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
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