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I have been playing guitar for most of my life. The truth is, it has been one of the most stable and constant aspects of my life.

I have just started working with the Complete Sor Studies for Guitar, the David Grimes edition. I am loving these studies incredibly. As early as the first page (the first two exercises) I can see and hear the fact that the work is not only didactic but is also very musical and beautiful. I have been looking around the Internet and I see very little in the way of discussion and support for this.

Opus 60 #2 has server to remind me of an aspect of the experience of playing the guitar that I have not ever heard discussed. That is the pleasure of the finger positions. To give a concrete example (which will only be useful to those of you with the Sor Studies), the final  three measures of Opus 60 #2 (page 6 of the Mel Bay David Grimes edition), though it is very simple, yet is very beautiful, but what is more is the experience of the combination of moving the fingers in such as way at the same time as you hear the music exit the sound box of the guitar. The beauty of the form, the music and the form as it manifests itself on the fret board. There is a very visceral pleasure in all of this. It is hard to describe, but it is somewhere between spiritual and physical pleasure.

To add another level of commentary to this, I have recently begun reading The Glass Bead Game by Hesse. In this novel, music is considered the highest scholarly pursuit. Going through both of these books together is quite an experience.