Month: March 2017

Recuerdos de la Alhambra Study Score

Published on by Leo GarciaLeave a comment

Sometimes, one of the daunting things for many young guitarists working on Francisco Tárrega’s Recuerdos de la Alhambra is that it is perceived as long because of the sheer amount of ink and pages it takes to notate that many 32nd notes. The phrases are split over too many lines and the page turns don’t make it a friendly score. I’m not saying the piece is easy but it helps to see the piece as a whole before working on it -a bit like seeing the plans of a new house before building it. Below is a downloadable pdf of a study score that I made a while ago to help students see the big picture.

Recuerdos Study Score

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For more on tremolo, check out my recent book Mastering Tremolo. There are tons of tips for improving your tremolo.

Also, if you feel like anything you’ve done has helped improve your tremolo, feel free to share it in the comments for other readers.

Best of YouTube: Judicael Perroy

Published on by Leo GarciaLeave a comment

Rising to fame in the guitar world after winning the Guitar Foundation of America‘s 1997 International Competition, French guitar virtuoso Judicael Perroy is now a much admired, loved, and sought-after concert guitarist and teacher. One listen to his playing and your interest is held by an infectious drive and energy few players can conjure. In most recent news, he will join the San Francisco Conservatory‘s faculty in the fall. That is news I love to hear as it’s an opportunity to perhaps hear and see more of this incredible musician for those of us who live nearby.

Here are is an interview of Judicael filmed by Tornavoz where he talks about being a classical musician, listening to music, and acquiring a wealth of perspectives to become a better musician.

This second video beautifully shot by the Paris Guitar Foundation shares some insight into Judicael’s life with footage of Judicael playing Scriabin and Ponce. Simply incredible!

A Way of Thinking of Tremolo

Published on by Leo GarciaLeave a comment

…or should I say, a way of thinking about tremolo? (sorry, couldn’t resist).

Another point Pepe Romero makes in his masterclass is to think of the tremolo pattern originating from a instead of p. This, he explains, is because the first note of the melody coincides with a.

Pepe Tremolo amip 1.jpg

…from my new book, Mastering Tremolo.

Tremolo and Sympathetic Motion Awareness

Published on by Leo GarciaLeave a comment

“You have to learn to do nothing.” —Pepe Romero

Watching legendary guitarist Pepe Romero teach tremolo was a revelation to me. One of his key points about finger movement in tremolo is timing the reload or return of a after m plucks (as if a and m were alternating) and not after i. As he explains the motion, the movement from a to the string is deliberate or active and from the instant after a plucks our attention moves to m while a unconsciously or passively relaxes. Essentially, the act of doing nothing releases a back to its place to ready for its next stroke. This is counterintuitive, as it would seem more natural to let a remain flexed after m due to the basic sympathetic motion of the fingers. But it is precisely in the case of tremolo that developing independence between a and m, and timing their return, can lead to a better sense of both rhythm and overall movement.

sympathetic Tremolo 1.jpg

Of all the techniques in Mastering Tremolo, focusing on timing the return of a, even for a little bit, has been most helpful to me in evening out my tremolo and reining in the gallop that often occurs into the next beat when playing at high tempos.

New Publication: Mastering Tremolo

Published on by Leo GarciaLeave a comment

After lots of hard work, I’m excited to announce to all of you the publication of my new book, Mastering Tremolo.

Here is a description: Leonardo Garcia’s Mastering Tremolo is an extensive guide for all aspiring guitarists wishing to develop solid tremolo technique. From a multitude of preliminary technical exercises and drills to develop a foundation for your tremolo and invigorate your technique, to more than a dozen active practice techniques detailed with musical examples to develop rhythmic precision, note consistency, tone, and speed, to the mental game of playing tremolo, this book will help improve your tremolo and playing regardless of your level.

It’s available in print and on Kindle.

Over the next few weeks I will post some content for Six String Journal readers!

Left Hand Warmup: Slurs, Fixed Fingers, Open Strings, and Tunnels

Published on by Leo GarciaLeave a comment

Lately, when starting my practice I will start with an assortment of left hand movements. I go slowly with attention to the fluidity of the movements. While I do this, my ear starts to focus. The easy pace is ideal for adjusting tone and exploring left hand movement before moving on to arpeggios, scale fragments, and spots in pieces.

Here is a slur sequence I really enjoyed focusing on yesterday. It involves playing slurs with a pair of fingers, slurs to and from open strings, all while requiring the precise placement of the fingers to create tunnels so that adjacent strings remain unobstructed. Fun!

I immediately thought: BLOG POST!

Here’s the outline of the movement using fingers 12 but you should try all pairs (23, 34, 13, 24, 14). You’ll get more out of the exercises by repeated each slur many times and of course, play them across all strings and positions.

Method of Practice

Fixed Finger Slur Exercise 2.jpg

Exercise 1 – Ascending Slurs

Fixed Finger Slur Exercise.jpg

Exercise 2 – Ascending Slurs 2

Fixed Finger Slur Exercise 3.jpg

Exercise 3 – Ascending and Descending Slurs

Fixed Finger Slur Exercise 2a.jpg

Exercise 4 – Descending Slurs

Fixed Finger Slur Exercise 4.jpg

Exercise 5 – Descending and Ascending Slurs

Fixed Finger Slur Exercise 5.jpg

Go give that left hand a workout!

 

Slow Practice

Published on by Leo Garcia1 Comment

I often try to convince students to practice ultra slowly by using various metaphors. How much more would you notice if you were to admire a great piece of art for an hour instead of a minute? How would your thoughts change if you read a complex paragraph quickly versus reading it slowly and contemplating the meaning of each word and sentence as it related to the whole? If metaphors don’t convince them they can go read this fabulous article for pianists written by pianist Graham Fitch about the slow practice that I think is spot on!

Enjoying Ultra Slow Practice

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

 

 

Tremolo Practice Tip: Reduction

Published on by Leo Garcia1 Comment

Reduction

Playing through the ‘skeleton’ of a tremolo piece helps to reduce it in our mind’s ear to what essentially is happening on the musical front. Spending a large amount of time on developing the fluidity, clarity, speed, and all that goes into a beautiful tremolo technique so often draws a majority of our attention into the micro-discovery world that the thought of the larger macro world of what a tremolo piece is trying to achieve musically is somewhat ignored.

There are various ways to enhance the way we psychologically perceive our pieces to make them seem less daunting. The most tried and true method is to play through them hundreds of times. For tremolo pieces, play through them in an abbreviated way, as illustrated below, at faster tempos:

Limosna reduction 1.jpg

Another method, which I have grown to like despite the substandard sonic quality, was recommended by Malaysian guitar virtuoso, Philip Hii, in his fantastic book, Art of Virtuosity. In the method below, ami act as one and pluck at the same time. Think of plucking a chord but on one string. It won’t sound pretty but in addition to focusing our attention on the bigger picture, it helps the right hand to discover the angle at which it best moves through one string for tremolo.

Limosna reduction 2.jpg

Hope this helps!

For tons of tremolo tips check out Six String Journal’s Mastering Tremolo (pdf) or Mastering Tremolo (book).

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