Tag: education

Beyond the Basics: Repertoire Recommendations for Late Beginners and Young Classical Guitarists

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Beyond the Basics: Repertoire Recommendations for Late Beginners and Young Classical Guitarists

As children move beyond the initial stages of learning the classical guitar, the world of repertoire opens up in beautiful and inspiring ways. At this transitional phase—when students are comfortable with foundational techniques and literacy—it’s crucial to provide them with material that both challenges and delights.

Over the years, I’ve found a handful of works that resonate especially well with late beginners and young players. These pieces not only support technical development but also deepen musical understanding and ignite artistic curiosity.

A few of my go-to resources include

  • Shawn Bell’s engaging pieces and literacy supplements, which help reinforce reading skills in a musically satisfying context.
  • Nikita Koshkin’s Etudes, which offer a special combination of imagination, texture, and humor—perfect for students ready to explore more expressive possibilities.
  • Tilman Hoppstock’s “Duets for Children and Teachers,” which are not only musically rich but also foster ensemble awareness and mentorship.
  • Carlo Domeniconi’s Preludes and Klangbild are shorter works that combine evocative soundscapes with accessible technique.
  • Simone Ianarelli’s Etudes, which are approachable yet musically rewarding, often introduce more contemporary harmonic language.
  • Leo Brouwer’s Etudes Simples and Nuevos Estudios Sencillos achieve a near-perfect balance between musical depth and technical growth.
  • The Royal Conservatory Series has carefully curated music that is organized by musical period and meticulously fingered.
  • And of course, Fernando Sor’s Etudes, timeless gems, remain some of the best pedagogical pieces in the classical guitar canon.

All of these resources are wonderful—but only after the student has developed strong foundational skills.

That’s where structured early pedagogy is so essential.

Over the last two and a half decades, I’ve dedicated myself to developing KinderGuitar, a child-centered curriculum specifically designed for young guitarists. It’s built around intentional scaffolding, sequencing, and musical engagement to set students up for long-term success—not just technically, but musically and emotionally.

Once students complete the core levels of the KinderGuitar curriculum, they’re remarkably well-equipped to approach the repertoire listed above with confidence. Their literacy is solid and their fingers are trained, but more importantly, they possess the building blocks for being musicians.

If you’re an educator who loves teaching children and is passionate about shaping the next generation of musicians, feel free to reach out to learn more about KinderGuitar program. KinderGuitar is slowly growing a small network of licensed teachers who believe that early guitar education can be as structured and joyful as early piano or violin instruction.

Seven Ways to Use a Metronome for Better Practice

Published on by Leo GarciaLeave a comment

What do you call a dwarf who rides the subways of Paris?

A metronome should be your ally in the practice room. While it may seem like a cold, unforgiving taskmaster, it’s one of the most powerful tools you have for becoming a better guitarist and musician. Beyond simply keeping you in time, the metronome develops your internal pulse and reveals where your playing might be rushing or dragging. There is a lot of fun you can have with the metronome. Here are my favorite ways to use it when I’m practicing:

1. Gradual Tempo Building (“Clicking Up”)

Start at a comfortable tempo where you can play the passage cleanly. Slowly increase the tempo in small increments (2-10 bpm at a time) until you reach or even slightly surpass your target tempo. This method builds accuracy first, then speed.

2. Fewer Clicks, Longer Phrases

Keep the metronome at the same speed but reduce the number of clicks per bar—for example, setting it to click only on beats 1 and 3, or just on beat 1. This approach forces you to internalize the pulse and feel longer phrases instead of relying on every beat.

Metronome-Off Challenge

Set the metronome, play along to establish the tempo, then turn it off and continue playing. After a few bars or phrases, turn it back on to see if you stayed in time. This practice is excellent for developing your internal pulse.

4. Offbeat & Subdivision Clicks

Instead of clicking on the downbeats, have the metronome click on the upbeats (the “and” of each beat) or on subdivisions (e.g., sixteenth notes in a fast passage). For perpetual motion pieces, such as a Bach Allegro, this approach keeps you honest and aids in maintaining rhythmic stability and precision.

Half-Time or Double-Time Feel

Set the metronome to half the tempo so it clicks only once every two beats (or every bar). Alternatively, set it to double the tempo so it clicks on every subdivision. Both methods challenge you to maintain a steady groove and avoid rushing.

Random Dropout Practice (Advanced)

Some modern metronome apps allow the click to drop out randomly. This feature forces you to maintain steady timing when the click disappears, which helps train your internal rhythm consistency.

Polyrhythmic Practice

Set the metronome to a different pulse than the meter you’re playing—for example, a 3:2 feel (triplets against duplets). This develops rhythmic independence and makes you far more rhythmically flexible.

Recommended Metronomes

My favorite old-school quartz metronome is the Seiko Quartz SQ50-V but here are a few more that I’ve used in the past.

  • Tonal Energy Tuner (App)—combines metronome, tuner, and advanced rhythmic tools.
  • Dr. Beat DB-90 (Boss)—classic, reliable, and feature-rich with multiple patterns.
  • Metronome+ (App) is a helpful tool I have on my iPad because you can set tempo increases automatically. It is excellent for technique practice.

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Three Indispensable Practice Resources

Published on by Leo GarciaLeave a comment

Over the years, I’ve explored countless practice resources—but these three consistently rise to the top. If you’re looking to deepen your progress on the classical guitar, these are well worth your time.

Molly Gebrian

The catchy title of Molly Gebrian’s book, Learn Faster, Perform Better, lays out science-backed methods of practicing that will help you become better at your instrument. Gebrian holds degrees in neuroscience and music, is a phenomenal violist, and is a faculty member at one of my alma maters, the New England Conservatory. Her book goes through the concepts of spaced practice, mental practice, attentional focus, variable practice, structured practice planning, and other topics that, if you have not learned in music school, you’ll be grateful to learn here.

Her YouTube channel is an invaluable resource. The videos are short, insightful, and actionable—perfect for classical guitar students looking to level up their technique and musical memory. You’ll find clear explanations, real-world examples, and bite-sized challenges that make her ideas easy to apply right away.

Tonebase

Tonebase has been publishing a wide variety of videos that I’ve found helpful. The videos by Eliot Fisk, Nigel North, and Paul O’Dette discussing various Bach suites are excellent. The videos where Marco Tamayo explains his approach to technique or where Rene Izquierdo goes through repertoire are so insightful that you’ll gain great nuggets of information to inspire you. However, what I found most useful this year were the videos Lukasz Kuropacsewski did on practicing. These are absolute gold because he not only answered many questions I’ve asked myself over the years, but the enthusiasm with which he delivers the advice makes you want to grab your guitar. If you have not seen these, the price of a subscription to Tonebase is well worth it. Use this code SSJ-30 for 30% off.

The Bulletproof Musician

The Bulletproof Musician, created by performance psychologist and Juilliard-trained violinist Dr. Noa Kageyama, is one of the most respected resources on the mental side of music performance. The site is packed with research-based articles, podcasts, and practical advice on topics like overcoming performance anxiety, effective practice techniques, building confidence, and performing under pressure. Drawing from psychology, neuroscience, and decades of performance experience, Dr. Kageyama translates complex ideas into clear, actionable strategies that musicians of all instruments and levels can apply.

While it isn’t guitar-specific, the insights are universally applicable to classical guitarists—especially given the instrument’s intimate, exposed nature and the mental demands of solo performance. Students can benefit greatly from articles on focus, memory, and managing nerves on stage.

This post includes an affiliate link. If you decide to use it, thank you—it helps keep this blog up and running.

Five Reasons Why Sor Studies are Awesome.

Published on by Leo GarciaLeave a comment
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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.

  1. 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.
  2. 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!
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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!).