THE PORTUGUESE GUITAR BELONGS EXCLUSIVELY TO PORTUGUESE CULTURE AND PLAYING IT VIRTUOUSLY HAS LONG BEEN ONE OF THE MOST APPRECIATED FACETS OF LUSITANIAN MUSIC. ALTHOUGH THE PORTUGUESE GUITAR IS FREQUENTLY, AND CORRECTLY, ASSOCIATED TO FADO, IT IS ALSO A GENRE IN ITSELF. COIMBRA’S TRADITION INSPIRED MANY INSTRUMENTAL “FANTASIES” BASED ON RURAL FOLKLORE DANCES. ARTISTS FROM BOTH COIMBRA AND LISBON USED THE SEEMINGLY ENDLESS FLEXIBLE VARIATIONS, IN MAJOR AND MINOR SCALES, TO DEMONSTRATE THEIR CAPACITY TO IMPROVISE. GUITARISTS IN TRADITIONAL PORTUGUESE MUSIC – WHO ARE, ALMOST WITHOUT EXCEPTION, MEN – ARE REQUIRED TO EXHIBIT A CERTAIN DEGREE OF COMPLEXITY: THEY MUST PRESERVE THE PORTUGUESE TRADITION AND YET BE INNOVATIVE; THEY MUST BREATHE NEW LIFE INTO OLD THEMES; THEY MUST COMPOSE AND IMPROVISE; THEY MUST BE ABLE TO ACCOMPANY A VAST RANGE OF VOCAL STYLES; THEY MUST CAPTURE EVERY “NUANCE” OF FADO BUT CANNOT BE LIMITED TO IT; AND THEY MUST SURPASS TECHNICAL EXPERTISE. ABOVE ALL, THEIR INSTRUMENTS MUST EXPRESS THE PROFOUND EMOTION THAT, IN PORTUGUESE, IS CALLED “SAUDADE” (A SORT OF MELANCHOLIC LONGING).