Dear 1999
Updates & Activities
NOTE: this post is part of a group blogging event. If you could go back to 1999 and give yourself one piece of advice, what would it be? Christmas/New Years is when I started started playing guitar. Nine years ago during Christmas I got my first guitar, a Washburn BT2. I’m going to write this […]
Read MoreRethinking Slow Practice
Guitar Practice Techniques
Common advice for beginners is always, “slow down, concentrate on what you’re doing.” Playing guitar is not a race, after all. For the beginner, there is a lot of value in slow practice. I encourage it, in addition to other practice techniques, with my students. For intermediate and more advanced guitarists, I think the value […]
Read MoreThrow Away Your Tuner
Musical Interpretation and Musicianship
Musicians are always trying to develop their ear. One of the simplest forms of ear training is matching pitch or tuning! So throw away your tuner. Work on tuning by ear. Get one string correct, then us octaves and harmonics to tune the rest of the strings. I usually use a tuning fork or my […]
Read MoreHow to Voice Chords
Classical Guitar Technique, Musical Interpretation and Musicianship
Voicing a chord refers to bringing out the various notes it contains. Sometimes we want certain notes to ring out (resolutions, etc.) and other to float in the background. Doing this can make a huge difference in your interpretation and overall sound. Take, for example, this common voicing of an A minor chord: To bring […]
Read MoreMonday Motivation: Galbraith Edition
Monday Motivation
“The third-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the majority. The second-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the minority. The first-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking.” —A. A. Milne Today we feature Paul Galbraith. This video is a selection from his new DVD.
Read MoreDaily Warm-ups
Classical Guitar Practice Tips
I heard that Pepe Romero once said that every day he has to make friends with his guitar again. He’s obviously talking about a warm-up routine. What should a warm-up routine consist of? How long should you warm-up for? Well the first thing is to understand is that you can probably sit down with the […]
Read MoreThe Art of Preparation
Classical Guitar Technique
The more I work with my students, the more I think there’s only really one thing they need to work on: preparing their fingers as they play. When I see students stabbing fingers everywhere, I know they’re not thinking ahead; they’re living in the moment. Which is good. But musicians have to learn to be […]
Read More19th Century Appoggiaturas
Musical Interpretation and Musicianship
An appoggiatura is an ornament written with small (grace) notes. Take this example of Giuliani’s Op. 45: The question for performs is where to “place” this appoggiatura. Does it come on beat three? Or before it? There’s plenty of clues for us in the literature. Carulli and Aguado Aguado, in his method, says that, “the […]
Read MoreRob MacKillop on Technique
Classical Guitar Videos
Rob MacKillop is an early music scholar and a great musician. He plays without nails, and makes some really gorgeous sounds. He recently made a video about his technique. I agree with Rob that beginning students should go without nails for a while. The video has some great stuff to think about, so check it […]
Read MoreThree Great Websites to Help Practice Sight Reading
Musical Interpretation and Musicianship
http://practicesightreading.com/. Rhythm is one of the most important things in sight reading. You could approximate the melodic shape, hitting only half the notes, but if the rhythm were correct, it wouldn’t sound half bad. Practice Sight Reading.com automatically generate rhythm exercises of various lengths to work on. I’d recommend practicing these things a few ways: […]
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