Famous Classical Guitarists/Guitar Players

Classical music is a broad term that usually refers to mainstream music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 9th century to present times. The central norms of this tradition became codified between 1550 and 1900, which is known as the common practice period.

European music is largely distinguished from many other non-European and popular musical forms by its system of staff notation, in use since about the 16th century. Western staff notation is used by composers to prescribe to the performer the pitch, speed, meter, individual rhythms and exact execution of a piece of music. This leaves less room for practices, such as improvisation and ad libitum ornamentation, that are frequently heard in non-European art music (compare Indian classical music and Japanese traditional music) and popular music.

The public taste for and appreciation of formal music of this type waned in the late 1900s in the United States and United Kingdom in particular. Certainly this period has seen classical music falling well behind the immense commercial success of popular music, in the opinion of some[who?], although the number of CDs sold is not indicative of the popularity of classical music.

The term "classical music" did not appear until the early 19th century, in an attempt to "canonize" the period from Johann Sebastian Bach to Beethoven as a golden age. The earliest reference to "classical music" recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary is from about 1836. Many writers feel that "classical" is an inappropriate term for mainstream and avant-garde music written since the latter part of the 19th century; hence the common usage of scare quotes.


Guitarist(s):
Abel Carlevaro
Adam Darr
Agustin Pio Barrios
Alan Banks
Alberto Ponce
Alexandre Lagoya
Ana Vidovic
Andreas Paolo Perger
Andres Torres Segovia
Andrew York
Antonio Lauro
Carlo Domeniconi
Carlo Marchione
Celedonio Romero
Chet Atkins
Christopher Parkening
David Leisner
David Russell
David Starobin
David Tanenbaum
Denis Azabegic
Dimitri Fampas
Dionisio Aguado
Dusan Bogdanovic
Egberto Gismonti
Emilio Pujol
Erling Moldrup
Eva Fampas
Fareed Haque
Ferdinando Carulli
Franceso Corbetta
Francesco Molino
Francisco Tarrega
Fracois de Fossa
Frank Zappa
Gabriel Estarellas
Gaspar Sanz
Gentil Montana
Gilbert Biberian
Giovanni Battista Granata
Giulio Regondi
Goran Krivokapic
Goran Sollscher
Gustavo Lopez
Ida Presti
Jaime Mirtenbaum Zenamon
Jeff Young
John McLaughlin
John Schneider
John Christopher Williams
Jorge Morel
Juanjo Dominguez
Julian Bream
Karl E. H. Seigfried
Kazuhito Yamashita
Kostas Grigoreas
Laurindo Almeida
Leif Christensen
Lenny Breau
Lily Afshar
Liona Boyd
Luis T. Romero
Luiz Bonfa
Magnus Andersson
Marco Pereira
Maria Isabel Siewers
Matteo Carcassi
Mauro Giuliani
Maximo Diego Pujol
Miguel Llobet
Napoleon Coste
Nikita Koshkin
Olavur Jakobsen
Oliver Fartach-Naini
Paco de Lucia
Paul McCartney
Pavel Steidl
Pepe Romero
Ralph Towner
Regino Sainz de la Maza
Robert Phillips
Roland Dyens
Sergei Orekhov
Sergio Assad
Sharon Isbin
Shawn Lane
Sila Godoy
Siimone Iannarelli
Stanko Prek
Stepan Rak
Stephan Schmidt
Stephen Marchionda
Steve Hackett
Thomas Muller-Pering
Tilman Hoppstock
Ulrich Roth
Yang Xuefei
Yorgos Foudoulis
Zoran Dukic

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