I am currently undertaking my doctoral candidature in Languages of Improvisation and Contemporary Music at Siena Jazz University.
My project is entitled „Am I Right? Exploring Guitar Handedness Through Improvisation“.
Abstract:
My research is focused on exploring the symmetries and asymmetries that characterize the guitar in terms of form, postures, technique and the movements that the guitarist can carry out to produce sounds on it.
Starting from a unique perspective, that of left-handed guitar playing, the research studies how the hands are involved in traditional and contemporary performance practice. The project also investigates all the different technical postures and approaches typical of the world of the guitar, spanning from the academic world of the classical guitar to the DIY fields of rock, punk and similar non-academic genres of the electric guitar.
Through this study I’m exploring new guitar gestures, seizing on the presence and coordination of two limbs that can undermine the concept of the “strong hand”, calling into question the subtle border of acceptable sound. Starting from an act of self-sabotage, this process leans on the natural instability that arises from reversing habits and performance practices. Thus, this project aims to amplify the technical-expressive possibilities of any guitarist, no matter what posture and technical approach they started from, in order to integrate all the possibilities that being left-handed or right-handed automatically excluded from the instrumental options at the beginning of the learning process.
This innovative approach will be applied to the field of free improvisation using traditional instruments, as well as left-handed models of various types (classical, acoustic and electric). The expected results will be widely applied to improvising practices, the guitar world and guitar didactics.
Papers:
Naibo, F. (2020). Namatoulee. In Divulgazione Audio Testuale n.7, il Sileno Edizioni (pp. 108-124) ISBN 979-12-80064-03-5
https://www.ilsileno.it/dat/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/d.a.t.-numero_7_ottobre_2020_anno_IV.pdf
Naibo, F. (2023). Marc Ribot’s Exercises in Futility. In R. Torres, A. Brandon, & J. Noble (Eds.), Proceedings of The 21st Century Guitar Conference 2019 & 2021 (pp. 253-270). https://digitalcommons.du.edu/twentyfirst-century-guitar/vol1/iss1/17
Other publications:
Naibo, F. (2025). Time Adaptations. In S. Loveless (Eds.), A year or Deep Listening. 365 text scores for Pauline Oliveros, Terra Nova Press (p. 279) ISBN 9781949597349
https://mitpress.mit.edu/9781949597349/a-year-of-deep-listening/
Naibo, F. (2025). Chronicles Of Everyday Kindness: Essential Exercises For Musicians. In S. Serpa & J. Shyu (Eds.), M3 Anthology of Writings Vol.6, pp. 52-53
https://m3musicians.org/m%C2%B3-anthology-of-writings-vol-6/
