Asturias (Leyenda) with TAB

Asturias performed by Robert Lunn

Asturias (Leyenda) by Isaac Albéniz is the piece that made me want to play classical guitar when I was 18. Before that I played electric guitar with aspirations of being a rock star. I heard a recording of John Williams playing this song and I was like, “I have GOT to learn this song.”….

You can learn this in the guitar school part of my website.

Asturias (Leyenda)

This is the piece that got me into classical guitar…

During the summer of 1992 my family moved from Baton Rouge, Louisiana to Holland, Michigan. I was going to begin my freshmen year at Hope College in the fall. My parents had recently purchased me an Alvarez classical guitar and my dad bought a John Williams CD. Here is me (with Christopher Parkening) with my Alvarez…

I remember laying on the ground listening to that CD and Leyenda came on. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It was the most amazing piece of music my young brain had ever heard!! Was that really just one guitar?? I remember thinking, “I have GOT to learn that song!”

That fall, at Hope College, I took a beginning classical guitar class at Hope with Larry Malfroid. I remember before class one time asking him if he knew the piece. He started playing and I was totally impressed.

That piece of music literally changed my life. It was because of that piece I started learning classical guitar which, in turn, made me decide to become a music major which led me to learn composition and so and so on. Here is a version by Julian Bream that I’ve been listening to a lot lately…