What are your top 5 top composers or however many composers you can name. From what I've heard Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, Paganini, and Vivaldi are my top 5. Still looking into learning more stuff so my list might change in the future.

1. Paganini - Incredibly unique and innovative sound with an incredible level of skill.
2. Vivaldi - His music is like water .. notes pouring fluidly and excitedly.
3. Franz Liszt - After playing the piano for 12 hours a day for 10 years, it showed with his beautiful playing. Reaching 5 octaves in 5 seconds and playing a harmonic melody with both hands blows my mind.
4. Beethoven - I love the emotion and feeling in his compositions. He can really capture a feeling and paint a picture with his music.
5. Mozart - Very distinctive and very bright, very complicated and bouncy music.

Bach, Mozart, Vivaldi are the holy trinity
then its Rachmaninov and hmm 5 is hard once again.. I'd pick Beethoven altho I like only a few pieces of his music and get bored with the rest, but those few sonatas are among my favorite musical pieces ever..

1--Gustav Mahler--To quote James DePriest, then principal conductor of the Oregon Symphony, just before leading them in the best rendition of the Mahler2nd I've EVER heard. "Mahler is just Mahler"
2--Felix Mendelssohn--seems that most folks overlook the fact that both Mendelssohn and Schubert had very similar life spans and musical outputs to Mozart
3--Johannes Brahms--I often wondered if Brahams would have been a bit saner, and therefore less of a musical genius, if his father had been less of a jack*ss
4--Dmitri Shostakovich--even more amazing than his musical genius was his genius at tap dancing his way around first Stalin's thought policve, then Krushshev's and staying out of the Soviet Gulag
5--Antonín Dvorák--not only a pioneer, along with Smetana, of the Czech/Bohemian movement, but also, during his stay in both New York and Iowa, encouraged American composters to use their own native elements in their commpositions

1. Bach.

2. Vivaldi.

3. Paganini.

4. Beethoven.

5. Handel.


(In that order. That is some awesome and very pretty Classical music right there. I really love Bach and Vivaldi's stuff the best).

It's great to see a lot of people like classical music on a rock/metal forum... although it is neo classical metal I guess :P so it should be expected. Anyways, these lists leave me semi shocked at the few composers listed throughout :blink: . I recommend getting a big cd set of different composers if anyone is interested in learning more. The first classical cd set that I got, was "100 Classical Masterpieces" or something along those lines, its very good. Than maybe there will be more of a classical selection than Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, and Vivaldi. :D

Shelshor, your a real romantic period fan! Those composers are amazing. Do you play classical?

the only two i have really listened to are mozart and beethoven, and I love mozart's music.

1.Paganini
2.Mozart
3.Bach
4.Beethoven
5.Vivaldi

Not mentioned yet but Rodrigo is pretty good. A classical guitar playing with a symphony.

Concierto de Aranjuez is absolute masterpiece for the classical guitar world. Rodrigo is outstanding, he was blind! One of the many painists that wrote for the guitar. Infact Uli Jon Roth does a really great neo-classical rock version of Aranjuez.

i burned out on paganini and vivaldi - too much

YNGWIE MALMSTEEN!!! - guitar concerto - groovy sh#*!!!
tchaikovsky - piano and violin concertos
mendohlson - violin concerto
chopin - everything
rachmoninov - piano concertos mostly

1- Paganini
2- Vivaldi
3- Bach
4- Beethoven
5- Mozart

that's my top 5 :)

cheers

I really only listen to Baroque stuff so apart from the entry at no:5 here they are:

1 Antonio Vivaldi
2 J.S Bach
3 G.F Handel
4 Domenico Scarlatti
5 Niccolo Paganini

ahh nice IbanezDaemon, I love Scarlatti, his sonatas are epic. I play a couple of them on classical guitar.

Nice one Devon, he is a much over looked composer from the baroque era. I think Scarlatti, Bach and Handel were all born in the same year, 1685 if memory serves me correct. But I was wondering Devon if you play Classical guitar have you grown your nails on your picking hand and if you have do they affect your picking when you play rock guitar. I have been interested in starting Flamenco guitar for some time now but would have to grow the nails on my right hand which i am afraid might affect my use of a plectrum {unintentional pinched harmonics all the time}. Maybe you use a fingerstyle to play classical guitar without the use of nails? Anyway any info you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanx.

Oh my friend you have no idea... If I knew of the troubles of nails before hand I may not have started classical guitar. I play classical and flamenco and I cannot and will not give up the use of my nails... no nails = no tone imo. Some people play without nails but I think those are just beginners and people who haven't tried long nails. and when people name famous players that didn't use nails they are wrong... they say Segovia had no nails... untrue... he just had short nails.

Anyways, the nails screw with two aspects of my pick playing... my tapping and my holding of the pick... I still have no found a solution. I will post a thread I made a while ago at the Delcamp forum, about this issue, and I say more about it, as well as other people having the same problem... I have tried some things out, but they have all failed.

Right now, I currently have short nails and no thumb nail (which I am going to grow back and try again)... my nails prevent me from playing clean taps, so I can only tap sparingly and not crazy stuff. with my thumbnail cut off I can hold the pick well but I cannot play intense fast thumb picking on classical as well and my classical tone is shit without it... So I am basically stuck in a rut, idk what to do, especially with the thumb.

If you have nay questions on this problem... I have been fighting it for while, lol. If you have any ideas... please tell me. :D

http://www.delcamp.net/forum/en/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=29768

I must say I have always been a rediculously huge fan of JS Bach. His hundreds of fugues disturbs me in the best way, and the fact that he could write a 30 minute oratorio every week to be performed at the church astounds me. I suppose if it was my job to compose I could try...lol


Then there is of course Niccolo Paganini, and Antonio Vivaldi. Absolutely beautiful flowing notes in elaborate and intense melodies. Fernando Sor would have to be another favorite, along with Matteo Carcassi. He has some beautiful songs!

yes! Fernando Sor, Carcassi! what about Mauro Giuliani, fantastic guitarists.

yeah, the sheer number of Bach pieces is astounding.

Devon, thanx for the interesting and informative answer to my question on your classical playing. The problem presented seems to have no easy answer or solution as both styles demand different techniques and for want of a better expression 'hardware' to get one's expression of the instrument across properly.

Having spoken with you a good few times on this site Devon it is evident to me that you {like myself} are a purist when it comes to your guitar playing and appreciation of the instrument and the various styles of music in which the guitar is used as an expressive voice. I can appreciate how frustrating you must find this ongoing problem.

I have been considering starting Flamenco playing for some time now as I have always loved this type of music, in particular the soleares playing. I love the Phrygian Dominant and Harmonic minor modes and would love to try applying these to something outside of rock playing and as you know these modes are relevant in Flamenco playing. However I have been playing rock guitar for over 20 years now and it will always remain my number one love so I would hate to compromise that style over another which I may or may not take to.

After you have read this check out the sponsored link to the bottom left of this page. Weird or what? Have you ever checked what is on offer there? :o

NP IbanezDaemon, I think we relate well :). I wish I could've given you a solution but i can't. It just a plain shitty situation. I will post my results once I grow my thumbnail back. As of now with my short nails I can do basic taps like extending arpeggios, etc... nothing fancy like 8 finger tapping... which is a great technique, however I'm not so sure I would use it in my music, just because of the poor tone that is inevitable. Chapman sticks are great but tapping alone leaves for a thinner blander tone.

Anyways, I am getting it flamenco a lot lately as well, in fact I have a really great lesson DVD I can send you if you decide to take it up. Paco DeLucia is an outstanding player.

I want to master every genre of guitar someday... flamenco, metal, ragtime, classical, jazz! ya know?

Which ad are you talking about the vampire w/e one? theres a lot of weird ads that we've got here haha.

Anyways, I'm hoping i will find a solution for this nail problem, but hey. W/e you decide to play enjoy it!

Cheers Devon much appreciated. It would be great to be in any musical situation and have the ability to express yourself through all the different styles you have mentioned especially if one was to become proficient enough to be able to improvise their playing in all of these genres. I wish you well in your goal to incorporate these styles in your repertoire {an intimidating prospect but one that is
achieveable}.

By the way the ad I was talking about refers to false fingernails for Classical guitarists. I'm gonna check it out and will keep you posted.

P.s Paco is God!!!!

Forgot to mention Manouche jazz (Gypsy jazz)... I have had a strange obsessed with Django Reinhardt and the boys lately...

It fascinates me how VH and the likes are credited for things like tapping and sweeping first... But its ridiculous because these guys are nothing compared to other styles in the past.

Paganini tapped on his violin, Django on his guitar, Chet Atkins was a mad tapper and sweeper. I have some clips... especially this Django one, it will blow you away. Mr. Chapman invented the tap guitar (chapman stick) in the late 60s and even turkish folk music has a technique the is basically tapping. the history of these techniques interests me... so many guys used these techniques before VH. I used to have a clip of Steve hackett (Genesis) tapping.

Atkins tapping in the 50s or 60s - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Svm_Vnntyk

Atkins sweeping madly in the 50s or 60s - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ni8KBhnebwE

Unfortunately there aren't a lot of Django videos around and the ones they have aren't as impressive as his recordings, but anyways here is master Rosenberg playing some Django really early on... check the sheer blistering speed + tapping -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGxDSij9jH4


and Paco DeLucia! what amazing technique
And Al DiMeola! (his mid 70s recordings and just mad! far before Yngwie),

I find the Gypsy jazz scene the most impressive though because that style developed... over night... everything is based on Django's playing, even the chords they use today is based on the fact that he could not play chords big than 3 or 4 notes! because his fingers.

Ne ways, a bit of a rambling but hey.

My top 5:

1. Sibelius - check out 'The Swan of Tuonela' or any of his symphonies. Spine tingling music in my opinion.

2. Vaughan-Williams - My favourite is 'Fantasia on a theme of Thomas Tallis. Beautiful man!

3. Holst -Mainly for 'The Planets' but there are some other of his peices that I quite like.

4. Rachmaninov - The piano concertos are great but my favourite is 'The Isle of the Dead'. Its a bit brooding, but hey - that's what I like about it!

5. Vivaldi - Various Violin Concerti. The Four Seasons.

As you can see I'm mostly into the Romantic and 20th Century stuff rather than Baroque or Classical Era.

I have obviously heard of the first four composers in your list Hurricane but I am not familiar with any of the pieces you have mentioned but I'm gonna check 'em out. It's always good to come across new pieces of music and everything deserves a chance. :)

Good news IbanezDaemon!

I got these little rubber finger thimbles (size medium) that you can get at any office supplies store. and I put it on my middle finger, and it is amazing for tapping, possibly better than normal without nails. It is a bit sticky when tap sliding (T-mac style) at the end of arpeggios, but i think it makes it easier to control. You MUST buy these thingies if you play electric guitar with long nails and need to tap, it is a better solution than I thought was possible.

On the thumb/pick issue, I am still growing the side of my thumb nail out, it is taking a while to get it where I want, but I will get back to you once that happens.

Interesting. It's something I'll have to look into alright. Anyway let me know how it goes and thanx for the info. :)

I only really know, Paganini, Mozart, Beethoven and Bach.

I would place them in this order.

1:Paganini
2:Beethoven
3:Bach
4:Mozart

Paganini is definately the most innovative, i think his caprice no. 24 is amazing.

1. BACH!!!
2. BEETHOVEN
3. MOZART
4. VIVALDI
5. PAGANINI

1. Paganini
2. Vivaldi

I don't think I can rank the rest of them, but I also enjoy Beethoven, Bach and Sibelius. Haven't really listened to Mozart.

You should check Mozart out mate, probably the greatest musical talent in history. I'm with you on the Vivaldi thing, he's probably my favourite composer and I love Beethoven's brusque style. Paganini was the first shredder imo. He used to break three of his strings during a performance and go into a cadenza using the one remaining string.

I think if you mixed Vivaldi, Beethoven and Paganini together the end result would be something resembling Cacophony's Speed Metal Symphony album ;)

I'll look into Mozart when I get the chance, that's for sure. And yeah, Paganini's awesome. I just love his violin shredding, never heard his guitar works, though.

You could be right there ID. You might want to throw a bit of Stravinsky into the mix though to cover the occasional atonal bit. To be honest I think his 'Rite of Spring' is the closest thing to thrash metal before erm....thrash metal. ;)

Yeah the Stravinsky thing would be the final piece in the mix. Well said Hurricane.

I don't know too many coomposers, but as far as I know...

1.Dèbussy
2.Mozart
3.Brahms
4.Haendel
5.Bach

I don't really know too many, but...

1. Paganini
2. Beethoven
3. Bach
4. Mozart
5. Vivaldi

They're in no particular order... but I was sure to put Paganini up top cuz his violin shredding:

1. Kicks major @$$
2. Has a lot of feeling despite speed
3. Can easily be transcribed to 'la guitarre'

Hmm hard topic since there are at least 2 or 3 songs from just about every composer ive ever listened to that move me:( When i listen to a piece I want to be carried away from where ever I am and be totally surprised, some composers you can almost guess the next note.

With the exception of the #1 slot the rest are not in order.

#1 C Debussy - Reverie, Claire De Lune, Prelude To The Afternoon Of A Faun, Arabesque, Girl with the flaxen hair ect ect:) Ohh the joy!!!!

#2 Edvard Grieg - (Piano Concerto In A Minor, Opus 16)= perfect! (Morning) - starts off sounding like the cartoon morning with the lil chickens rising and stuff but lord the mood it can put you in! Most beautiful piece

#3 Chopin - Ohh lord what can you say about him? Im no expert and judge by how high the hair stands on my arms but i'm convinced as far as piano goes he rules:) Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2 ****** 6 stars
#20 in C Sharp Minor ****** ohh my god!!!
Nocturne no. 8 op. 27 no. 2 ****
Fantasie" Impromptu, Op. 66 can you say holy s&^t ***** way 2 many to list all my favs

#4 Bach - A man truly touched by God
Suite No. 3 BWV 1068: Air***** Fantasia & Fugue in g minor , Prelude and fugue in g minor, Like Chopin way to many to list :)

#5 Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor ("Pathétique"), Op. 13
Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor ("Appassionata"), Op. 57
Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor ("Moonlight"), Op. 27/
Jeez again 2 much to list but i love these maybe because it was the 1st cd i ever bought and wore it out and fast :)

I know it says top 5:( I dont know much about Massenet but
Meditation From Thaïs ******* played by someone that can really play a violin is just perfect!!!

My love of classical borders with my love of film music so my list is a bit different

1 James horner - This guy is very critisised (he wrote titanic shlop 'my heart will go on' - for which he won an oscar!) He is also the guy who expanded where Jerry Goldsmith and John Williams went with massive action/sci fi scores. Highlights are 'Krull' (best film score ever?) and 'Star Trek The Wrath of Khan'. This guy gives me goosebumps - he reuses a lot of his classic cues bit who gives a monkey.

2 Gustav holst - The Planets changed the way i thought about Classical music as a child - i still go to bed at night listening to it and wake up suddenly when Jupiter comes along as its so damn loud after the quiet stuff!

3 Bach - I love baroque and this guy was a genius - not musch more to say.

4 Grieg - i love the Peer Gynt Suite, although quite quirky - you cant beat his piano concerto in A minor for a great intro to a piece.

5 Jerry Goldsmith - i love his romantic side, his strings were just spine tingling - a great talent sadly gone.

TOP 5 COMPOSERS

1-Vivaldi
2-Chopin
3-Mozart
4-Bach
5-Handel

Well, for me its changes weekly but at the moment...

Antonio Vivaldi
Felix Mendelssohn
Edvard Grieg
G F Handel
Richard Wagner
Frederic Chopin

But always in my top 20

L V Beethoven
W A Mozart
Nicolo Paganini
J S Bach
C P E Bach


Peace

S

I'm not sure if I've given my list here yet, but I'll do it now for some new life on the Classical Music board. These are in no particular order, though, and with the exception of the first two, some are subject to change every now and then.

Niccolò Paganini
Frédéric Chopin
Jean Sibelius
Franz Liszt
Georg Friedrich Händel

I gve you that I haven't listened to too many composers; been trying to get to lay my ears on some Rachmaninoff, Tschaikovsky and Grieg, though.