On Saturday, March 2, 2002, the Jefferson Classical Guitar Society sponsored concert guitarist, James Kline in a masterclass. The event took place at the Congregational Church, in Ashland Oregon. James has established a solid reputation as a fine concert artist and all in attendance (4 performers and 10 auditors) seemed excited at the prospect of seeing him work as a teacher in a masterclass setting. The following afternoon, a joint recital was performed by James Kline and Dave Rogers. During the James Kline masterclass, I regret that I neglected to take any notes and am therefore forced to rely on my memory of the event for this account. As a result, I am unable to go into any great detail and can only relate general memories and impressions. Overall, I remember James being very gracious and respectful in his work with each student and exceedingly generous with his time, spending considerably more than was allotted for each student.

As the masterclass proceeded, I remember a recurring theme which ran through James' various discussions. He frequently made reference to the importance of finding a middle way between certain extremes, a kind of "golden mean" of guitar playing. I didn't get the impression that this was a part of some master plan for the class. Rather, it seemed to be an indication of his overall approach to playing the guitar.Whether intentional or not, it felt like he was giving us a very personal insight into the world of a working concert artist. For instance, in a discussion of hand positions, James said that the hands function best when we avoid any extreme wrist bends , either to the left, to the right, highly arched or collapsed. The strongest and most flexible position for the hand and fingers is when the wrist is in the middle range. He recommended a relatively flat wrist with minimal deviation in the alignment of the hand to the forearm. He pointed out that in his playing on the eleven string arch guitar, he has had to adapt his right hand position to accommodate the reach to the lower strings by the thumb, in much the same way as that of the lute player. Of course the left hand and wrist has to go through a wider range of positions as it deals with a wider range of reaching and stretching situations. But, as much as possible, it should return to the middle range of this aligned position.

Another example was a discussion of the importance of the "middle range" in the use of dynamics. James recalled being very impressed with the great guitar virtuoso David Russell's seeming ease in producing powerful crescendos and fortissimos. James ultimately came to understand that the key was in the way that most of Russell's playing was in the middle of the guitar's dynamic range. In general, by not forcing the instrument, he not only had more headroom to work with, but was able to stay more relaxed in his playing.

James also talked about tone production in terms of the "middle range" in the angle of attack between fingernail and string, especially in connection with the previous ideas on dynamics. He felt that finding an angle of attack that gives a sweet tone at the middle dynamic range was important. As the dynamics get softer, the player can move more towards a square attack and the tone quality will remain sweet and clear. As the dynamics get louder, the square attack produces a tone that is too thin and metallic and therefore a kind of slicing attack which is more off the side of the nail is appropriate.

First student: Jeff Rinkoff
Performing: Girl with the Flaxen Hair by Claude Debussy (trsc. by Julian Bream) and Barcarole by Francis Kleynjans

James started by saying that he was no expert on "French impressionist" music. He liked Jeff's tone and technique. He said that Jeff's sense of rubato seemed appropriate and effective and encouraged him to continue working in that direction. He then asked Jeff if he learned the piece using rubato right from the begining. Jeff said that he did but that his teacher continually insisted that he go back to the metronome. James then confessed that he also tended to learn pieces with rubato right from the begining, but felt it was better to understand the composer's intentions by first learning to play it straight.

James was unfamiliar with the work of Kleynjans and enjoyed the quality of the composition. He pointed out that the title of "Barcarole" was a reference to a Venetian boatman's song and that the 6/8 meter gives a rocking feeling to the music reminiscent of the bobbing of the gondola on the water. He encouraged Jeff to bring out this rocking/bobbing feeling. The composer had carefully indicated his musical intent in the piece through the use of numerous short descriptions which were littered through out the sheet music. James, being fluent in both Spanish and French, seemed to delight in translating the various notations from the composer.

Second student: Matt Dorris
Performing: Prelude from the 1st cello suite by J. S. Bach and Queen Galadriel from Characters and Scenes from Lord of the Rings by Alan Mearns

The work of the transcriber/arranger in the Bach Cello Suites is an interesting one, where the over riding question is whether to add notes in order to make the music sound more guitaristic and if so, where and how to do it. In one particular passage in the Bach Prelude, Matt was having difficulty making a musical connection between notes. The problem was that, in this particular arrangement, the connection was unusually difficult to make. In the true spirit of the transcriber/arranger, James was familiar with the original cello music and immediately recognized which notes were Bach's and which notes were the arrangers. He suggested a number of alternative solutions which involved different notes as well as different fingerings.

At one point in the Bach, Matt was using a glissando which James felt was inappropriate for this period and style of composition

In the Mearns piece, James worked with Matt on some right hand position and technique issues. He suggested that slow practice is always very helpful.

Third student: Anthony Kinsey
Performing: Mazurka-Choro by Heitor Villa Lobos

James talked a bit about the history of the Mazurka, especially regarding its origins as a folk dance in Poland and its use as a form for piano compositions by the great Polish composer Frederic Chopin (Chopin wrote 52 Mazurkas for piano). He talked about the Mazurka being a dance and as such, the player should avoid straying too far from a regular pulse.

James also talked to Anthony about right hand fingernail shape and the importance of maintaining a smooth edge on the nails by use of fine grade silicon carbide sand paper. He also talked about varying the angle of the nail attack to draw different tone qualities from the guitar.

Fourth student: Grant Ruiz
Performing: Bachianas Brazilieras No. 5 by Heitor Villa Lobos

Bachianas Brazilieras is a series of works which blend the aesthetic values of the music of J. S. Bach with those of the popular music of Brazil. Bachianas Brazilieras No. 5, famous for its exquisitely beautiful melody, was originally written for the highly unusual combination of soprano and 8 cellos. At the behest of Andres Segovia, Villa Lobos arranged the work for soprano with guitar accompaniment. The music which Grant played for the class was the guitar part from a purely instrumental arrangement for orchestra by John Krance. Grant would be performing this work with the Curry-Del Norte Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Gary DeRoest in April. Grant brought along a boom box and an old recording (on CD) of the composer conducting the original work, so that we were able to hear how the guitar part was integrated into the arrangement.

I asked Grant Ruiz if he would contribute any memories of his work with James Kline that afternoon and the following is his offering:

• I played with an EMI CD of Villa-Lobos conducting Victoria de los Angeles. Jim's general observation was that the soprano was leading with a great deal of expressiveness and rubato, and I wouldn't have this leeway given that the guitar was not the solo instrument in the arrangement. I would just have to see what the conductor wanted, which was likely to play it straighter than the recording. This was partially true, as it turned out.
• When you play louder, use more flesh to make the tones more rounded, rather than brighter, to avoid harshness.
• For pizzicato, go as close to the bridge as possible so as not to dampen the notes too much, and "open up" the hand more to reduce the amount of skin on the strings. You still want the notes to be clear.
• Use thumb strokes for lower melodic lines requiring emphasis. Use more flesh. I was using a flamenco thumb technique (rest stroke), which adds a click to the sound, which Jim said to avoid in this case.
• To make a block chord stand out emphasize the highest note. Practice this by playing the other chord notes softly and separately and then the high note loudly. Exaggerate the difference in volume, feel the difference in force being used by the right hand fingers, and then put the two parts together. (This was an example of two general principles Jim espoused with other students as well: 1) for trouble spots or areas of special consideration in a piece, try creating an exercise around it, and 2) exaggerate contrasting elements to get a feel for the desired effect before blending them.)
• For ritardandos, try subdividing the beat and slowing that down to get a more even, graduated feel. (I believe he suggested this method to a couple of other students as well.) As it turned out, this wasn't what the conductor wanted for the ritardando in question.
• The last part of the arrangement called for sixteenth notes with an initial sixteenth rest for each beat. It some cases the rest was followed by an eighth note and then a sixteenth note. Jim's suggestion was to pay close attention to these values, e.g., clipping the last sixteenth note to articulate the next rest and to let the eighth notes ring out to the extent possible.

Here are some of the other general points I remember Jim made to more than one student:

• Find a comfortable point for both tone and volume to allow more room to move. (Jim learned this from David Russell.) This produces a more contrasting effect if you need to increase volume or change tone.
• Before using rubato, play a piece or passage straight to get a feel for how to best apply the rubato.
• Don't clip lead-in/anacrusis notes unless called for.
• Avoid glissandos unless called for explicitly or stylistically.
• Study a composer, observe their style, and pay close attention to the
  interpretation of dynamic markings for a piece in order to prepare. Try
  listening to other versions as well.

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