10 Great Guitar Blogs: Classical Guitar Blog

By: Dr. Matt Warnock

Christopher Davis

I’ve long considered classical guitarists to be the Olympic athletes of the guitar world. They spend thousands of hours perfecting their craft, building their tone and developing proper technique. They work on immensely difficult pieces for hours a day, sometimes only to perform them once and then move on to the next six-string challenge. Then, every four years or so one of these doggedly determined fingerpickers breaks from the pack and the rest of the world takes notice of their musical achievements, before we all unfortunately return to our regularly scheduled programming.

With such huge obstacles placed in front of them right from the beginning, both technical and social, it’s no wonder that classical players are often the crème de la crème of the guitar community; even if the rest of us don’t take the time to fully appreciate the majesty and enjoyment that their music provides.

It is for just these reasons that Christopher Davis and the Classical Guitar Blog have been an important addition to the online guitar community. Shining a big spotlight on classical guitarists, classical guitar makers, classical guitar recording s and concerts, and basically everything that involves the classical guitar, the CG blog has grown from a small operation built in his bedroom one day, to the go to site for all things classical guitar.

With the website recently celebrating its second birthday, and a dedicated readership that’s growing as we speak, the Classical Guitar Blog was an easy choice for inclusion in our 10 Great Guitar Blogs series.

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Matt Warnock: How did you first become interested in running your own guitar website?

Chris Davis: I’d owned the Classical Guitar Blog domain name for a few months before I really started working on it in late 2008. This was during my first semester of grad school, and it was a major cultural-social change for me. I went from being surround by a big social circle to knowing no one, and my then girlfriend, now wife, and I were doing the long distance relationship thing.

In short, I had a lot of time on my hands. Writing and talking about guitar, something I loved to do in forums online, seemed like a good way to fill some time. Of course I had no idea that it would turn into as big a deal as it has.

Matt: What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced as the Classical Guitar Blog has grown since launching in 2008?

Chris: Getting fresh, new ideas. Because most of my content is instructional, it’s very hard to come up with new ideas constantly. At the same time, there’s only so much I can talk about effectively.

I will say, however, that coming up with new ideas is much easier when I’m practicing a ton and performing a lot. I just get in that critical thinking mindset and come up with all kinds of stuff.

The Classical Guitar Blog is now in a position where I’m viewed as a sort of filter, so more and more people are asking about CD reviews. I’m not sure if feel comfortable doing that sort of thing yet, but we’ll see where it leads down the road.

Matt: What are some of the innovations in technology that you think have had the biggest impact on the Classical Guitar Blog and how you reach your audience in today’s internet climate?

Chris: Well, WordPress has gotten a lot better since I started using it. I don’t think anything had radically changed in the technology world since I started. That said, things that were less popular two years ago have become ubiquitous and easy. As Clay Shirky says, “technology only gets really interesting when it gets really boring” (everyone is using it.)

Because of the huge reach of Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube (especially twitter), I’m better able to communicate with my readers, which is awesome. I love talking to people off or online. The biggest difference in twitter and Facebook now is better searching. Now I can go on over the classical guitar splash page on facebook and find tons of people to interact with!

Matt: Where do you see sites like yours moving in the future? Can the current paradigm work or are we in for a big change as far as how content is presented on the internet?

Chris: In general a lot folks are moving towards more of a text message size attention span for reading. That’s true for me, as well. An article has to be really, really good for me to read the whole thing. Some writers I find extremely effective and insightful; I read everything they write, others not so much.

So, I think we’re all going to have to either up our copywriting game in order to keep people reading, or we’re going to have to present briefer, more bare-bones commentary and ideas. I know my own writing has trended towards shorter things lately.

Video is also going to get bigger and bigger for guitar or guitar instruction bloggers. That’s a big world, but I’m not sure if it’s a viable avenue for making money. It’s too easy to find something for free on YouTube. That being said, if you can get some solid video lessons going you can build quite a following. Kevin Gallagher, a classical guitarist, does it extremely well, and as a result, gets a ton of webcam students just from posting free videos.

Where I see myself going is finding a way to do online courses in a classroom-like environment. These would be complete with live streaming virtual classrooms and assignments. I think the accountability that comes with that sort of course is what people will dig. And, of course I’m going to keep writing like I am now and posting video lessons.

Matt: Is there any topic that you love to write about, a certain genre of music maybe, or a certain artist, or are you drawn to the world of guitar rather than to a specific entity within that realm?

Chris: I love to write about music interpretation, but I suck at writing about it. I enjoy writing about practicing as well, and, fortunately I’m not terrible at that. At some point, when I have original ideas about the stuff, I’ll be writing about marketing for musicians.

Matt: What have been some of the biggest highlights you’ve experienced, as a writer and guitarist, since you started your site?

Chris: All the interviews. I learn a ton, and I get to ask a bunch of professional guitarists whatever I want. It’s awesome, and the networking aspect isn’t bad either.

Matt: What advice do you have for any up and coming guitar bloggers out there?

Chris: Quality and Consistency. Write good stuff, and keep it coming.

Also, batch your writing. Do it all on one day so you have a certain number of posts each week. Add articles to that if news comes up or you find something interesting.

Finally, this blogging stuff is hard work. It takes a long time to develop a following. But there are a lot of friendly people on the internet. Interact with other guitar bloggers. Work to promote their content, and they’ll help you promote yours. Don’t be afraid to reach out to your colleagues.