Charlie Byrd plays at two venues this week on Oahu.

"No joke. A chicken," the 70-year-old native of Chuckatuck, Va., says in a smooth, soft drawl. "For dinner. My wife isn't home yet."

Although Byrd is best known for his mastery of Latin forms, he began as a classical and light jazz player. He learned the rudiments of the instruments during studies with Andre Segovia in the 1950s, as well as an awareness of the guitar's romantic, sentimental qualities.

"I suppose (Segovia) was the greatest influence on my playing but, you know, music is bigger than the guitar and music is bigger than the individual. The whole musical thing is what's important.

"You don't only learn from a Segovia but from the kid who knows three chords that you don't. Music is a universal experience and to give anyone a corner on it is like giving someone a corner on expression."

It was Byrd's father who started his son playing when he was eight. Dad was not a very good musician, Byrd said.

"But he was an important teacher for me more for his love of music."

He tried playing trumpet in high school but wasn't very good.

"I never felt comfortable with it. I really like the sound of a guitar, the way the music is made, with the hands. It suits me."

That's an understatement. Byrd, who never took a formal music lesson, has recorded more than 100 albums.

"I've been studying guitar all my life; still am. I'm trying to figure out how to make it work which is almost as fascinating as playing."

So after six decades of playing, Byrd still believes there is much to be learned.

"You can never know all there is to making music; you never reach the end of it. The deeper you dig the more you find."

Byrd practices daily, spending a couple of hours on the more technical aspects - like calisthenics - to keep his hands "loose and moving." He wants to keep the picking and strumming easier, smoother, "more economical."

He played with Woody Herman in 1959 and then toured Latin America for the U.S. State Department. He and Stan Getz helped launch the samba-bossa nova craze in the 1960s when he suggested they record Antonio Carlos Jobim tunes.

"I had been playing them for about a year and then told Stan he had to listen to it. Instantly, he said let's do it. I was convinced we had something, but you never know how big something is going to be. But, gee, it was very appealing."

Byrd still performs about 50 weeks a year, just finishing a European tour. Last year he slowed down a bit after breaking his hip. Worse, he said, laughing, the injury also cut down on his other passion: sailing. He owns a sailboat which he keeps docked near his Annapolis home.

Though Byrd owns "a couple of dozen guitars" kept in various locations throughout the United States, he relies primarily on just two: a 1929 German-made Hauser and a 1937 steel string guitar.

"When John Huston was asked to what he owed his longevity, he said surgery. The same thing is true for my Hauser. It has had a lot of work."

Byrd has not needed much repair, he admits, though "sailing can be rough on the hands." The guitarist also has developed protective instincts.

"I don't squeeze so hard when I shake hands. And I do more work with my left hand than I normally would. I gotta be careful about breaking a nail on my right hand."

What does he think is his best album?

"My next one. Haven't conceived it yet, don't really know what's gonna be on it, but the next one is always the best."

What: Guitarist Charlie Byrd in concert, dinner
When: 8:30 p.m. tomorrow, Indigo Restaurant, 1211 Nuuanu Ave.
Cost: $50 a person with dinner
Also: 8 p.m., Saturday, University of Hawaii at Manoa's Orvis Auditorium, $12 general, $10 students/seniors
Information: 956-7221