Roland Dyens is one of the most exciting classical guitarists alive, although \u201cclassical guitarist\u201d is a term that limits him. He plays more than classical music, delving into such diverse areas as tango, jazz, and pop. And he\u2019s more than a guitarist, in that he has written several of what have become key pieces for the guitar and arranged other tunes for guitar not normally associated with the instrument. In addition, he teaches at the renowned Conservatoire National Sup\u00e9rieur de Musique in Paris, France. When he was 13, he became a student of the renowned Spanish master-guitarist and composer, Alberto Ponce. Today, he holds the teaching chair that Ponce once held.\u00a0 He has won numerous awards and received accolades from media and his peers. Dyens was born in Tunisia and lives in Paris.<\/p>\n
I met him on a bright April afternoon at a small brasserie on the Left Bank, just a few blocks from the Eiffel Tower. Dyens brought along a guitar for the photographs, and when I later started snapping pictures, he improvised a tune on the instrument, to the delight of others in the place.<\/p>\n
KATHLEEN\u00a0BERGERON:<\/strong> Let\u2019s talk about how you often begin your performances: You are famous for opening with an improvisation. That is quite unusual. To many people, this seems like a tightrope walker working without a net. And to do it at the beginning of a concert\u2014when many performers are typically quite nervous\u2014seems especially daring.<\/p>\n ROLAND DYENS:<\/strong> For me, it\u2019s easy. Improvisation seems like something special because it\u2019s in a classical context. Jazz musicians improvise all the time. Sometimes, in a jazz performance, all you hear is improvisation. Oh, and organists know how to improvise. The famous sentence that was written about me says that I\u2019m a jazz musician in my head and a classical one in my hands. It\u2019s true\u2014I do like to improvise.<\/p>\n But for me, it\u2019s not about revealing new things. Really, there are certain parameters that one must work within while performing music. Once you have a good knowledge of those parameters, you can make choices from within them.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s say I have . . . [He looks at the table before him and points out several items: a couple of water glasses, a coffee cup, a writing pen, a pad of paper, and an eyeglasses case. He counts them out, giving numbers to each.] One-two-three-four-five-six\u2014six things in front of me. And so I chose to go with first number two, then number five, then number three. And perhaps that works. The next time, perhaps I chose to start with number six, then number one, then number four. Perhaps that works better. But I know, because I\u2019ve been trained over time, that if I go with number five, then number one, then number two, it would not sound right.<\/p>\n That\u2019s very simplified, but it is basically what we\u2019re looking at\u2014improvising, but within a set system. Sometimes when I improvise it\u2019s very good. Sometimes it\u2019s not so good. Usually it\u2019s pretty good, OK? Improvising is my way of warming up to an audience. It\u2019s just like a business meeting in America. You have a brief, unscripted part of the meeting where you sort of improvise to get to know each other and get comfortable in the setting.<\/p>\n BERGERON:<\/strong> You are a teacher, a musician, a composer, transcriber, and arranger. And you perform many different types of music: classical, of course, but also jazz, tango, folk, and pop. If we were to assign a label to Roland Dyens, what would it be?<\/p>\n DYENS:<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019m most complicated to define. But my \u201chomeland\u201d is classical music. I was taught classical from childhood\u2014the jazz part I picked up on my own. So I feel I\u2019m not a jazz player, but a classical player visiting other \u201cplaces\u201d away from home from time to time. As for labels, I feel I am flexible. I love this word: flexible.<\/p>\n BERGERON:<\/strong> But are any types of music off limits to you? Is there anything you would not want to do? How about punk rock or rap?<\/p>\n DYENS:<\/strong> No, I think I\u2019d try just about anything . . . except flamenco maybe. It is so special. I would not want to do it wrong.<\/p>\n BERGERON:<\/strong> So flamenco is important to you\u2014did you ever get to meet the great flamenco guitarist Paco de Luc\u00eda?<\/p>\n DYENS:<\/strong> Yes, Paco. We met just once, for about five minutes. We were in Montpellier, in the south of France, sitting side-by-side next to each other in the back of a Mercedes. We were on our way to a concert. He was playing that night. It was quite special. But only five minutes.<\/p>\n BERGERON<\/strong>: Going back to the topic of the various types of music you play:\u00a0 For example, on your 1999 album, Nuages<\/em>, there is, of course, the Django Reinhardt tune by that name, also several of your own works, and selections by other composers of guitar music. And then there\u2019s a composition by jazz musician Thelonious Monk, \u201cRound Midnight.\u201d So now, can we add bebop to the type of music you\u2019ve recorded?<\/p>\n DYENS<\/strong>: Ha! That selection was a very interesting challenge. There is such magic in this music. I liked the piece, but it was difficult to select the correct tuning. After working with it for a while, I found that the original key was E-flat minor. That is not a key that you will often find for pieces on guitar. I had to find the right key, using the low E string and then work back from there. It took a very long time to put it all together.<\/p>\n That is the thing about the guitar: There are so many different tunings, one can easily get lost, trying to find the right tuning for a piece. I love it when I get lost in the tuning because it is such a challenge to find my way out.<\/p>\n BERGERON:<\/strong> So you like the fact that the various tuning options make guitar so difficult?<\/p>\n DYENS:<\/strong> Oh, yes. There is a guitar that was made centuries ago with little movable pieces of fret along the fretboard, so that you could have different settings, not just for each position\u2014such as first fret, second fret, third fret, and so on\u2014but you could have different locations for each string for each fret. Amazing.<\/p>\n BERGERON:<\/strong> That sounds like it would be impossible to play.<\/p>\n DYENS:<\/strong> Yes, but it is the perfect guitar, you see! Such a guitar would be very special.<\/p>\n BERGERON:<\/strong> How many guitars do\u00a0 you own?<\/p>\n DYENS:<\/strong> Oh, really I don\u2019t keep up with that sort of thing.\u00a0 Right now, I have a small, parlor-size guitar given to me by a friend that I use for everyday work. It\u2019s sort of my \u201chouse guitar,\u201d that I use for composing and working up arrangements. This other one here I use for performances. That makes it special, sort of like having a suit of clothes for special occasions. The guitar was made for me by Jim Holler in America [Trinity Guitars]. Jim was an engineer and decided he wanted to pursue his passion, so he went into making guitars. I seem to have a lot of engineers as part of my audience.<\/p>\n BERGERON:<\/strong> I\u2019ve seen some videos on YouTube where you hold master classes or workshops at events at which you perform. You seem to enjoy yourself working with the students. You enjoy having a friendly laugh with them, too.<\/p>\n DYENS:<\/strong> I enjoy it very much. These students come and are nervous, and I try to put them at ease. But I think there is nothing worse than an instructor who makes jokes at the expense of the student or laughs at them when they make a mistake. Our job is to encourage them to share in the joy of music, not make it a burden or something that embarrasses them.<\/p>\n
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