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Tag: Lessons
From the Archives: Miracle Right Hand Warm-Up Sequence
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Technical Workout for Classical Guitar – Level 1 – Base Building, Part 1 (video)
Here is the first of Six String Journal’s series of technique videos to accompany my recent workbook, A Technical Workout for Classical Guitar, Level 1 – Base Building. This video corresponds to Left Hand Movements, Part 1.
This workbook is designed to help late beginners and intermediate guitarists develop a daily routine of movements to strengthen their technical base so that fingers can do their job properly when assimilating new repertoire (that was wordy!). Always go slowly with the most control possible. Think of it as writing a program for your brain with no bugs.
Miracle Right Hand Warm Up Sequence
Here is a warm up sequence that I used to do every morning. It is useful for building right hand endurance, finger alternation, speed, pulse, rhythm, and legato. The idea behind it is simple. Set the metronome to a very slow beat, somewhere (50-70). Throughout the whole sequence, the beat remains constant but with very slight and precise increments we increase the number of notes between the beats.
I would go through all 13 steps (using free stroke) and then go through the whole thing two more times using different right hand fingerings am and ai . . .
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A Technical Workout for Guitar
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Developing Tone
For my very first video lesson, I thought I would talk about developing tone. I work on tone at the beginning of my first practice session of the day. This aspect of practicing is more of a meditation and serves as a way to psychologically or spiritually enter the practice zone, settle the brain, fine tune the ear, and develop your touch. Hope you all find it helpful.
Guitar Talk with Yuri Liberzon
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Villa Lobos Etude Nº2, Part 2
I was going to write about a warm up sequence that builds right hand endurance, speed, pulse, and legato. It was going to be a good one. But, I walked past my music stand and Heitor Villa-Lobos’s Etude Nº2 was taunting me.
So here are a few more thoughts and approaches I’ve found helpful while working on this over the last few weeks.
Right Hand Alone
We all know the value in practicing the right hand alone. It allows us to focus on what might be a potential lack of understanding as to where the trouble in a passage lies. Focusing on the right hand also allows us to feel the rhythm correctly without the hindrance of a faulty left hand or a left hand that cannot keep up. In this particular etude, there are two movements that recur often. Practice these movements or if necessary, build them up to comfortably play them at your target tempo (120+ bpm). .
Sweeping with p:
Cross-string arpeggio with various fingerings:
Slow and progressive warm up on these two movements helps develop a more ‘in the pocket’ feel and if you can retain the feel when incorporating the left hand, forces the left hand to behave more reliably. Remind yourself that if you cannot play those movements well at your target tempo, you will simply not be able to play the piece at that speed. So, set that metronome and get to work.
Left Hand Without Shifts
Though shifting in this piece does not present too many challenges, there are a few. Practicing a passage without a shift allows us to deconstruct a movement with two potential problems: the change in hand position and the shift. Try playing the first measure with no shift and focus on how it feels. Then, once that feels fluid, incorporate the shift while retaining the fluidity.
Resting the Right Hand Thumb
Do you know when and on what strings your thumb rests when not using it? Instead of randomly placing it for stability, find spots to rest it that coincide with the next note it will play. Not always possible but it certainly helps when you can get away with it.
Hope that helps. Stay tuned for the super warm up exercise and another Artist Spotlight…
Legato and Dissonance
Creating a beautiful melody on the guitar is challenging due to the fact that every note you pluck decays from that moment on. If you play two consecutive melodic notes on one string, the touch requires extreme precision to give the impression of legato. At certain times, it is easier to achieve a sense of legato by using cross string fingerings. But there is a fine timing line between achieving beautiful legato and dissonance with cross strings and it requires the use of controlled damping – sometimes with the left hand and sometimes with the right.
Here is a great example from Leo Brouwer’s beautiful piece Un dia de noviembre. For a benign light passage there is a lot to think about musically.
Notice that in the example above muting occurs the moment after the new melodic note turns on. This is a great way to exploit the resonance of the guitar. Of course, there are many variations on this, including one where you would turn off the notes simultaneously with the entrance of the new note but this would achieve a less legato line.
Coming soon, I’m going to post a workout based on Leo Brouwer’s Axioms!
Leo Brouwer’s Axioms
Years ago, I came across an article on a Spanish site guitarra.artepulsado.com posted by Oscar López who had taken notes during a summer course with the great Cuban composer and guitarist, Leo Brouwer. The title of the post was Axiomas básicos de Leo Brouwer. I found the word file and thought I’d translate it for all non-Spanish speakers. It provides a wealth of advice. I’ve added a few commentaries below to expand the ideas a bit. Hope they are helpful.
Warm Up
Use chromatic octaves for the left hand and arpeggios and rasgueados for the right hand. Play close to the body in higher resonant positions upon starting your practice.
*I think this may mean to start your practice without having the left hand in an extended position. Starting in higher positions is less stressful for the left hand.
Speed and Scales
Use fixed, non-shifting positions in the left hand that are close to the body (i.e. higher positions) to play short bursts of notes. Play bursts in short crescendos (soft to loud or light to intense). Start on one string, then expand to two strings. Add one note at a time and pause between each mini-scale.
Add color and articulations to scales.
Left Hand Shifting
Left-hand notes should be played staccato (*perhaps he means before a shift). Focus on the arrival (not the departure) as you shift from 1st to 2nd, 1st to 3rd, 1st to 4th, etc., position.
Left Hand Independence
With a fixed first finger bar, play slurs and scales across all the strings with the rest of the fingers. Try all combinations possible.
Memory
To avoid embedding errors, do not start memorizing at the very beginning of learning a piece.
Fingerings
There are never definitive fingerings.
*What Brouwer most likely means to covey here is that fingerings evolve throughout the lifetime of learning a piece. Inevitably, we discover better, more efficient, more musical, more interesting ways to play passages and discard or change older fingerings as our familiarity with the piece increases.
Color
Exploit the three primary sonorous zones of the guitar: over the sound hole (resonant zone), over right part of the rosette (resonant and clarity zone), and near the bridge (clarity zone).
Harmonics
Do not pluck harmonics diagonally.
More Advice
- The position of the guitar to your body should remain consistent.
- Remember that the 2nd and 3rd strings tend to be the weakest so we must compensate when necessary.
- Pluck consonant chords with no arpeggiation. Pluck rare (dissonant) chords with arpeggiation for clarity.
- Velocity contains impulse and direction.
- Cadential ornaments should be in time.
- Resonance is at the heart of the guitar.
- Vibrato is used for intensity not rest.
- The thumb (left-hand) acts as a pivot during slurs.
- Forte is found at the limit of a beautiful sound.
- Breathe between phrases and project energy towards the end.
- During rasgueados the energy is channeled towards the 1st string.
- Anything that is repeated should be varied. Change either the color or the volume or the timbre.