Month: November 2022

33 Ways to Improve Ears, Fingers, and Fingerboard Familiarity

Published on by Leo Garcia2 Comments

Moveable Scale Forms for Development

by Leo Garcia

After watching Eliot Fisk demonstrate all of these, I thought I would write them out and share them with students. I confess that although I practiced scales religiously (and still do), I seldom went through modes. There are many reasons to work on these, though: ear training, technique development, and fingerboard familiarity.

The first form has the root starting on string 3, the second form has the root starting on string 4; and the third form works for both strings 5 and 6 . . .

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Leo Garcia plays Sonata in A Minor, K.175 by Scarlatti

Published on by Leo GarciaLeave a comment


Ever since hearing Eliot Fisk’s recording of this sonata, I’ve wanted to learn it. I tried Eliot’s brilliant transcription years ago but my smaller hands couldn’t even play it poorly. Then a good friend showed me French harpsichordist Jean Rondeau’s version and it rekindled the desire to learn it. This edition was transcribed by the Spanish guitarist Marcos Díaz, which is a bit more tame of a transcription but nonetheless it retains a good amount of substance on the guitar. I’ve changed some minor things that work better for my hands and for my ear. The manic quality of this sonata is another glimpse into Domenico Scarlatti’s fertile musical mind. It conjures images of chaos, bliss, seriousness, dementia, and lots of emotions that I cannot pinpoint. A bit trippy. : )