Carlos Paredes

Carlos Paredes was born February the 16th of 1925, in Coimbra. He was known as: The Master of the Portuguese Guitar and The Man of the Thousand Fingers.

Carlos Paredes was one of the main guitarist and composer to show the world the beauty of Portuguese guitar.

Was the typical Coimbra’s guitarist the guitar is from Coimbra, the tuning is Coimbra’s and even the style is from Coimbra.

He started his guitar studies at the age of four with his father, also a famous guitarist, but his main cultural influences were his teachers of piano and violin.

In 1934 he moved to Lisbon where he developed a very specific type of music, different from all the ones known by the Portuguese public. In 1939 he started to collaborate with a program on national radio. In 1957 he recorded his first single called “Carlos Paredes”. In 1958 he was jailed by the PIDE, due to his opposition to polices of the regime and was known as a member of the Portuguese Communist Party. He was freed by the end of that year, but never could return to serve in the public sector.

In 1962 was invited by the producer Paulo Rocha to compose the music from the film “Os verdes anos”.

In 1967 he recorded his first album “Guitarra Portuguesa”, and played with many artists, including Charlie Haden, Carlos do Carmo and Adriano Correia de Oliveira.

When the regime’s prisoners were freed and seen as heroes by the Portuguese people, Carlos Paredes refused that status and when referred to his time in imprisonment always said: “There were many people that suffered much more than I did”. At this time he returned to his job in public services filing x–rays in one of Lisbon’s main hospitals), performing at the same time in cultural and political demonstrations, but always taking a very low profile. Various works of Carlos Paredes are recorded and we can find them in a collection of 8 CDs published in 2003.

His passion for his guitar was such that he confessed to a friend that one day during a trip his guitar got lost and he thought of committing suicide!

In the last eleven years of life didn’t play due to a nervous system disease. He died on June 23^rd 2004, in a rest home and a national mourning day was declared.

Some of his works include:

• 1957 – “Carlos Paredes”


• 1962 – “Verdes Anos”


• 1967 – “Guitarra Portuguesa”


• 1971 – “Movimento perétuo”


• 1980 – “O oiro e o trigo”


• 1983 – “Concerto em Frankfurt” (recorded live in Frankfurt)


• 1988 – “Espelhos de sons”


• 1992 – “Asas sobre o mundo”


• 1996 – “Na corrente”


• 2000 – “Canção para Titi”


• 2003 – “O mundo Segundo Carlos Paredes” (complete career)

Ana Luisa Esteves Pereira Xavier - 20444