Perfil

Education[edit]
Born in Cape Town, South Africa on 31 December 1953, Courtnall is the third of four children. He was
educated at St. Stithians College in Johannesburg (1959–68) and South Africa's first multi-racial high
school, Woodmead School in Rivonia (1969–71). This was the time of South Africa's Border War; school-
leavers were required to undertake military service, implying support of Apartheid. To avoid this, at the age of
18 he relocated to the United Kingdom, studying for 'A' levels at Abbotsholme School in Derbyshire (1972–73),
before attending the University of London Goldsmiths College for a BA (Hons) degree in Fine Art Sculpture. It
was during this period that his interest in building stringed musical instruments arose.[16] A family background in
education was responsible for his interest in teaching guitar making as well as making instruments himself; his
mother, Sonia Machanick, was an educational psychologist who founded Japari School, a special school in
Johannesburg and his father, Hillel Abbe Shapiro was Professor of Forensic Medicine at the University of
South Africa.

Career[edit]
In 1994, Courtnall was asked by the Newark School of Violin Making[17] in the United Kingdom to write the
syllabus and set up a new course in Classical Guitar Making. After an initial intake of twelve students, the
course rapidly expanded to become the leading vocational course in guitar making in the United Kingdom, now
awarding a BA (Hons) Musical Instrument Craft qualification through the University of Hull. In 2008 he retired
from Newark College in order to teach privately.
Courtnall's work was initially focused on understanding and building instruments in the Spanish classical guitar
tradition begun by Antonio de Torres during the 19th century and later perfected by Hermann Hauser, Daniel
Friederich and Jose Romanillos. More recently however, he has worked closely with the guitarist Rob Johns, to
develop a lattice-braced concert guitar, influenced by, but not quite in the same vein as the Australian
luthier Greg Smallman.[18]

Publications[edit]
Courtnall's first book; Making Master Guitars, is a practical guide and historical summary of leading luthiers of
the 19th and 20th centuries, enabling readers to make reasonably close replicas of their instruments. It
includes detailed working drawings and plans of guitars by Antonio de Torres, Hermann Hauser, Robert
Bouchet, Ignacio Fleta, Santos Hernandez, Hernandez and Aguado, Daniel Friederich and Jose Romanillos. In
a review for Classical Guitar magazine, luthiers, Lipkin and Algranati, concluded that Courtnall had "combined
the detailed work of the scholar with the practical insights of the craftsman."[19] The book has since been
translated into French[20] and Japanese.[21]
His second book; The Art of Violin Making, was co-written with the violin maker Chris Johnson[22] and regarded
by The Strad magazine as a "major contribution" to the violin-making bookshelf.[23] It includes a foreword by
Lord Yehudi Menuhin, who refers to the book as "Exhaustive in its detailed exposition of the process of
construction, conceived as it is, by two disciples of a distinguished English achievement - the Newark School of
Violin Making". The book follows a similar format to Making Master Guitars and is closely based on the violin
making method taught at the Newark School. It has been translated into Chinese.[24]