In Celebration of Imperfection

by David E.W. Fenner

Classical guitar is one of my favorite things to listen to. The song matters less to me than the instrument. Played well, with dexterity and focus, it produces a sound that is rich and resonate, at the same time deep and acute. But if one listens carefully, there are more sounds being produced than simply the ones the player intends to produce. No playing of the classical guitar escapes the inclusion of the sounds of the player's fingers as they slide up and down the ridged strings which can at times be as loud and as present as the notes themselves. Those who listen to classical guitar most probably "tune out" the sliding sound. Aesthetic attention is purposeful; we attend to those aspects of an aesthetic object that contribute positively to the experience. We select out those aspects that we deem to be irrelevant to the positive experience. This is surely the way it is with the sliding sound. We ignore it, and if we do hear it briefly, we dismiss it as irrelevant.