Ben Bolt Research Paper

Classical guitar player Ben Bolt was performing lead guitar in rock and roll bands at the age of twelve and started performing professionally at age 16 in Miami, Florida. Immediately after high school, Ben left his group to study traditional classical guitar compositions in Spain. At the age of nineteen he studied traditional classical guitar with Andres Segovia in Madrid. Andr?s Segovia, the father of the traditional classical guitar, said “Ben Bolt is an exceptional guitar player with beautiful tone.” Segovia personally paid for a scholarship so that Bolt could proceed with his studies at the Musica en Compostela, which Segovia established. Later in Paris, Ben Bolt sought out and studied with Abel Carlevaro who continued to train Bolt in
Brazil at the International Guitar Conservatory. There under full scholarship, Bolt was introduced to much more Segovia educational techniques and equally essential to the Carlevaro school of guitar technique. He also started compilling his first collection books of classical guitar tabs and classical guitar tablatures.
For the duration of the following several years Ben Bolt proceeded to go on to Montevideo, Uruguay, Carlevaro’s home town, to complete his classical guitar studies beneath the direction of Maestro Carlevaro and Guido Santorsola, the well known Italian composer and conductor.
Carlevaro invited him to go to the 1974 International Guitar Seminary in Brazil under full scholarship. In that exact same year Ben won the coveted Merit Prize as Outstanding Student at the First International Masters Class in Montevideo. Bolt is credited with being an innovator in introducing countless numbers of new individuals to the classical style of guitar playing by means of his DVD videos and publications which use a revolutionary structure of study. In the early days, guitar students needed to learn to read traditional classical guitar music at the same time they were studying how to play the classical guitar which was complicated. Since the publication of Bolt’s classical guitar book/CD packages, novices are able to play immediately. His guitar tablature system, which employs lines and numbers to show where the notes are on the fretboard, along with the CD recordings empower all students to play. Due to his vision of making traditional classical guitar available to all types of musicians, the traditional classical guitar is now being experienced by the
masses.
Several Ben Bolt classical guitar publications have turned out to be best sellers and his “Anyone Can Play the Classical Guitar” DVD has become a reference source for university guitar students as the authority on basic fundamentals about classical guitar technique. Ben presently resides in Knoxville, Tn where he teaches all types of guitar. He is additionally Professor of Guitar at Carson-Newman College. He believes any person can play the guitar as long as they possess these three key components: a good instrument, a knowledgeable teacher, and music that retains the pupil’s interest. Fortunately for avid classical guitarists, Ben continues to release more and more instructional guitar tab books and DVDs just about every year presenting the compositions of various composers such as Bach, Mozart, Pagannini, Tarrega, Sor, and Carcassi