Classical guitar pedagogy

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Pedagogy (teaching) can be broadly split into the topics which students are taught. These include:

  • Musical interpretation of a work in a specific style (renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic, jazz, folk, etc.) using stylistically appropriate, suitable forms (tone, phrasing, articulation, dynamics, voice separation, rhythm, rubato, ornaments, vibrato, ...) of expression; whilst maintaining and exploring the artistic freedom within that "framework"
    Interpretation has been described as "performing a piece as [one has] come to understand it. (within the rules of performance practice of the time)"[1]
  • Analysis of musical works: style, motif, themes, structural development, progressions, harmonies, resolutions, textures, voices, (period) performance practices, settings, ... Analysis both "on paper" (notational), "by ear" (hearing) and "with the instrument" (instrumental realization, hearing)
  • Musical Notations:
    • Standard: Treble Clef, Bass Clef, etc. Performance notations (sforzando, bartok pizzicato, modern notations, etc.)
    • Tablatures (Understanding of various tablatures: e.g. Lute Tablatures, etc.)
    • Sight Reading
    • Recordings as a form of preservation of musical material (going beyond standard notation): phrasing, rhythm.
      Playing by ear.
  • Instrumental technique, with its goal, of being the manner in which the desired expression (tone, sound projection, elegance, refined playing) is best conveyed
  • Arranging, Transcribing: both from notation and by ear. (repertoire from other instruments, lute music, beatles songs, popular songs, jazz standards)
  • Accompaniment
    • basso continuo
    • of singers
    • different styles (popular songs, folk music, flamenco)
  • Ensemble playing
  • Musical "theory": harmony, cadences, progressions, rhythm etc. especially in relation to the guitar: chords, patterns, relations to string tunings, modes, scales, in different positions
  • Working with musical material
    • arrangements (for instrumental groups) incl. voicings
    • performances
    • playing by ear, playing on stage, playing with friends
    • improvisation
  • Understanding of these many different concepts and their rational reasoning, so that that which is learned can also be passed on to others

This is a very broad field and various emphasises can be chosen - it depends on the individual's interests, background, environment and choices.

It is important to note that different people have different musical strengths and interests. Even (esp.) within musical style choices can be made: someone who is naturally (meaning due to the environment, background, personal interests, choice) able and happy to interpret pieces of a particular style, should have every opportunity to further that ability and interest, rather than playing mediocre performances of music that does not even make the performer happy.

On the other hand new styles of music can be learned if the guitarist/student is interested. It is only natural that a classical guitarist should be exposed to the standard works of the repertoire from different periods (e.g. Narvaez, to Bach, to Sor, to Tarrega, to Albeniz, to Villa-Lobos, to Walton). Over time the student will grow musically and learn his/her own strengths and preferences, which can then be followed (performances, etc.)


Contents

[edit] Teaching and Learning

[edit] "Theoretical treatment of musical topics" versus "Musical Expression during Performance"

The above theoretical topics (analysis of musical works, progressions, modes, ...) seem to suggest that a classical guitarist requires an elitist training; however this is far from the truth, since these things are in fact all secondary to a musician's true aim of expressing music with satisfiable evocation of emotions and musical communication.

Just as "use of eyesight" (for recognition of objects, judging depth, etc.) is learned in a most natural (seemingly automatic) way (without requiring a theoretical understanding of nerve-cells, lenses, etc.), so too can music be learned in a natural way... (without necessarily requiring a theoretical basis), but with the actual thing itself: the music (listening to music, absorbing traits, etc. But unfortunately this does not prevent negative influences, that may occur as a result of to listening to perfunctory, sterile classical performances.)

All the quantifiable elements (structure, tone, even "talk of phrasing", style, etc.) "matter of fact things", may be helpful to a guitarist; but they mean nothing at all, if the guitarist is still unable to reach the goal of actually expressing music in a convincing, emotional, truthful way. (Theoretical musical knowledge does not automatically lead to a good performance - this is especially when theoretical information is presented just on paper, without music.)

[edit] Focus on tone production

For the classical guitar, a consideration of beautiful tone production is important. For violinists the tone is the most fundamental element from the beginning, since it takes a lot of time and skill to achieve a beautiful tone. But for guitarists, a beginner can produce an acceptable tone (perhaps mediocre) relatively quickly; so that it often happens that more focus is given to the left hand; and the right hand and tone production is "taken for granted" and never questioned or analysed sufficiently.[2]

Students (especially when more advanced) can experiment with the sounds, tones and timbres that can be created on the guitar by varying their hand positions, angles, using different finger-combinations, etc. This can also be practiced in an improvisational manner (without a given piece of music).

But at the same time, when musical works are played, the pieces should not be solely reduced to "tonal paintings": A balanced approach is needed, where the structure of the musical work including the phrases, musical figures, pulse and flow are also taken into consideration.

[edit] Analysis, context and individuality

Teaching involves the analysis of both music and instrumental technique (including tone production of the right hand) and an explanation the rationale behind certain ideas (in dialog with students), as opposed to unexplained enforcement of particular ways of playing. The teacher's rationale can adjust according to each student's feedback, and be open to alternative ideas; leading to the formation of an optimal explanations that incorporates a student's own individuality (in terms of technique, interpretation, etc.).

In terms of instrumental technique it might be good if a teacher does not explain (over-analyze) too much at the beginning; given young or new guitarists. This is because the student must first get a feel for the motion of their fingers (and the sounds produced) so that they understand the context. Only if the context is understood can a topic be explained.

Students continually need to learn things with the guitar. When beginning to play, the student usually plays without nails, or with rather short nails on the right hand. Then the student begins to play with nails and has to relearn a bit.

Since each players fingers and nails are different, a teacher cannot give exact advice as to e.g. what hand position, angle of attack is best. Rather the student should always be encouraged to actively move the hand and find good sounds (while maintaining a hand position the allows comfortable, effective plucking): There are comfortable hand positions that do work well for many guitarists (having the fingers point to the left, as opposed to perpendicular to the strings) and these can be used in the beginning phases; combined with an encouragement to experiment with various positions to find great tones/timbres.

[edit] Too fast repertoire progression, without deep focus

A problem in the teaching of the guitar is that often works are not sufficiently well learned, before a new work is learned. The classical guitar is a difficult instrument and there are a lot of factors that are important even in easy songs: playing in the correct musical style (articulation, phrasing, etc.), playing the notes cleanly, minimizing unwanted noise in the right hand (nail clicking, sforzando string-bounce) and left hand (wound bass-string squeaks), separation of voices, etc. It has noted that often "more emphasis is often put by a teacher on getting through the notes rather than playing the real substance of each note"[2].

[edit] Cyclic Study

On the other hand for beginning players cyclic study of works can prove useful: this is where works are revisited after some time once the player has learned, matured and improved. It is important to play different little works and have a gradual improvement in most major areas of technique, rather than aiming for the impossible goal of having a beginner play each work perfectly before progressing to other material.

It is important to not only push forward with technique: rather interpretation is important as well. Once a basic level of technique is reached, interpretation can already be practiced and will often prove a fulfilling experience for the student: Playing easy pieces well (in terms of interpretation) builds up confidence and true musicianship (performance and expression); rather than working on hard pieces with a lack of technique and understanding - causing terrible performances.

[edit] Repertoire progressions and stylistic interpretation

There is also often a tendency of some students to skip most of the repertoire of a composer (say Giuliani) and focus only on the more (technically) difficult longer works (the ones that are also most often recorded). The resulting interpretations may often be driven more by the technical challenges, than a fine interpretation with an understanding of the work's style.

A possible approach here, is for students to slowly progress towards a composer's main large works, by beginning with their many "exquisite miniatures" (Allegretto, Andantino, Maestoso, Grazioso, etc. - occasionally mistaken for "only mere studies"): These miniatures often contain stylistic traits of the composer - By playing engaging and expressive performances of these works, these stylistic characteristics can then be assimilated and lead to a gradual maturing and understanding of the composer's works and the works of the period.

[edit] Aiming for instrumental control/ease rather than speed

Some guitarists' performances may be too driven by speed, resulting in sloppy performances and bad interpretations.

Rather the aim should be on a controlled performances of elegant ease (where the guitarist still has reserves for interpretation, rather than playing on the extreme edge of maximum speed).

Thus the focus should lie on the interpretation and instrumental control, stability and ease; rather than limiting the interpretation due to technical difficulties, such as fast passages.

The build up of speed can be a natural consequence of well concentrated practice on clear, smooth performances (including scales, etc.); paired with a gradual progression to more and more advanced repertoire.

This is preferable, rather than having speed as an immediate (or only) goal - which will in that case always be difficult to reach adequately. A performance should also not have a mechanical drive to it (which is why metronomes should be avoided, or rarely used), but rather a lyrical interpretation with phrasings, curves and flow.

Even though control is important, it is not the sole most important aim as is outlined in a section below: Convincing "Musical communicative expression"

[edit] Problems from an overemphasis on sheet music (notation)

Some classical guitar teachers use too much sheet-music early on for beginners. This may be problematic since it could hinder the young classical guitarist from listening intently on the sound/tone/timbre that the fingers are producing. The guitarist learns the mapping from musical notation (score/tab), to the string/fret position; rather than emphasizing the more important/fundamental mapping of a heard (desired) sound/pitch/note/timbre, to the plucking and the string/fret position: Some classical guitarist are often unable to improvise and some are even unable to even play a song heard on the radio, by ear. For this a knowledge of harmony and chords is invaluable; especially if this is learned, "experimented" with the instrument (and hearing); in addition to the notational understanding "on paper".

[edit] Sheetmusic and style

Students often have an overwhelming amount of sheetmusic (consisting of a mix of all kinds of styles), which may be a cause of interpretational problems: There is a tendancy for students to browse through their sheetmusic playing only the beginnings of various works and never really progressing at all.

Moreover it is rather problematic when students browse through their sheetmusic, flipping through various different styles rather arbitrarily (playing for example: first a bit of Lauro, then Mertz, then Brouwer, then Carulli, then Scarlatti, then Albeniz, then Bach, etc.) since any coherence of style is lost completely. What is left are just some sonic impulses rather than playing the music that one enjoys and interprets for a satisfiable evocation of emotions and musical communication.

Often the works (in terms of sheetmusic) that the students seem to find most "interesting" (or are attracted to), are for them rather new ("exotic") insofar as the students attempt to play those works of which they actually have no idea, how they can be approached interpretationally/stylistically (or simply truthfully). On the other hand, the musical styles that students naturally know well and enjoy and could play truthfully with powerful rapport, are often sidelined as being "too easy" or "not exotic enough".

In this respect essential guitar works (that every student should have played) do not actually exist. Individual students will have different musical strengths and stylistic preferences... and should not be forced to play something (possibly called essential guitar works, essential guitar studies) that the individual may not even enjoy. In the same respect, overly diligent students should also not seek out music, only because someone else has tagged it as essential, or standard, or required, or effective, or super, or beautiful... .Rather one should find one's own musical strengths and preferences in terms of style, convincing expression and enjoyment.

[edit] Notation as a guide (phrasing and flow)

It may be important for teachers to emphasize that sheet music is only a guide of the ideas of a composer. Sheet music can never convey all the ideas of the composer. This is especially the case rhythmically: although music is notated with strict note-durations (e.g. Eighth note, etc.) it should never be played like that - rather the music will have a flow which may rise and fall: the music should be correctly phrased and articulated. Usually singers and flute players are able to phrase musical lines in a natural way (probably because breathing is required and causes natural pauses/nuances), which is why guitarists can also be encouraged to sing phrases that they play on the guitar. The music will have a particular pulse, or feel, or flow (often also depending on its style: baroque, classical, etc.) and the guitarist should be able to play it convincingly with appropriate "breathing pauses", rhythmic nuances, lines and phrases. In this respect, practicing with the metronome is to be avoided (or carefully considered and the reasoning explained), since it can destroy the natural flow of music and causes a too mechanical beat. (See also: Criticism of Metronome use)

But also here, a balanced natural approach is needed: the aim of phrasing (etc.) is not to justify over-exaggerated inappropriate use of rubato, or unsuitable slow-downs due to technical difficulties; but rather to communicate musically and expressively.

[edit] Mappings: Sound to Instrument; Notation to Instrument; Sound/Instrument to Notation

Musical material can come in various forms (representations) including:

  • The actual sounds, produced during performance
  • Notational Representation: Score (Sheet music), Tablature
  • Instrumental realization: Memorization of hand positions, finger motions (considering alternatives)

An important aspect for a student learning an instrument, is to be able to effectively move between these representations. Thus, the following mappings can be identified:

  • Notation to Instrument: sight-reading
  • Memory of hear sounds to Instrument: playing by ear
  • Heard sounds to Notation: e.g. creating a score-notation of one's own composition, or of a melody that one has heard (e.g. a Beatles song): Here the instrument can also be used as an aid, e.g. by determining the pitches on the guitar (possibly by playing by ear and memorizing, before creating a notation).

Didactically it is highly instructive for students to not only figure out e.g. rhythms from score-notations, but also go in the opposite direction: i.e. for students to invent rhythms (e.g. own compositions) themselves and then notate them correctly on sheet music. (The same goes for other musical parameters: pitch, dynamics, phrasing/articulation marks, etc.). This duality gives the student the opportunity to understand not only the perspective of the performer, but also that of the composer including: the limitations that a notation can impose; the performer's role of interpretation, etc.

Students should also learn a musical notation program, that enables them to create publication-quality sheet music (of their own arrangements, compositions). Examples include the freely available Lilypond which is able to generate pdf and other formats (example; more examples: html/png - 1, 2; pdf - 1pdf, 2pdf; SVG - example), or MusiXTeX, or others.

[edit] Instrumental realization and interpretative goal

When a musician is playing and practicing, he is playing not only the notes in the hope that the interpretation will take care of itself; but rather but attempting to play the notes according to a desired interpretative result. Thus the two resulting aspects of performance are:

  • the instrumental realization
  • the interpretative goal

Musicians actively focus on both when performing:

  • The guitarist who only focuses on the instrumental realization, will inevitably be performing a work that is guided solely by the motion of his fingers - the work will be shaped only by this. In particular the fingers' motions will not be based on any stylistic goal (there might not be any goal to which to work towards).
  • The guitarist who only focuses on interpretation might be so caught up in this, that he is unable to become fully aware of the details of his playing (tone, noisy plucking): the player might superimpose his interpretative ideas (in his mind) over the actual physical sound that he is producing.

Instead a musician should be aware of both aspect during practice and performance: both the physical sound (instrumental realization) and the sound in one's mind (interpretative goal). Both these aspects influence one another: instrumental possibilities can give rise to interpretative ideas (an example might be certain trills that are a result of an instruments characteristics, such as the left hand position) but more importantly interpretational goals should also cause the musician to strive towards realizing these ideas as effectively as possible. This latter idea is in essence a type of feedback control: only when a musician is aware of both aspects, will it be possible to improve the physical playing towards the goal.

Both aspects require practice (as does the ability to combine them):

  • the instrumental facility/realization
  • the ability to learn and understand fitting stylistic interpretations, leading to the true musician's notion of "intuitively knowing how a piece should go".

(It is interesting that students are often able to hear more details of their own playing, when listening to a recorded version of their performance, than during the actual performance itself. To listen intently to the details one's own performance requires practice, as does the learning (formation) of interpretative ideas and adjusting one's playing according to them.)

[edit] Performance

Students should have the opportunity of playing in front of an audience.

In music-schools regular student-concerts can be organized (e.g. every two months, or so), where students have the opportunity to perform works that they have been preparing particularly for the event. This can serve as motivation for students to practice pieces for musical performance; and they also have the opportunity to listen to other players' performances and learn from the experience.

The student-concerts can e.g. be organized in such a way that beginning players start off, with more advanced players performing towards the end (but other possibilities exists as well).

The repertoire that students perform should be balanced in such a way, that there is an emphasis on the music and its interpretation, rather than on showing off speed, or technical ability - this might e.g. be done by including slow works. (But also: a slow baroque fugue, might be more difficult than a faster piece, for example.)

It is particularly beneficial if students can play together in small ensemble formations (duo, trio, etc.), especially if they perform together with other instrumentalists (violinists, cellists, etc.) and vocalists.

[edit] Relating information to students

Teachers may find it difficult to relate information to students in a pedagogically correct manner, especially if certain teaching habits are formed. A trick that might help teachers in understanding the problems that beginning guitar-players face (especially with regard to instrumental technique), is for the teacher to reverse his/her own guitar (so that the head points to the left instead of the right, possibly done privately): i.e. the teacher then plucks that guitar's strings with the left hand instead of the right, and frets with the right hand. This is completely new feeling and thus helps the pedagogue better relate information to new students. True teaching is not about a passing on facts only to the student, but a guiding of the student's conscience towards understanding: this can be achieved if teachers are open to re-reflect and re-learn things themselves, when they are teaching; enjoying the possibility of learning from their students, rather than using a too authoritarian approach. (On the other hand a teacher should still remain a person of authority and respect.)

[edit] Feedback and "Instrumental Memory"

Violinists are able to listen to the sound that the string is making, while the bow is gliding over it, and the bowing action can be adapted accordingly. Feedback is involved here: the sound that the violin is generating, is fed back through the performer's ears to the performer, who is then able to adjust/move the bow in such a way, that it generates the desired sound.

For guitarists the same kind of feedback is involved, except that the sound is produced and is maintained, even after the plucking finger is no longer in contact with the string. Thus all what guitarists are able to control, is the beginning of the sound (by plucking), while the later vibration continues due to the string's characteristics and the guitar's resonance. Thus in terms of feedback, a guitarist is only able to adjust the next stroke, according to the previous stroke's plucking motion and its resulting sound (when practicing repeated notes). This is very different from violinists, who are able to adjust the sound at any point in time, through the bow.

So guitarists ultimately need a memory of the resulting sound, that will be obtained by a certain plucking finger-motion:

Guitarists need to know in advance what tonal/sound effect, the movement of their (plucking) finger will generate. To practice this, guitarists need a memory of:

  • the string's tension
  • various finger motions
  • the resulting sounds/tones that are generated.

This memory is only gained through practice and experience and an active listing to the sounds one produces.

Guitarists need to get a feeling for the tension of the various string - the tension that the string exerts on the finger that touches it, and how a string is to be plucked to obtain the desired sound in terms of timbre, loudness, etc.

[edit] Voicing

When playing the classical guitar it is important to try and make the different voices noticeable: e.g. the accompaniment is not a part of the melody and vice versa. One aim of the soloist is to play the different voices as if different musicians are actually playing them.

This often means that during practice the guitarist will play only the melody, or only the accompaniment. This is also an important concept when practicing interpretation: The reduction of voices (e.g. playing only the melody) allows one to fully focus on certain select voices during practice, rather than having to think of all voices at once.

For guitar players the voicing is particularly difficult, since there is only a single hand (the plucking hand) that is is producing all the notes. Guitarists require excellent control of their plucking fingers since the different voices should themselves form coherent units, while appearing distinct from other voices. (As a comparison: Pianists have the advantage of being able to play the different voices on different hands.)

[edit] Practice

Static, repetitive technique exercises can produce bad results for the guitarist.

The reason is that these exercises often cause the player to move his fingers out of habit, rather than out of free choice. This may cause the learning of unwanted reflexes. Instead the practicing should always focus on the tone/timbre.

This is more closely related to the practicing of the violinist, than that of a keyboard player; since the keyboard player need not focus on the tone/timbre produced (there is a hammer-mechanism that achieves a good tone/timbre).

Thus a guitarist should focus on practicing technique with a lot of variation: both tonally (dolce, metallico) articulation-wise (staccato, smooth, loud, soft), with different strokes (with preparation - resting the finger/nail on the string before plucking, speed-stroke - plucking the string from the air without preparation).

In addition musical examples should be practiced, rather than some made up idiosyncratic finger-motions that focus only on technique and have no relation to any actual musical expression. On the other hand (difficult) instrumental patterns (hand-finger motions) that occur in works, can often be abstracted and generalized; and thus practiced directly for an improvement of the work.

[edit] Ensemble practice

Perhaps one of the most important ways of practicing music and instrumental technique, is by playing together with other people. This requires an active listening not only on ones own playing, but also a listening to other musicians and learning to play together in a fitting manner[2].

[edit] Harmony and ear-training with the instrument

A problem that may occur in guitar programs is that musical theory is presented without the instrument.

The results can be rather negative: e.g. some classical guitarists are even unable to accompany popular songs (e.g. Beatles) even if there are fairly straightforward chordal progressions and harmonies.

The problem is also to be found within many classical guitar-methods themselves which often present a lot of sheet music (scores), but never actually explain musical fundamentals such as chords, inversions, harmonies, positions, scales / modes, progressions. It is ironic that classical guitarists often have to grab Jazz (Jazz Improvisation, Acoustic, Blues or Rock) guitar books to cover that knowledge sufficiently!

Classical guitarists should be encouraged to learn these things and pick up jazz books, etc. Roland Dyens has called this knowledge of "harmony, progressions, positions as applied to the guitar" the "geography of the instrument"[3].

[edit] Active Listening to other instrumentalists and vocalists

In order for guitarists to learn the aspects of particular musical styles (baroque, classical, romantic, etc.), it may be beneficial that they listen to works of these genres.

In this respect it is very important that students listen to performers of instruments other than their own. This is so that guitarists don't simply always copy someone else's interpretation, but actually learn the more fundamental basis of styles that apply to works (romantic period, classical period, etc.).

There is a great benefit if guitarists listen actively and intently to ensembles such as violin quartets, orchestral works, ... (while absorbing stylistic aspects). And a lot can be learned from violinists', or flute players' phrasings and performance; or from pianists interpretations, etc.

Even for guitaristic repertoire, it might be extremely beneficial and refreshing for guitarists to actually hear pianists performing works of Albéniz and Granados; or hearing a great violinist phrase Bach's Sonatas and Partitas; or (for something closer to the guitar) hear lute, harp and mandolin performances.

A critical listening is important. Rather than forcing oneself to listen to (possible poorly performed) classical recordings, one should analyze which performances are pleasing, persuasive, expressive, great (and why); and which performances one feels are lacking, forced, mechanical, uninteresting, stylistically inappropriate, boring. Positive traits and stylistic features can be assimilated from good performances.

[edit] Convincing "Musical communicative expression" (Aiming for expressive communicative interpretation, rather than only control)

For guitarists (especially for advanced students and professionals who have mastered good tone and control) control should not be the prime driving factor during performing of music. Often preoccupations with tone and control (or speed) lead to performances that fundamentally lack character and come across as emotionally boring and sterile - The resulting performance may be restrained (from expression) due to the aim of keeping the tone perfectly-controlled, keeping the projection perfectly-balanced.

Musician's absolute concentration may become noticeable, but when it is a concentration solely on the control and balance of performance, rather than on communicating expressive music and enjoying the act of performance, the result may be a highly technical, yet cold and sterile interpretation: the audience will notice that the musician is all to focused on keeping the tone etc. perfect rather than actually being there to perform music that the performer really wishes to share with the audience in terms of a musical human evocative performance.

Opinions that "Classical music is boring" are certainly justified, if it is performed in a boring way: Especially if the music becomes just fixed notes, tone, phrases, that are learned; and can then be triggered "at will" anytime (just requiring a rundown of finger-motions). There is a distinctive difference between a performance which is just a rundown of learned motions and phrases (that are generally considered musical, but come across as regular, predictable, boring, 'run of the mill' phrasing) and a performance in which there is actually a truthful attempt of expression, sincerity, emotions (joy, ...) and communication.

Performers (professionals) may become preoccupied with the sound (tone, balance, control, speed), instead of trying to make each sound (and the interplay of sounds) capable of really touching the human listener emotionally.

The result is music that may seem pleasing (by being played with a good tone and balanced way - perhaps "pleasing to the understanding"), but nonetheless fails to satisfy the listener beyond a mere casual distraction (nice concert, technically brilliant, nice tone but shallow on other levels - communication, "soul's" emotion, performance truthfulness).

Problems may be due to an strong adherence to the score on a factual "matter of fact" level, without an attempt to musically go beyond the score and into the spirit of the work.

An adherence to the score is often backed up with claims of "being totally in service of the music"; yet this might be likened to a person (reciting a poem) claiming to be "totally in service of words and sentences (grammar/syntax)"; as opposed to the deeper meanings in terms of art, expression and emotion.

A comparison with a person learning a foreign language might also be appropriate in clarifying these concepts: after a few years one has learned the grammar and the syntax (how to build sentences etc.) of the new language, but when speaking with locals one might still be immediately recognizable as being foreign (either through the accent, lack of fluency, or through a lack of understanding the local lingo, or insider jokes, figures of speech, etc.) The person will not have managed in making the language his/her own, nor will the person have managed in learning special characteristics of the language (figures of speech, ... and also spoken aspects of the language: such as certain exclamations, intonations, rhetoric, inflections in the speech, ...).

Thus an understanding and use of the music's style and expressive characteristics is important. But beyond that, the musicians need to learn the music and performance, such that they can make it their own, so that the performance can become wholly convincing, emotionally expressive and truthful both personally and in front of an audience. The performance requires the musician's character and personality, instead of just a mere sterile playing of notes.

[edit] Practice of Expression beyond preoccupations with control and balance

Preoccupations with tone, balance and control may even hinder musical improvement, if the guitarist is so concerned with the sound, that each performance is identical; i.e. even during practice, a own golden reference performance emerges (with good tone, and seemingly acceptable phrases) for which the musician will aim again and again (repetitively during practice); rather than actually improving continually and leaving the existence of any own reference completely open, and searching for new ways of making the music more interesting in terms of non-linear aspects; such as surprising (but stylistically viable) accelerandos, rallentandos,... and a pulse that is not always only a regular push and pull, different tone-colours (e.g. during repetitions), etc.

  • Keeping music interesting, communicative, emotional, etc. can be practiced through improvisation (e.g. taking various simple made-up melody lines, or part of some scales, and playing them in all kinds of human expressive ways: emphasis, staggerations, acceleration, ritardando, rhythmic figures, pulses, small irregularities, fermatas etc. The aim is a seeking of a human way of performing that loses any trace of mechanization, but flows lyrically)
  • Professional guitarists should never practice only their concert repertoire, but regularly take album of simple pieces that they can enjoy (e.g. works whose style the guitarist is familiar with, or interested in) and and sight-read/play them (with an emphasis of striking the most interesting free interpretation the aims to make the music alive, by taking a broad view of the score, free of any restrictions that a metronomic (factual) reading would impose)
    This spontaneous interpreting of fresh simple works (with a few readings, until one has found an interesting interpretation; and then moving to the next work) is very different than only focusing on one's concert program, until the concert-practice is boring and the concert-pieces no longer considered interesting, but get "run of the mill" traits.
  • Playing together with others may also be refreshing.

[edit] Hierarchical/layered structures within music

Music usually has many layers of discernible structure.

For example a repeated arpeggio pattern is in itself a structure. Interestingly, even if such a repeated pattern is used in music (e.g. in a prelude), good musicians never play this pattern unvaryingly, as an unchangeable clone of itself.

The reason is that music usually has many more layers of structure, and often these layers can be regarded as forming a hierarchy and influence one another. In the case of a "arpeggio" prelude piece, there is also a large scale structure of the flowing and shifting of one arpeggio into the next (a flow of harmony and harmonic tensions and resolutions), which will cause the performer to vary the arpeggio appropriately - speeding up and slowing down, lingering on certain evocative musical "pivot" points before falling back into motion, etc.

As such the music can be said to consist of multiple hierarchical structures, from the micro-elements such as ornamentation (trills), accompaniment patterns, dynamic bows, tonal elements etc. to the large-scale elements such as the overall flow.

When playing, a musician is able to perform the music in a way which allows the varying structures (dynamics, phrases, ...) to fit together in a harmonious, interesting and evocative way. Each note can be played so as to touch the listener emotionally. But in this respect, each note should also contribute to the overall flow of the work (and be compatible with stylistic traditions); rather than falling apart, by focusing only on select structures (e.g. using overexaggerated inappropriate mannerisms in some micro-elements, or applying rhythmic reductionism by playing unvaryingly), while missing many other structures of the musical "hierarchy", which are necessary for a coherent, interesting, emotional whole.

[edit] Classical guitarist obstacles

Some of the problems/obstacles that can occur for guitarist are given below (roughly ordered from beginner to advanced level):

1) Playing with bad tone, bad technique, broken phrases, ... This may be due to:

  • The belief that one's instrument is not good enough. This completely underestimates the role of one's own control (angling, etc.) of the finger's (nail's) motion in producing the sound. It takes a lot of time, experimentation (with different angles, nail-shapes, strokes), and listening, to find ways of letting the finger/nail glide over the strings, so as to produce a beautiful tone. Moreover one is able to vary the tone-colour, producing a wide variety of sounds. Even a most humble (mass manufactured, machine-made) guitar can be used to produce beautiful sounds: it depends more on the manner of plucking, than on the instrument itself; since the guitarist's nails are in direct contact with the strings; rather than there a mechanical mechanism (such as a "hammer", in the case of pianos).
  • Adhering exactly to certain technical details, without questioning them and without considering their true resulting effect e.g. holding the hands/fingers exactly as a teacher tells one (or as is copied from somewhere), without actually taking into account the resulting tone that is really produced (and without recognizing that a different approach might yield better results). Instead it is beneficial to actually find an appropriate optimal hand/finger-position by experimentation and variation and active listening to the resulting sound.
  • Often through goals that are too high to be achieved appropriately, e.g. playing repertoire that is too advanced (e.g. overlapping of difficult left and right hand motions); no slow progression
  • Similarly, the belief that just mechanical playing/practice will allow one to play certain pieces of music - this ignores the fact that one needs to progress both in terms of technique and in terms of musicianship
  • or where there are too many parameters to focus on (left hand right hand, tone, multiple voices, phrasing, dynamics, ...); no breakdown into parts, too advanced

2) Obsession with speed: resulting in bad interpretations, sloppy mistakes. Problems may be due to:

  • practicing a phrase to often so that it is no longer musically played, but just a monotonous chaining together of sounds
  • Technical "showmanship", by trying to dazzle with breathtakingly fast technical technique, by playing pieces faster than tempos, at which they could actually be enjoyed.
  • Considering speed and virtuosity more important than interpretation and emotional expressiveness.
  • The belief that one can just speed music up or slow it down and it will still have the same character.

3) Concentrating too much on the delivery: balanced tone, projection, adherence to the score at all costs

  • guitarist may then play in a sterile, boring, over-balanced way
  • Possibly due to the very academic belief that a score needs to be followed exactly and that this is the sole aim of music (no "breathing" pauses between phrases, no variation of dynamics, no changes of tone)
  • or due to fear of criticism, for departing from the score; of from departing from standard ways in which a work has become known (e.g. through recordings from overrated guitar-players ...).

Problems that may occur through "talk of style, correct playing, control, tone, ..." are, that this may result in restrained, inaccessible (seemingly academic, musicological) performances. That is far away from an interpreter's true aim of expressing music and conveying emotions in a satisfiable convincing manner, that any listener may follow easily and enjoy.

[edit] Classical guitar Methods and Pedagogical Material

  • Federico Moretti - Principios para tocar la guitarra de seis òrdenes (Madrid, 1799)

[edit] Classical guitar technique

Main article: classical guitar technique

[edit] References

  1. ^ 15 Questions to Dale Kavanagh. www.tokafi.com, Tobias Fischer, 2007.
  2. ^ a b c John Williams Interview with Austin Prichard-Levy. The Twang Box Dynasty.
  3. ^ An interview with Roland Dyens. Sofia Mazi (July 2006; Arnea, Halkidiki, Greece).

[edit] External links

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