Guitar Secrets: The Coolest Thing I Know
What's the weirdest thing about the guitar? It's not the shape (though there are
some weird ones around) and it's not the sound, though maybe an instrument that doesn't make any audible sound (for example an electric guitar) is pretty peculiar. No, the weirdest thing about the guitar is that, if you think of all the musical instruments around, guitar playing is cool. Now why is that?
Just look at any guitarist on stage and you can see there's something about the instrument, but it's difficult to define. Why is a rock guitarist a 'rock god' while a saxophone player's well, a saxophone player? Why is that no matter how good the drummer is, it's the guitarist the girls swoon over?
Believe it or not, I think the answer lies with history. All musical instruments have a history, but while many have changed dramatically with time, the guitar, whose major ancestor is the lute (hence a guitar maker is a luthier) is very recognisable in the instrument carried by wandering musicians such as minstrels and troubadours. But what's cool about that? Weren't they just the street musicians or buskers of their day?
Well not exactly. Many troubadours for example were aristocrats, they not only played, they composed, mostly ballads about love and some their exploits, either real or imagined. (If you're a fan of Monty Python, now's the time to hum a line or two of 'Brave Sir Robin ran away....' ) They travelled from place to place and as a result of their talent and high birth had access to the Kings and nobles along the way. Convenient really, because believe it or not, a lot of them were spies.
OK, maybe not spies in the 007 secret agent sense, but certainly they operated as intelligence gatherers, and many played a major role in historical events. Here's an example.
At the time of the crusades, King Richard I of England (usually called Richard the Lionheart, the good guy from the Robin Hood stories) was taken prisoner, and as was the habit at the time, held for ransom. According to legend, the ransom demand was delivered to his brother John, (the bad guy in the Robin Hood stories) who quite liked the idea of being King himself and so was in no rush to get his brother Richard back, so he told everyone that poor Richard was indeed a prisoner, but that he was 'lost'.
The story goes that Richard was 'found' by Jean II of Nesle, more often known by his nickname, Blondel (because of his blond hair) who just 'happened' on Richard by singing one of the Kings favorite songs outside each of the castles where Richard was thought to be until one day he heard Richards voice singing back the next verse. Richard was then officially 'found' and the rest, as they say, is history. Blondel was a trouvere, a travelling musician who composed as well as performed; the Trouvere considered it their duty to create songs which would inspire kings to 'move their minds to boldness and fortitude' at least that was the view of one leading trouvere of the day.
If this all sounds a little bit too establishment for you, consider that many of these early secret agents had no particular allegiance, so they were never agents of 'the man' as such, but operated with remarkable independence. What happened to Blondel? Well that's an interesting question. Blondel is a common surname on the island of Guernsey where history records the first Blondel received his lands as a gift from, King Richard I! I like to think of it as the first incidence of a rock star retiring to his own private island.
So next time you pick up a guitar remember that you are following a tradition, most probably one of lies, deceit, risk and reward. If your aim is to become a rock god and retire to your own private island, it's time to get some lessons and start practicing.
by: John Blackwood
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