{"id":898,"date":"2013-09-07T09:39:06","date_gmt":"2013-09-07T09:39:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.geraldgarcia.com\/wordpress\/?p=898"},"modified":"2013-10-30T14:50:49","modified_gmt":"2013-10-30T14:50:49","slug":"james-joyces-guitar-chord","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/geraldgarcia.com\/?p=898","title":{"rendered":"James Joyce’s guitar chord"},"content":{"rendered":"

Continuing my occasional foray into the guitar in literature<\/a>, here is a famous picture of the author of “Ulysses” and “Finnegan’s Wake” presumably trying out a tune before a session (or maybe about to smash the guitar in frustration). In fact, Joyce <\/a>was reputed to have had a fine tenor voice, and the singer John McCormack offered to teach him, encouraging him to take music as a career.<\/p>\n

The original photo, taken by Ottocaro Weiss ,a friend who was “scandalized” by Joyce’s guitar playing, is housed in Cornell\u2019s James Joyce collection<\/a>, in an exhibit in a glass closet titled \u201cPoetry and Music.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Joyce\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cFingers to stray on Joyce\u2019s guitar again after its restoration<\/a>,\u201d an article by Terence Killeen in the March 22, 2012 Irish Times, <\/em>discusses the restoration of Joyce\u2019s guitar and contains a fascinating video clip of the luthier at work on the guitar. Gary Southwell, the luthier, guesses, based on the finger wear on the fretboard, that Joyce probably was not a \u201cfantastic\u201d guitarist because the wear suggests mostly first position, standard chord forms: \u201cHe wasn\u2019t all over the fingerboard.\u201d
\nHowever his right hand also needs attention.<\/p>\n

Here is an interesting article on the picture<\/a> (warning: may contain graphic details of chord shapes).<\/p>\n

And here are some photos of a session with Bernard O’Donoghue<\/a>, Oxford poet, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Joyce.<\/p>\n

\"GG_Bernard_JP\"<\/a>

Gerald, Bernard and John Pethica<\/p><\/div>\n

\"The<\/a>

John Pethica, Mick Henry, Bernard O’Donoghue, Gerald Garcia
Session in the Oxford Union<\/p><\/div>\n

Joyce reading from Finnegan’s Wake
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