I modified my guitar to play standing up

This year, I gave myself one specific goal: to build an original music project, something that didn't fit the usual classical guitar box.

After a few attempts and a bit of luck, I ended up in a trio with Stefano on bass and Christian, a fantastic jazz pianist. From the very first notes we played together, the sound was something I hadn't heard before: a mix of classical technique, jazz improvisation, and that Mediterranean feeling that is so much a part of me. I got so excited that I immediately wanted to record a video! But halfway through filming our first piece, I realized something was deeply off.

Picture me there: stuck on a chair while the music we were playing was so alive that every single part of my body just wanted to get up and dance.

To fix that, I had to do something that is considered a real taboo by many classical guitarists: I had to modify my guitar.

On a beautiful spring day, I drove out to a small town in the hills to meet my luthier friends, Matias and Carmen. Besides installing the strap buttons (the actual "surgery" part!), we decided to take it a step further. They installed five microphones inside the body of my guitar: four contact microphones under the bridge and one standard microphone. The goal? To finally be able to play amplified live comfortably, without destroying the soul and natural sound of the instrument.

To be honest, it wasn't an easy decision to make. The classical guitar world can seem very static sometimes, and that's a problem for me. I don't want to feel like a "museum piece", I want my style to evolve, and I want to push the classical guitar beyond its traditional boundaries. Talking to the wonderful Zoe Barnett (who plays standing up due to an old back injury), I realized that you can explore a new technical approach while keeping the sound quality intact.

After putting everything together, and a late-night run to the supermarket to find a battery to make the amplification system work! The next morning brought the moment of truth.

The very first test run was... interesting. While my right hand felt stable and comfortable, with my left hand I felt like I had to break my wrist in order to play. But once I adjusted the strap a little bit higher, the magic happened.

Sure, on the first read-through I probably missed about 80% of the notes, but musically speaking, the feeling was incredible. I felt infinitely more free, more connected to the music. My whole body was finally participating. It was like discovering a completely new way of playing an instrument I already loved deeply, a way I couldn't have imagined would feel so natural to me.

In the following days, I practiced a lot to get used to it, until the time came to record again.

The first song I'll be releasing with the trio is called “Coming Back”.

I can't wait for you to hear it!

Roberta