Guitarristas Femeninos

I have several female guitar students and thought it would be nice to include a few videos of our great female guitarists. Very good student and friend Ben turned me on to Mexican duo Rodrigo y Gabriela, and I've been in like with Gabriela ever since. She's a terrific rhythm guitar player (the unsung hero of any ensemble). Her flamenco-style tambour (or in English, beating on the guitar while simultaneously strumming) is as good as you will hear (are you listening Abby?!?):



French guitarist Ida Presti (1924 - 1967), has been called by some the greatest classical guitarist of the 20th century. Presti was a student of Andres Segovia, who called her fondly, "Ida Prestissimo". (Prestissimo, in musical terms means to play "as fast as possible".) She is probably most famous for her duets with husband/guitarist Alexander Lagoya but was a great soloist in her own right as heard here. This is a very old video but well worth listening to. Presti playing the Villa Lobos Prelude #1:



This is one of the first pieces that truly inspired me to learn classical guitar. Presti and Lagoya playing a Domenico Scarlatti sonata:



Sharon Isbin is another great guitarista. Listen to her interpretation of Vals Op. 8, No. 4 by Barrios:



There are many more I could have included here. Classical players Alice Artz and Liona Boyd, jazzer Emily Remler, and modern/pop players too like Joni Mitchell, Bonnie Raitt and Phoebe Snow plus many more. I urge you to do your own searches for these guitarists. Send me your favorites.