Guyún

Guyún (Vincente Gonzalez Rubiera, Santiago de Cuba, 27 October 1908–Havana, 1987) was an important guitarist, harmonist and teacher, who tapped into classical guitar techniques to revive the accompaniment of the trova. He achieved the finest transcriptions for guitar. [Canizares, Dulcila 1995. "La trova tradicional". 2nd ed, La Habana. p73]

He started studying guitar under Sindo Garay, and later understudied Severino Lopez, who had an excellent classical training. Guyún developed a modern concept of harmony, and a way to apply classical technique to popular Cuban music. He became more adventurous, yet still in Cuban vein, and in 1938 stopped performing to devote himself to teaching the guitar. This bore fruit, and two generations of Cuban guitarists bear witness to his influence. He wrote a valuable book, "La guitarra: su técnica y armonía", and two unpublished works: "Diccionario de acordes" and "Un nuevo panorama de la modulación y su técnica". He was highly praised by Andrés Segovia, on a visit to Cuba, and held various teaching posts. One of his students was the great tresero "El Niño Rivera" (Andrés Echevarría). [Orovio, Helio 2004. "Cuban music from A to Z". Revised by Sue Steward. ISBN 0822331861 A biographical dictionary of Cuban music, artists, composers, groups and terms. Duke University, Durham NC; Tumi, Bath. p99]

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