Here is a list to help you build confidence in your right hand while you work on your repertoire. I hope it helps.
Use sequential and block planting as much as possible.
Practice sections of your songs with your right hand alone. This helps even in the most simple passages to clarify right-hand position and rhythm. It also forces you to make right-hand fingering decisions.
Look at your right hand when practicing a passage. Aiming for the string helps. Unless you are particularly physically gifted, our brains don’t always map our reality perfectly, so aiming is one way to ensure the fingers are going to land in the right place. While watching your fingers, study what they are doing.
Practice exercises that are extracted from your repertoire in addition to your other skill-building technique exercises. You will often discover new and intriguing tasks for your right hand that you had not previously noticed.
Observe the orientation of your right-hand fingers: are they aligned over strings 4321? 5321? 5432? When does the orientation change? Or are i and m aligned on the same string?
Proximity to the strings is also surprisingly effective when it comes to right-hand control. Try practicing in pianissimo and, again, watch those fingers to see if they are straying beyond their allocated territory.
Use rest strokes strategically. The nature of the rest stroke is that it helps stabilize the right hand because you are apoyado, or supported, after the stroke with string contact.
Dragging or sweeping with the same right-hand finger is fine. If you play a rest stroke with m on string 1, your m ends up resting on string 2. If you need to play string 2, it’s ok to use m as a free stroke. This approach is effective when used in the context of a chord.
Make sure that your nail shape is not creating displacement in the hand that requires a recovery movement to realign the fingers. Nail shape is personal, but if you have to move your wrist in addition to the finger joints, rethink your nail shape.
Break rules if they help you feel stable. I sometimes like to use i repeatedly if I’m playing something slowly on the same string. It’s easy to get a consistent tone while the other fingers plant to support a great stroke.
Keep p in contact with the next lowest string when playing free stroke. If i and m are playing a melodic phrase on string 2, p should rest on string 3, for example. This helps keep the hand’s weight centered behind the strings you are playing, allowing less effort from the stroke.
Relax. Make sure your wrist and arm are as relaxed as possible. If you are holding tension in your hand or farther up your wrist and arm, moving efficiently is more stressful and slower.
Plant the thumb (p) where it does not interfere with the music and resonances to help i, m, and a have a stable finger to move against. Plant the fingers as a group or individually (ima, im, ma, i, m, a) so that p has a stability point to move against. Avoid floating above the strings.
Hailing from Finland, guitarist virtuoso Patrik Kleemola recently sat down with Six String Journal to share some insight about his artistry and his journey with music. An active performer, educator, and chamber musician, Patrik is immersed in many projects, from recording whole cycles of etudes to concerts dedicated to one composer. His wonderful YouTube channel highlights his affinity for 19th century music; all performed on exquisite period instruments. His recordings of guitar repertoire across the centuries are wide-ranging though and are just as magically musical and engaging. Hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did.
PERSONAL When did you start playing and why? Or, what drew you to the guitar initially? There was my father’s semi-acoustic guitar in our house while I was growing up and before I entered for the guitar lessons in the city of Valkeakoski’s Music institute I knew some basic chords and how to play the main riff of Roy Orbison’s Pretty Woman. My grandfather from my mother’s side was in his youth an accordion player playing gigs professionally around the time of the 2nd World War and the war between Finland and Russia. Otherwise I’m the first professional musician in the family.
What repertoire do you enjoy playing the most? To me probably the best thing in being “a classical musician” is the great variety of styles throughout the centuries and having a chance to dig in deep to the different styles, musical langueages and the culture. Whether it’s the French baroque style of Lully and De Visée, playing early romantic guitar repertoire by Sor and his contemporaries with an original Lacote guitar, playing Tárrega transcriptions of the great romantic piano literature or commissioning myself new pieces from contemporary composers, the great variety is the most rewarding thing.
What guitar or guitars do you perform on? Strings? This past summer was a special one as I performed many concerts on an original René Lacote (1839) and Jose Luis Romanillos (1979). With Lacote I have done already some video recordings on my YouTube channel (more coming soon!) and I’m looking forward to do new recordings with Romanillos in 2025 and share those with followers of my channel. I also have played for ten years with a Rinaldo Vacca guitar made for me in 2014 and with this I have done many recordings and concerts. I have played a long time with Savarez strings and also have had a good experiences with Thomastik trebles which I use regularly. When playing with Lacote one has to be well aware of the maximum tensions of different strings in order to use them safely on the guitar. I usually use Ambra 800 by Aquila strings on my Lacote. I also try to experiment with gut strings but it’s challenging when playing with nails. However in the early 19th century many played with nails including Aguado, so it should be possible so I keep searching for the best gut strings that work with nail-playing.
Which guitarists/musicians have had the most influence on you? In my early teens the Julian Bream’s Guitarra video series was a fascinating documentary on the history of the Spanish guitar with passionate and colourful performances by Bream through-out the series. Later on the many great pianists such as Arrau, Cherkassky and Lupu interpretating the incredible repertoire written for piano have been an inspiration. Although now as I have been more involved in the research of the early 19th century guitar repertoire, its technique and general approach, I have realized that the improvisational approach and ornamenting the repeats, for example, have been a vital part of the performance practice of the musicians at the time. In general these great pianists, as prime examples of the great musicians of the last century, didn’t dare to touch the “sacred texts” of the great composers. However this wasn’t the way Liszt, Hummel or Sor approached their performances in the early 19th century. I try get closer to this early 19th century tradition although I feel I’m still in the beginning of the journey.
What recording(s) are you most proud of? There are two CD solo recital recordings that I did on the works that I commissioned from the Finnish and Italian composers Perchitarrasola (2012) and Through Green Glass (2015) by Pilfink Records and I’ve also been on other commercial recordings as well. The change in record business industry during the last decade have made me, and many other musicians, to think the reason to put out new commercial recordings. In the meanwhile I’ve released many video recordings on my
YouTube channel including series of pedagogic guitar literature including the complete set of Estudios sencillos by Leo Brouwer, 25 Studies by Carcassi, Sor studies op. 6 and op.35 and selection of 12 Studies by Aguado. During the COVID-19 period I did 18 works by Tárrega, a Baroque selection and rarely performed Sor masterpieces played on Louis Panormo (1838) guitar. I’ve done recordings of Sor duos with my former teacher Timo Korhonen. As an artist I think it’s important to document one’s activity (commercially or not) and the YouTube channel has now over 7000 subscribers so it has gained some following.
What are some up-and-coming projects (recordings, concerts) you are excited about? I’m going to do more Sor recordings on my René Lacote (1839) and later on I will include also other composers from the period. Looking forward to record some of the great 20th century repertoire on the Romanillos in 2025. All these I will be released on the YouTube channel, free for everyone.
The past Autumn has been very hectic with concerts of different programs including solo recitals, chamber music with strings, Concerto by the great Finnish composer Mikko Heiniö for guitar and choir and premieres of contemporary music. Besides playing a lot in Finland I’ll be playing in Italy in December and returning there in March to play in Rome which follows concerts in Germany and Japan. There will be other concerts abroad as well to be confirmed so 2025 will be internationally quite active year for me.
I’m also going to start performing “Soirée Sor” concerts with my Lacote in 2025. Focusing a whole concert to just one composer will be an interesting challenge for me. I’ll be playing works by Fernando Sor from the early Spanish period to the last ones written in Paris. I’ll also talk about the incredible life of this fascinating composer which indeed had it’s dramatic turns, more than once.
TECHNIQUE AND PERFORMANCE How much do you practice? And do you structure your practice in any particular way? Some hours everyday, more or less. At the moment I’ve one year scholarship from the Finnish State so I have one year off from the Turku Conservatory where I work as a lecturer. This means I don’t have to teach so much, so I’ve even more time to expand my repertoire, be active on chamber music and playing concerts. I also try to give some time in my practice sessions to focus on refining the technique. There’s almost always some work I’ve commissioned from a composer so I’m active working with them which is very inspiring, trying to find out technical and musical solutions to textures that are not written by a guitarist.
Photo credit:Tuomas Kourula
Do you deliberately memorize music or have a technique that helps assimilate music into memory? I still strive to play pieces by heart when playing solo recitals although expecially with contemporary works the score is sometimes needed. I don’t trust just to the muscle memory when memorizings works. If I can play the whole piece in my head without the instrument (concentrating mostly to the left hand movements), I’m confident playing the work in public.
Have you published any editions or do you plan to publish your own editions in the future? I’ve been very involved in the prepration of the published works that I’ve commissioned from the composers from the pedagogic literature to solo works, chamber music and concertos. If it’s pedagogic literature (like Etudes by Markku Klami, see the YouTube playlist) then it’s good to have more fingerings in the score. If it’s very demanding contemporary work, then it’s probably approached only by professionals and these cases the less is more when it comes to fingerings.
I have done arrangements of works by Tsaikovski, Sibelius, Satie, Bach and others. I’m thinking to publish these, hopefully soon, with video performances on my YouTube channel.
Do you have a favorite drill or set of exercises you use to warm up? I have certain patterns for both hands taking from here and there that I do if I have just 20 minutes for warming up. If I have more time I might take some of the many technique books I have and do something from there just for the fun of it.
Do you have any pre-concert rituals? The rest is very important so I try have good amount of sleep the night before. I like to have a proper warm-up session on the concert day. I might go through the program during the day, but very lightly and not necessarely all of it. Usually I try to work quite hard the day(s) before and then just let it happen on the concert day.
ADVICE TO YOUNGER PLAYERS What single most important piece of advice about practicing would you offer to younger aspiring players? Playing guitar is work of a long-distance runner. The talent is not enough and it’s also a talent to be able to work consistently and regularly.
What repertoire do you consider essential for young/conservatory students to assimilate? I think in the early 19th century repertoire there are the main technical things that one needs in playing the guitar. However from my experience as a teacher it’s not always the most inspiring material for the young students. Also reading music on the guitar is not the easiest task for young students and often this is also slowing things down. So good mixture of interesting repertoire from the classical tradition and new pedagogic literature that perhaps reflects more closely the music kids hear in their everyday life.
Are you accessible as a teacher? I teach as a lecturer in the Turku Conservatory and I’m available also for lessons online, although the latter I have to do according to my schedules which varies quite a bit.
Photo credit:Tuomas Kourula
TANGENT What is the last book that you read? Favorite author/s? I just ended Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. As I’ve been recently doing a research on Sor and the early 19th century guitar, it has inspired me to read a few books by the early 19th century French authors such as Balzac and Flaubert. Often music that I’m working open doors to choose the literature. Finnish composer Harri Suilamo wrote for me recently two guitar works inspired by the Austrian author Thomas Bernhard and I ended up reading a few books of this fascinating contemporary author.
What is your favorite way to spend time when not practicing? Spending time with my family including our six-year-old son who is such an light of the day.
My goal this morning was to warm up on a particular Fernando Sor study that I love before proceeding to the Gran Solo, then play through some Bach that I’m working on very slowly, and then review a few other short works. Two hours later, I found that I had only been reading Sor studies and a few of his themes and variations. It was awesome. There is something so aurally purifying about only playing Sor for an extended time. Maybe pianists feel the same way about Mozart. Afterwards, Barrios sounds so rich; Bach sounds like a new language; de Falla is extravagant. Ears always open up in unusual ways.
I thought about this while I took a tea break and thought it was worth writing a bit about. Here are some reasons why Sor is so awesome.
Whether you are a beginner, at the intermediate stage, advanced, or even professional, Sor studies are a great way to build reading and interpretive skills while enjoying finely crafted music for the classical guitar. Once your skills are to the point where you can almost play through any Sor study really well the first time, you notice how they are perfect for what they are.
Sor studies shine in their harmonic and structural simplicity. This is a strength (and just how it was in the classical period). Because of this, it allows students to focus on the technique without too much happening UNTIL Sor provides a special musical moment that is hard to not notice. This focuses the student on doing something beautiful and musical while approaching and departing from the special moment. I often think Sor studies are a bit like wandering on a pretty forest path where you are aware that there may be something special up ahead, and if you’re fortunate, you will spot a beautiful flower, see an owl, or find a huckleberry shrub. Those are the moments to enjoy!
Because there are few unnatural hand positions in his studies, when there are, a student is confronted with one problem to overcome and solve. Once this is done, it carries over for many other musical situations in other studies and pieces. It is very clear progress.
Sor studies pretty much cover all the practical technique requirements to push you into intermediate territory as a student. Voice balancing, shifting, thirds, sixths, scales, Alberti bass, arpeggios, slurs, ornaments, tension, and harmonic resolution, all in the context of a musical situation.
Sor studies force you to work on your sound. If you have a poor tone, your Sor will sound horrible. Cultivating a rich, clear, and sparkly tone will make Sor sound profoundly beautiful.
Here is a link to Mel Bay’s Complete Sor Studies (Ed. Grimes). It’s a nice edition, but I wish it were spiral bound. Here is a link to an edition that I did of a few favorites.
Do you have favorite Sor Etudes? I’ll try and post a few that I really like soon. Stay tuned (ha, ha!).
Something you do not hear on guitar much is Beethoven! Finnish guitarist Patrik Kleemola recorded a wonderful video of Francisco Tárrega’s arrangement of the Adagio Cantabile from Beethoven’s Sonata No. 8, Op. 13, Pathetique. It is beautifully played, and both the audio and video are great. Enjoy.
Yuri Liberzon’s upcoming release of a recording devoted entirely to the music of Astor Piazzolla is wonderful. It was recorded in April 2023 for the NAXOS label and was produced and engineered by guitar legend Norbert Kraft.
Astor Piazzolla’s Tango Suite for two guitars opens the program and sets the high standard one has come to expect from Yuri’s recordings. The suite is the only work where fellow virtuoso guitarist Piotr Pakhomkin, who flew in from Europe to record, joins Yuri. Having heard the famous recording of the Assads, for whom the piece was written, I can’t help but compare a bit. Yuri and Piotr take a bit of a more introspective journey through the piece, playing sections at a measured pace and always paying attention to balance and phrasing. The tempo for the third movement comes across as a bit slow, but it does not lack intensity. This made it seem like I was hearing the piece for the first time.
Yuri and Piotr
The arrangements of Oblivion (arr. Liberzon) and Muerte del Ángel (arr. Brouwer) really capture the essence of these pieces. Yuri plays both of these pieces with the musical freedom of an experienced performer. Despite the demanding counterpoint in Muerte del Ángel, the drive and intense pace are relentless, giving it Piazzolla’s soul squeezing pulse.
Perhaps the highlight of the recording is the refreshing and meticulous interpretation of the Cinco Piezas (Campero, Romántico, Acentuado, Tristón, Compadre). This is the only solo work Piazzolla wrote for the guitar, and despite the score’s visual simplicity, it demands the highest level of playing to pull off with such finesse. To experience fully what Yuri is capable of on the guitar, listen to how Tristón’s incessant accompaniment is magically played with its slowly unwinding harmonies while the melodic line floats above like bells in the clouds. And Compadre, played with Yuri’s signature understated intensity, will make you close your eyes and nod your head in agreement as you listen along.
Piotr, Norbert, and Yuri in St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Newmarket, Ontario, Canada
And to wrap up the recording, Yuri has chosen Manuel Barrueco’s arrangement of the Tango Etudes. Again, looking at the score is deceiving. Originally written for the flute, one would think these etudes would translate physically to the guitar. But they are likely the most technically demanding pieces on the recording, and yet Yuri plays them in a way that sounds seasoned and comfortable.
I’ve heard Yuri interpret Piazzolla’s music over the years, and his relationship with the composer has not been static; it has evolved in depth and maturity. What strikes me most about the recording as a whole is the quality of the playing, the recorded sound, and the scope of the project. They, like the way Yuri juggles the compelling counterpoint and driving rhythms in Piazzolla’s music, are finely balanced into a perfect musical experience. So all you have to do, as Enrique Fernández wrote in the liner notes to Piazzolla’s recording Hora Zero, is, “Listen up. And suffer, m*ther!%^&er, this is the tango.”
As students begin to get serious about developing their concert repertoire, I like to recommend recordings to study and listen to with the score. So instead of scribbling on their score, I thought I would start to post suggestions on Six String Journal.
This week, I’ll suggest a few recordings of the works of Heitor Villa-Lobos. Villa-Lobos’s Five Preludes, Twelve Etudes, Brazilian Suite, and his Choro Nº1 are some of the guitar’s most beloved solo repertoire. Villa-Lobos uses the guitar so indulgently and exploits resonance brilliantly.
Julian Bream, Manuel Barrueco, and Alvaro Pierri’s recordings of these works are wonderful. But there are other recordings that really stand out to me. The first and probably my favorite is Fabio Zanon’s recording of the complete works. Zanon’s playing is beautiful, his guitar sounds heavenly, and the engineering (I think it was the legendary John Taylor) is excellent.
Another great recording is Jose Antonio Escobar’s recording of the Five Preludes, 12 Etudes, and a Modihna. I love the sound of his guitar (Paco Santiago Marin XXX) and the recording is sonically perfect.
Here is a link to Alvaro Pierri’s recording of the Choro, Five Preludes and 12 Etudes. This recording made me listen to what can be done interpretively with these great works. Pierri has a special take on these.
And last for now, here is Norbert Kraft in a recording of the Twelve Etudes. Solid from the first note to the last.
Here are a few great videos of the Five Preludes.
I know I’ve left many videos and recordings out. There are so many. Any favorites that I missed?
Here is a video I just recorded of Mallorca, one of my favorite pieces by Albéniz. I think it is one of the guitar repertoire’s most beautiful and evocative pieces, despite the fact that it was written for piano. It’s a relatively new piece for me, though I’ve grown up listening to it. When I first learned it, I worked from the editions of many guitarists (Andrés Segovia, Julian Bream, Rafael Andia, David Russell, Abel Carlevaro, and many others) and consulted the piano score. And, once there were too many scribbles on all those editions, I decided to create my own edition to suit my hands and taste. As always, it is a work in progress that I enjoy playing quite a bit.
Since I first heard Kazuhito Yamashita through a cassette recording of his monumental transcription of Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, I have been in awe of him. The intensity and virtuosity, completely unrivaled to this day, of his playing were enough to make anyone’s jaw drop (or fingers fall off). I then searched for and came across more of his recordings, like his complete Bach cycle of the lute suites, violin partitas and sonatas, and the cello suites; Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Caprichos de Goya and concertos and quintet; and other mind-boggling transcriptions like Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite and Dvorak’s New World Symphony. Many years later, I was fortunate to hear him play live in San Francisco through the Omni Foundation’s amazing Dynamite Guitar Series.
Tonebase, the wonderful resource for classical guitarists, recently did a video on Kazuhito Yamashita, which I feel compelled to share with Six String Journal readers. And, I discovered through the video, that he released a re-mastered full-length recording of his legendary performance of Pictures at an Exhibition. If you have not heard of Kazuhito Yamashita, brace yourself.
And if you missed the interview of his talented daughter, Kanahi Yamashita, I did for Six String Journal readers, check it out!
Save 30% on a Tonebase subscription by using the Six String Journal coupon code and supporting our site at the same time! Coupon code: SSJ-30
Here is Part 4 of a new series of guided warm-ups for my students and Six String Journal readers. In these guided warm-ups, I’ll go through some of the most important drills to help you establish a good routine for warming up before practicing your repertoire.
So go grab your guitar and get comfortable. In this second video, I’ve set the metronome for quarter = 60. We’ll go through the third part of my go-to slur routine, which involves three and four-note slurs (124, 134, 123, 234, 1234). For the right hand, I simply use p for strings 6, 5, and 4, and then use i, m, and a for strings 3, 2, and 1. Follow along, stay aware of good form, stay relaxed, and stick with it until you can start to increase tempo with a good foundation.
If you’re a beginner, take it slowly and don’t wear your hand out. Pause occasionally for rest and let your hand catch up. It might help to just watch the first few minutes to get a sense of how it unfolds for the fingers.
I’m in the process of creating a new series of guided warm-ups for my students. Here is Part 3 for Six String Journal readers. In these guided warm-ups, I’ll go through some of the most important drills to help you establish a good routine for warming up before practicing your repertoire.
So go grab your guitar and get comfortable. In this second video, I’ve set the metronome for quarter = 60. We’ll go through the second part of my go-to slur routine, which involves compound slurs (121, 232, 343, 131, 242, 141). For the right hand, I simply use p for strings 6, 5, and 4, and then use i, m, and a for strings 3, 2, and 1. Follow along, stay aware of good form, stay relaxed, and stick with it until you can start to increase tempo with a good foundation.
If you’re a beginner, take it slowly and don’t wear your hand out. Pause occasionally for rest and let your hand catch up. It might help to just watch the first few minutes to get a sense of how it unfolds for the fingers.
