or intended recipients thereof.

On a much more personal level, to me the guitar shall stand as an ultimate form

of intimate expression. No two individuals will ever quite embrace, pick, and

strum in wholly in the same fashion as another. In essence, the instrument shall

remain totally dependent on it’s player’s particular ambience, personality and

confidence. Fundamentally, you also can’t beat its portability aspect - as you

would be hard pressed to walk about with a grand piano or a tuba slung over your

shoulder!”

- James Condoluci

Playing Alone

For me, I am most at peace when I am alone with my guitar. It is

my escape, and it is a part of me. When I pick up the instrument to

play, the strings become an extension of my fingers and my soul.

My emotion pours out of my fingertips, and the strings translate my

feelings into something that is real and audible. Sometimes, I don't

even know what I'm feeling until I pick up a guitar. Playing solo

offers an almost out-of-body experience, because sometimes, I

don’t even notice what my physical body is doing. I lose myself to

both sound and my surroundings as I enter a meditative state from

the droning and vibrations of the strings. I located images in the

LoCAMC that capture candid shots of musicians who, as they play,

seem to be experiencing passions similar to mine.

Playing for an Audience

For this project, I chose to interview my friend, Faiz Lone, to

obtain insight into what a musician feels when playing for an

audience. In harmony with Faiz’s statement, I located archival

images that support the notion that the emotions felt by the

guitarist are not exclusively experienced, but also conveyed to

those who listen.

Playing with Others

When researching this aspect of the project, it was self-evident to

ask my friend, Ron Geffen, for his perspective. Ron has played in

countless bands, and has plenty of first hand experience as to

what a guitarist feels when playing in harmony with other

musicians. I also located images archival imagesthat support

Ron’s testimony.

Conclusion

By exploring whether or not my family is unique in sharing the

passion and emotional connection when playing a guitar, I was

able to appreciate the universal and timeless gratitude that

musicians have for their instrument. Researching the archival

photos of guitarists allows me to see the emotions we guitar

players share. By applying digital effects to emphasize key

aspects of those photos, I can highlight a sense of what a

musician feels. By bringing together the reflections of my

contemporaries, key statements by legendary guitarists, and a

selection of digitally enhanced archival photos, one can better

understand the timeless emotional connection between musician

and guitar.

Statements by Legendary Guitarists “My guitar is not a thing. It is an extension of

myself. It is who I am.”

– Joan Jett

“An uncle of mine emigrated to Canada and

couldn't take his guitar with him. When I found

it in the attic, I'd found a friend for life.”

– Sting

“Lean your body forward slightly to support the

guitar against your chest, for the poetry of the

music should resound in your heart.”

– Andrés Segovia

“The most important part of my religion is to

play guitar.”

– Lou Reed

“God is playing my guitar, I am with God when

I play.”

– Link Wray

“My guitar is nothing but a manifestation of

perfection already from the strings which

the mind drives through my fingers...”

– Unknown

“I just go where the guitar takes me.”

– Angus Young

“It's that kind of in-born music thing - I could

pick up the guitar and play something. It's

not something I consciously do.”

– Ziggy Marley

“When I pick up the guitar I usually don’t

intend for it to be about a specific thing …

so an abstract thought like emotions can

speak for itself. Those are pretty profound

and revealing moments of introspection as

it happens.”

– Maneli Jamal

“Every time you pick up your guitar to play,

play as if it’s the last time.”

– Eric Clapton

“I just loved the guitar when it came along.

I loved it. The banjo was something I really

liked, but when the guitar came along, to

me that was my first love in music.”

– Doc Watson

“I'd think learning to play the guitar would

be very confusing for sighted people. ”

– Doc Watson

“I got my first guitar at age of 7 and never

laid it down…”

– Jerry Reed

“With the guitar I got a sense of freedom, which was

new and exciting.”

– Usman Riaz

“I do music because I can just pick up my guitar and

sing, and completely satisfy, instant gratification. I

don't need a script, I don't need people, I don't need

anything, I just have myself and my guitar…”

– Jeremy Renner

“With a guitar I would be able to express the things I

felt in sounds.”

– William Christopher Handy

“It is the most delightful thing that ever happens to me,

when I hear something coming out of my guitar and

out of my mouth that wasn't there before.”

– James Taylor

“When I'm home on a break, I lock myself in my

room and play guitar. After two or three hours, I start

getting into this total meditation. It's a feeling few

people experience…”

– Eddie Van Halen

“A guitar is a very personal extension of the person

playing it. You have to be emotionally and spiritually

connected to your instrument. I'm very brutal on my

instruments, but not all the time.”

– Eddie Van Halen

“I love that I can express my harmonic, melodic,

rhythmic, atmospheric, and emotional ideas through

one instrument.”

– Trevor Gordon Hall

“Years from now, after I'm gone, someone will listen

to what I've done and know I was here. They may

not know or care who I was, but they'll hear my

guitars speaking for me.”

– Chet Atkins

“Playing the guitar for me hasn't always been a joyride. It was something I wanted to

do before I knew how hard it was to get good at. The only way to reach the point I

was aiming for was through practice. Like anything else that requires practice,

achieving your goals provides you with good feelings. It's those good feelings that

take me beyond enjoyment when I play guitar. It sounds good when chords vibrate

in harmony, it feels good to the touch when strings change in tension, it even smells

good when the metal from the strings rubs off onto your fingertips. Accomplishing

that "lick" of frustration, the one that took you days to play smoothly- that's

something like learning another language- you can't wait to speak it to someone who

understands and appreciates it. When they appreciate it, you know it. Their eyes

follow the progression, they are silent, they are focused. For that period of time, you,

the player, have been granted empty ears and thus a liaison to the open mind of

another individual. Here you fill in the cracks with your own imagination. Minor key

suspension, pinch harmonic, pick slide. In essence, those vibrations become vibes;

infectious and piercing, or subtle and entrancing, limitless in possibility and

therapeutic by nature. Playing the guitar is like getting it all right at once.”

- Faiz Lone

“Guitar isn’t just a hobby; it is a passion and emotional release that grows with

practice. When each string touches my fingertips, I experience a feeling in my spine

that is indescribable. This sensation becomes enhanced when playing with other

musicians. Nothing feels more satisfying than being able to bring my musical

background and share it with others to create music. When I play with other people,

we each turn into a piece of a puzzle, or a gear in a machine. We become

something bigger together. When we are in sync, hitting that one note or chord that

gives you goose bumps, it is the best feeling in the world. I say in ‘sync’ because it

is more than just playing in the company of other musicians. We connect on an

entirely different level that is inexpressible unless you have felt it yourself.

I have played with 2 serious bands, and am currently involved with a third. Each

time I connect with different musicians, I can see how I’ve improved and it adds to

the feelings I have. Playing for the past 10 years has granted me a consistent joy,

that grows stronger everyday, and it is truly a privilege from God. I have developed

a bond with my instrument that is stronger than most relationships I have

encountered. I may get married one day, have kids, and travel the world, or maybe

life has something different planned for me. What I do know is my guitar will always

be in the passenger seat as I journey through my time on this Earth.“

-Ron Geffen

Sources

Archival photographs courtesy of the U.S. Library of Congress, American Memory Collection.

Contemporary photographs courtesy of the Condoluci family photo album.

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