Frederick Noad
Encyclopedia
Frederick Noad was a Belgian classical guitar
performer, educator, and an original founder of the Guitar Foundation of America.
Noad was famed for his popular instructional television show, Guitar with Frederick Noad which was originally televised on PBS in the mid-1960s, resyndicated in color in the early 1980s, and continues to be broadcast today.
Born in Blankenberge
, Belgium
, Noad moved at an early age with his family to Eversley
, England and was originally introduced to music through the violin
and piano
. As a young teenager Noad started playing the guitar
, which quickly became his favorite instrument.
Noad took a nontraditional path to becoming a professional musician. He received a liberal arts
education at Wellington college, earning degrees in a wide variety of disciplines including ancient history
, Latin
, Greek
, and literature
. He later earned his masters degree in jurisprudence
at Oxford University.
After graduating from college, Noad found work in America working for J Arthur Rank Films Company. But restructuring made his job redundant and forced him to look for new work. It was at this point that Noad decided to pursue a career in music. He started a small music business in Hollywood, California
called the Spanish Guitar Center where he offered music lessons and sold imported classical guitars from famous makers in Spanish cities such as Cordoba
and Granada
. He also continued his own study under Spanish guitar virtuoso Andrés Segovia
during Segovia's renowned professional classes at Música en Compostela
in Spain and also under English classical player Julian Bream
.
Noad soon established himself as a skilled performer and began teaching music at the college level at the University of California, Irvine
and the California Institute of the Arts
. He also authored several instructional guitar books many focusing on classical guitar playing, but some also encompassing a wide varitety of other styles such as travis picking, folk
and country, flamenco
, Latin rhythms, the blues
, and rock and roll
.
Classical guitar
The classical guitar is a 6-stringed plucked string instrument from the family of instruments called chordophones...
performer, educator, and an original founder of the Guitar Foundation of America.
Noad was famed for his popular instructional television show, Guitar with Frederick Noad which was originally televised on PBS in the mid-1960s, resyndicated in color in the early 1980s, and continues to be broadcast today.
Born in Blankenberge
Blankenberge
Blankenberge is a town and a municipality in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the town of Blankenberge proper and the settlement of Uitkerke.On 1 January 2010 Blankenberge had a total population of 18,907...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Noad moved at an early age with his family to Eversley
Eversley
Eversley is a village and civil parish in the Hart District of North-East Hampshire, England, 21 km North East of Basingstoke. Its northern boundary is formed by the River Blackwater....
, England and was originally introduced to music through the violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
and piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
. As a young teenager Noad started playing the guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, which quickly became his favorite instrument.
Noad took a nontraditional path to becoming a professional musician. He received a liberal arts
Liberal arts
The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...
education at Wellington college, earning degrees in a wide variety of disciplines including ancient history
Ancient history
Ancient history is the study of the written past from the beginning of recorded human history to the Early Middle Ages. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, with Cuneiform script, the oldest discovered form of coherent writing, from the protoliterate period around the 30th century BC...
, Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
, and literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
. He later earned his masters degree in jurisprudence
Jurisprudence
Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions...
at Oxford University.
After graduating from college, Noad found work in America working for J Arthur Rank Films Company. But restructuring made his job redundant and forced him to look for new work. It was at this point that Noad decided to pursue a career in music. He started a small music business in Hollywood, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
called the Spanish Guitar Center where he offered music lessons and sold imported classical guitars from famous makers in Spanish cities such as Cordoba
Córdoba, Spain
-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...
and Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
. He also continued his own study under Spanish guitar virtuoso Andrés Segovia
Andrés Segovia
Andrés Torres Segovia, 1st Marquis of Salobreña , known as Andrés Segovia, was a virtuoso Spanish classical guitarist from Linares, Jaén, Andalucia, Spain...
during Segovia's renowned professional classes at Música en Compostela
Música en Compostela
Música en Compostela is an annual summer course in music performance and composition held in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. It was founded by the Spanish guitarist Andrés Segovia and the diplomat José Miguel Ruiz Morales in 1958...
in Spain and also under English classical player Julian Bream
Julian Bream
Julian Bream, CBE is an English classical guitarist and lutenist and is one of the most distinguished classical guitarists of the 20th century. He has also been successful in renewing popular interest in the Renaissance lute....
.
Noad soon established himself as a skilled performer and began teaching music at the college level at the University of California, Irvine
University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine , founded in 1965, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California, located in Irvine, California, USA...
and the California Institute of the Arts
California Institute of the Arts
The California Institute of the Arts, commonly referred to as CalArts, is located in Valencia, in Los Angeles County, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the United States created specifically for students of both the visual and the...
. He also authored several instructional guitar books many focusing on classical guitar playing, but some also encompassing a wide varitety of other styles such as travis picking, folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and country, flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
, Latin rhythms, the blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, and rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
.
Publications
- First Book for the Guitar
- Solo Guitar Playing
- 100 Graded Classical Studies
- Playing the Guitar
- The Renaissance Guitar
- The Baroque Guitar
- The Classical Guitar
- The Romantic Guitar
- The Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing the Guitar
- The Virtual Guitarist
- Villa-Lobos, Collected Works For Solo Guitar