Elger is a classically trained guitarist from Bogotá. He ekes out a meagre living serenading the many South American tourists, and handful of gringos, who converge on the outdoor restaurants of Cartagena´s Plaza Santo Domingo every evening. Despite his classical background, most of his song requests are for popular music. He charges 50c per song and, by working seven days a week until 4am in the morning (Colombians like to party late), he can usually earn enough to pay for rent and food.
Like the other street musicans and hawkers, he needs a thick skin to deal with the 100s of replies of ´no gracias´ he receives from those he approaches.
I was an obvious target, sitting on my own as I was, looking like I´d just rolled into town an hour or two ago (which I had). I politely declined his offer to play me an Eric Clapton song, but he sat down anyway and asked me what kind of music I did like. When I said classical and Latin American folk, a wide, more genuine, smile appeared on his face and he began to play from his classical repitiore, assuring me that it was for free. We talked for a while, and he explained to me how it was impossible to make a living as a guitar teacher in Colombia. On learning that he had been a teacher, I asked if he could give me a lesson one day. He agreed, naming a price of $10 for an hour, which sounded quite reasonable.
And so he arrived at my hostel the next afternoon with guitar slung over his shoulder. We sat down in the courtyard and he played a piece that he said he was going to teach me in the next hour. I thought he was being a bit optimistic, given that it involved bar chords up and down the fretboard , and I had rarely ventured beyond the 3rd fret before, let alone attempted a bar chord. Add to this the fact that my Spanish was about as good as my guitar playing.
Well, in that hour I learned more than I had in months of trying to teach myself, and by the end of the lesson I could play the first half of the piece. Not well, but recognisable.
Music certainly has an amazing power to transcend language barriers, but could it also help to reconcile Colombia´s many warring factions? This is what César López was thinking when he formed the Battalion of Immediate Artists Reaction, a group of musicians who play impromptu street concerts at former scenes of violence, with a message of peaceful reconciliation, playing guitars made from decomissioned guns. His website is http://www.cesarlopez.org/.
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