Robert MacKillop

Rob MacKillop (born 1959) is a Scottish musician and multi-instrumentalist, specializing in lute, theorbo, vihuela, historical banjo, ukulele and classical guitar. He has been described as “the godfather of modern no-nail playing," meaning that he plays classical guitar without the use of the right-hand finger nails. He is an important performer of Early Music in Scotland, a recording artist, and author of over twenty-five editions of music by Mel Bay and other publishers (see below). He is also a fine-art photographer.

Biography Rob MacKillop was born in Dundee, Scotland. After a youthful period of playing the ukulele, MacKillop started teaching himself guitar as a teenager, playing along to records of Muddy Waters and Johnny Winter. After a period exploring punk and free-improvisation, MacKillop went on to study classical guitar at Napier College, Edinburgh (now Napier University) in 1987, becoming a Lecturer there the following academic year, followed by four years at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Glasgow, where he also became a lecturer in Guitar and Lute immediately after graduating in 1993. He eventually resigned from institutional teaching, preferring to teach online via his own studio.

In 2001, MacKillop was awarded a Churchill Fellowship for his research into medieval Scottish music. He was appointed as Musician in Residence for Madras College, St Andrews in 2001 and Composer in Residence for Morgan Academy in Dundee in 2004, in which year he also organized and directed the Dundee Festival of Summer Music. He was later also Musician In Residence at Queen Margaret University, Musselburgh near Edinburgh for five years. In 2011, he co-founded (with Bill Samson) the Scottish Lute and Early Guitar Society.

Family MacKillop's wife, Susan Rennie, is a lexicographer, author and Scots translator.

Academic Papers 'The Scottish Contribution to the 18th-century Wire-strung Guittar', in Manuel Morais and Rui Vieira Nery eds, A guitarra portuguesa: actas do simposio internacional, Universidade de Evora, 7-9 setembro 2001, (Lisbon, Estar: Universidade de Evora, Centro de Historia da Arte, 2002), pp. 37–82. ‘The Guitar, Cittern and Guittar in Scotland: an historical introduction up to 1800’, in Monika Lustig, ed., Michaelsteiner Konferenzberichte Band 66: Gitarre und Zister-Bauweise, Spieltechnik und Geschichte bis 1800 (Michaelstein: Stifung Kloster Michaelstein und Verlag Janos Stekovics, 2004), pp. 121–48. ‘For kissing for loving, for proveing: performance practice and modern interpretation of the lute repertoire’, in James Porter ed., Defining Strains: The Musical Life of Scots in the Seventeenth Century. Studies in the History and Culture of Scotland, vol. 2. (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2007).

Discography MacKillop has recorded numerous CDs of music for various early plucked instruments, three of which reached the Number One position in the Scottish Classical Music Chart.

Notes of Noy, Notes of Joy - The Rowallan Consort. Scottish music of the 16th and 17th centuries. Lute (Robert Phillips [Rob MacKillop]), clarsach, (William Taylor), voice, (Paul Rendall and Mhairi Lawson). Temple Records, 1995. COMD 2058. Graysteil: Music from the Middle Ages and Renaissance In Scotland - Rob MacKillop, lute, William Taylor harp and clarsach, Paul Rendall (tenor voice) Andrew Hunter (traditional music singer). Dorian Records, 1997. Dorian Discoveries DIS 80141. Flowers of the Forest - Scottish lute, cittern and guitar music. Greentrax Recordings, 1998. CDTRAX155. Plucked Instruments in the Edinburgh University Collection of Historical Musical Instruments, played by Rob MacKillop. Baroque guitar, French, mid-18th century; 9 course lute, labelled Matteus Buchenberg; 19th-century guitar by Louis Panormo, 19th-century guitar by C. F. Martin. 1999. EUCHMICD101. James Oswald, Twelve Divertimentis for the Guittar (1759) - ASV Gaudeamus CD GAU 2001. Premier recording of the complete divertimenti for the guitar by James Oswald, performed on an original wire-strung guitar from c.1765. The Songs of Alexander Montgomerie, Poet to James VI of Scotland. Paul Rendall, tenor, Rob MacKillop lute and mandour. ASV Gaudeamus CD, 2002. GAU249. The Healing - Scottish lute, cittern and guitar music. Greentrax Recordings, 2002. CDTRAX227. Love Is The Cause: Scottish Tunes for Viola da gamba and baroque Guitar, Jonathan Dunford, gamba, and Rob MacKillop, baroque guitar. Arrangements from Scottish manuscripts. Alpha 530. 2009. Fernando Sor - the Art of the 19th-century Guitar, Volume 1 - Selected Studies. RMmusic 2012. The Early American Parlour Banjo - Rob MacKillop, gut-strung banjo. Recital: The Art of the Banjo 1910 - 1930. RMmusic, 2012. The Romantic Spanish Guitar - music by Fernando Sor, José Brocà, Julian Arcas, José Viñas y Diaz, Jaime Bosch, José Ferrer, Federico Cano, Luis Soria, Rafael Marin, Francisco Tárrega, and Miquel Llobet. Giovanni Paolo Foscarini - Complete Works for Baroque Guitar in the Lute Style. Aventino Music, Italy, 2025.

Compositions written for and/or dedicated to Rob MacKillop

Esi es la Vida (Homage to Lorca) for flute and classical guitar, G. P. Cribari, 1992 Fountain of Tears (Homage on the Death of Lorca), for flute and classical guitar, Edward McGuire, 1992 The Oud Player of Rosslyn for Turkish Oud, Edward McGuire, 2001 The Rosslyn Oud for 12c lute, John Maxwell Geddes, 2001 The Old Composer Remembers for Renaissance lute, John Purser, 2001 Cantio Sarmatica CXI for lute, Roman Turovsky, 2005 Rob’s Dream for classical guitar, Christian Vasseur, November 2015 Manfred Suite, Opus 5, Gordon Ferries, 2018 Skårv for guitar (classical or acoustic archtop guitar), Mårten Falk, April 2018 Form A, scordatura guitar: E Bb G D Ab Eb, Mårten Falk, April–May, 2018 Twelve Studies for Bass Guitar, Gilbert Isbin, 2018 Two Canticles for classical guitar, Steven Watson, July 2022 12 Easy Studies for 10-String Guitar in Yepes Tuning, Gilbert Isbin, 2023 12 Pieces for 10-string Guitar in Yepes Tuning, Gilbert Isbin, 2023 Earth Abandoned, baroque lute, Mårten Falk, February, 2023 Nightfall for 5-string banjo, Steven Watson, April 2023 As breath into the wind for guitar, Steven Watson, May 2023 Prelude for 5-string banjo, Steven Watson, May 2023 Waves for 5-string banjo, Steven Watson, June 2023 Dawnlight for tenor banjo, Steven Watson, November 2023 Due Studi for classical guitar, Ulisse Mazzagatti, December 2023 Quattro Composizioni d’Estate for classical guitar, Ulisse Mazzagatti, December 2023 Notturni for classical guitar, Ulisse Mazzagatti, December 2023 Prelude No.1 from Death By Water [from The Waste Land IV] for guitar, Gordon Ferries, March 2024