As a NEO CLASSICAL GUITARIST, Chuck pioneered the use of the pick style guitar in Classical music. Using both electric and acoustic guitars, his Neo Classical style features transcriptions, original composition and improvisation on international themes.

Liner notes from Chuck's album Kaleidophon : The Art of the Neo Classical Guitar

Our society seems compelled to label things - to put them in categories. But how do you handle a musical concept that refuses to fall into one of these established categories? The answer - you simply create a name for it and hope it will become a category in and of itself.

Such is the case with the "Neo-Classical Guitar". The Neo-Classical Guitar is the newest or most modern form of guitar performing classical music. It is characterized by the use of a pick rather than the finger style of the traditional classical guitar.

The special application of the Neo-Classical Guitar is not so much its technique as its performing style and repertoire. My repertoire is drawn form three sources: Transcriptions, Arrangement and Original Composition. These are the same sources that classical music has always relied on for its repertoire. Transcription is the guitaristic adaptation of music originally written for another instrument. Arrangement is the harmonization of folk melody adapted for the guitar. Original Composition is the creation of new music to showcase the unique qualities of the pick style guitar.

I feel that these three sources of repertoire allow my music to fall within the category of classical music. I use the word "classical" in the sense of universal not in the sense of a period of history nor in the sense of a traditionally established instrument.

The popularity of the pick style guitar continues to grow. However, it has not yet entered into the mainstream of the classical concert stage.

I hope that my work will make a contribution to the art of contemporary guitar performance.

Neo-Classical Guitar Demo

• Click to Play Neo-Classical Demo (2:54, 2.7MB)