Rob MacKillop

Rob MacKillop with Deering Banjo in 2013

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

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.

Compositions written for and/or dedicated to Rob MacKillop

Bibliography

MacKillop is an author of many didactic music scores published by Mel Bay.

References

  1. ↑ "Scottish music expert to give concert". abdn.ac.uk. 27 February 2003. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
  2. ↑ "Baroque Guitar". No-Nail Guitar. 1 March 2025. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  3. ↑ "My Interview with Rob MacKillop". Brandon Acker Podcast. 17 September 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  4. ↑ "Medieval Music's Lost Opportunity". The Scotsman (Edinburgh, Scotland). 3 February 1998. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
  5. ↑ "Rob MacKillop Gallery". www.flickr.com. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
  6. ↑ "50 Years Playing Guitar: My Life as a Musician". YouTube. 4 February 2023. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
  7. ↑ "The Magic Lute". The Scotsman (Edinburgh, Scotland). 26 February 2001. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
  8. ↑ "Rob MacKillop". play.google.com. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
  9. ↑ "Fellow's Profile". admin.churchillfellowship.org. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
  10. ↑ "Pluck'N'Roll Revival". The Scotsman (Edinburgh, Scotland). 8 April 2002. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
  11. ↑ "The Oud Player of Roslyn". raretunes.org. 15 November 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
  12. ↑ "Scottish Lute and Early Guitar Society". Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  13. ↑ "Scottish Book Trust Author Page". Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  14. ↑ "Author website". Retrieved 30 July 2025.
  15. ↑ "Archived copy". www.melbay.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. ↑ "CD Baby Music Store". store.cdbaby.com. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  17. ↑ "RMclassicalguitar". 21 April 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  18. ↑ "Aventino Music". 19 August 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  19. ↑ "Introduction to the Lute Book + Online Audio - Mel Bay Publications, Inc. : Mel Bay". Melbay.com. Retrieved 29 July 2020.