Classical Guitar For Dummies

Mark Phillips is an author and former director of music at Cherry Lane Music. He has served as music editor of Guitar and Guitar One magazines. Jon Chappell is a guitarist, author, and former editor-in-chief of Guitar and Home Recording magazines. His work has appeared in Guitar Shop, Keyboard, Electronic Musician, and Guitar Player.

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 3

Icons Used in This Book 4

Beyond This Book 4

Where to Go from Here 5

Part 1: Getting to Know the Classical Guitar 7

Chapter 1: An Acoustic Guitar in a League of Its Own 9

Defining What a Classical Guitar Is (and Isn’t) 10

Knowing What a Classical Guitar Looks Like 11

Recognizing How a Classical Guitar Physically Differs from Its Peers 14

Beyond Physique: Identifying Other Unique Attributes of Classical Guitar 17

Player’s form and technique 17

Musical knowledge and skills 19

Chapter 2: Getting Ready to Play 21

Situating Yourself 21

Taking your seat 22

Supporting the guitar: Leg position 23

Embracing the guitar: Arm support 24

Placing your hands correctly 25

Approaching the Strings with Your Hands 28

Fretting the strings: Left-hand form 28

Preparing to pluck: Right-hand form 29

Stroking the strings: Basic right-hand technique 32

Tuning Up 36

Adjusting the string tension to raise or lower pitch 36

Tuning visually with an electronic tuner 37

Tuning by ear 38

Chapter 3: Deciphering Music Notation and Tablature 43

Knowing the Ropes of Standard Music Notation 43

The composer’s canvas: The staff, clef, measures, and bar lines 44

Pitch: The highs and lows of music 45

Duration: How long to hold a note, what determines rhythm, and so on 47

Expression, articulation, and other symbols 50

Relating the Notes on the Staff to the Fretboard 51

Relishing the Usefulness of Guitar-Specific Notation 54

Fingering indications for the right and left hands 54

Stepping up to the barre 55

Taking on tablature, a nice complement to standard notation 56

Part 2: Starting to Play: The Basics 59

Chapter 4: One Note at a Time: Playing Simple Melodies 61

Practicing Notes on One String 62

Exercising your fingers: Strings 1, 2, and 3 63

Workin’ (mostly) the thumb: Strings 6, 5, and 4 68P

Playing across Three Strings 72

Finger fun on the first three strings 72

All thumbs again on the three lower strings 74

Cruising through All Six Strings 76

No thumbs allowed! 76

Fingers and thumb, unite! 77

Flowing through Melodic Pieces Using All Six Strings 79

Chapter 5: Rolling the Notes of a Chord: Arpeggio Technique 83

Playing the Notes of an Arpeggio: The Basics 84

Working Your Way across the Strings: The Thumb and Fingers in Order 85

Keeping it simple: One digit per string 85

Moving the thumb around 87

Varying Your Right-Hand Strokes 89

Changing the finger order 90

Alternating the thumb and fingers 90

Adding Harmony to Select Notes 93

Feeling the pinch with your thumb and fingers 93

Doubling up two fingers at once 95

Playing Pieces with Arpeggios 96

Chapter 6: Practicing Scales in First and Second Position 101

Introducing Scales, the Necessary Evils 101

Why scales are important 102

How you name them: Applying key signatures 103

Where they start and end: A primer on positions 106

Playing Major Scales in 1st Position 108

The one-octave C major scale 109

The two-octave G major scale 110

The two-octave F major scale 111

The two-octave E major scale 111

The two-octave A♭ major scale 112

Playing Minor Scales in 1st Position 112

The one-octave A minor scale 113

The two-octave E minor scale 113

The two-octave F minor scale 114

Playing Scales in 2nd Position 115

The D major scale in 2nd position using open strings 115

The D major scale in 2nd position using all fretted notes 116

The G major scale in 2nd position using all fretted notes 117

The B minor scale in 2nd position using all fretted notes 117

Applying Scales in Simple Pieces 118

Chapter 7: Exploring Musical Textures 123

Coordinating Contrapuntal Music: Layered Melodies 124

Playing two melodies in sync rhythmically 125

Opposing forces: Separating the thumb and fingers rhythmically 125

Thickening the upper part by adding double-stops 127

Melody and Accompaniment: Using All Your Fingers 128

Matching rhythm between accompaniment and melody 129

Getting creative with the flow: Two parts, two rhythms 130

Playing Easy Pieces in Different Textural Styles 131

Part 3: Improving Your Technique 137

Chapter 8: Flat-Fingered Fretting with Barres 139

Discovering How to Play Barres 139

Half barre 140

Full barre 141

Practicing Barres in Musical Context 142

Half barre 142

Full barre 143

Playing Pieces with Barres 144

Chapter 9: Getting a Smooth Sound with Slurs and Trills 149

Connecting Your Notes with Slurs 149

Hammering and pulling: Exploring slurs 150

Slurring in the context of a larger musical phrase 153

Fluttering a Note with a Trill 155

Playing trills on their own 155

Practicing trills in context 157

Playing Pieces Using Slurs and Trills 158

Chapter 10: Coloring Your Sound with Tone-Production Techniques 161

Creating Tones That Ring like Bells: Harmonics 162

Playing harmonics 162

Practicing harmonics in context 163

Varying the Tone with Vibrato 165

Playing vibrato 165

Practicing vibrato in context 166

Brightening or Darkening Your Sound by Changing Timbre 167

Implementing tonal changes 167

Practicing changing tone in context 169

Tremolo: The Classical Guitar Machine Gun of Sorts 170

Playing tremolo 170

Practicing tremolo in context 171

Playing Pieces Using Tone-Production Techniques 173

Chapter 11: Scaling the Musical Ladder beyond Second Position 177

Introducing Scales and Skills in This Chapter 178

Getting to know the higher positions 178

Strengthening your technical skill with practice variations 179

Playing Scales That Stay in 5th Position 180

The F major scale 181

The B♭ major scale 183

The D minor scale 183

Playing Scales That Stay in 9th Position 184

The A major scale 184

The D major scale 185

The F♯ minor scale 186

Playing Scales That Require Shifting Positions 186

The E major scale — one position shift 187

The A♭ major scale — two position shifts 187

The C♯ minor scale — one position shift 189

The G♯ minor scale — two position shifts 189

Playing Some Pieces Using Scales Up the Neck 190

Chapter 12: Combining Arpeggios and Melody 195

Grasping the Combination in Context 196

Downtown: Melody in the Bass 197

Playing a melody within arpeggios in the bass 198

Practicing making a bass melody stand out 199

Moving Uptown: Melody in the Treble 200

Playing a treble melody within arpeggios 201

Practicing making a treble melody stand out 202

Mixing Up Your Melodic Moves: The Thumb and Fingers Take Turns 203

Playing a shifting treble-and-bass melody within arpeggios 203

Practicing making a shifting melody stand out 205

Playing Pieces That Combine Arpeggios and Melodies 206

Chapter 13: Combining Left-Hand Techniques While Playing up the Neck 217

Layering Melodies and Using Barres up the Neck: Counterpoint 218

Combining Melody and Accompaniment with Barres and Slurs up the Neck 219

Playing Pieces up the Neck with Left-Hand Techniques 222

Part 4: Mastering Classical Guitar Repertoire 229

Chapter 14: Playing Pieces by the Guitar Greats 231

Getting Acquainted with the Master Guitar Composers 232

Concentrating on Music by the Spanish Composers 233

Saying hello to Sor 233

Tackling Tárrega 233

Focusing on Music by the Italian Composers 236

Gelling with Giuliani 236

Cozying Up to Carcassi 237

Playing Pieces by All the Master Guitar Composers 240

Chapter 15: Early Guitar Music from the Renaissance and Baroque Eras 251

Getting an Overview of the Styles 252

The Renaissance 252

The Baroque era 253

Identifying Some Renaissance Composers 254

Traditional 16th-century melodies by anonymous composers 254

John Dowland and other great lutenists 255

Recognizing Some Baroque Composers 258

Back to Bach 258

Getting a handle on Handel 259

Playing Pieces from the Renaissance and Baroque Eras 261

Chapter 16: The Guitar Comes of Age: The Classical, Romantic, and Modern Eras 269

The Classical Era: Mozart’s Muse 270

Getting in Touch with Beethoven, the Classical Hopeless Romantic 272

Letting the Inside Out with the Romantics: Brahms 274

Dreaming with Debussy: Music Becomes Modern 276

Playing Pieces from the Classical, Romantic, and Modern Eras 279

Part 5: The Part of Tens 289

Chapter 17: Ten (Or So) Classical Guitarists You Should Know 291

Andrés Segovia (1893–1987) 291

Julian Bream (b 1933–2020) 292

Oscar Ghiglia (b 1938) 293

John Williams (b 1941) 293

Pepe Romero and Angel Romero (b 1944, 1946) 293

Christopher Parkening (b 1947) 294

David Starobin (b 1951) 294

Manuel Barrueco (b 1952) 294

Eliot Fisk (b 1954) 295

Benjamin Verdery (b 1955) 295

Sharon Isbin (b 1956) 296

Chapter 18: Ten Things to Do When Shopping for a Classical Guitar 297

Go Retail if You Aren’t 100 Percent Sure What You Want 298

Bring a Friend Along 298

Decide on a Price Range Before You Go 298

Know Your Materials 299

Evaluate the Construction and Workmanship 299

Get a Feel for the Guitar 300

Check the Intonation 301

Listen to the Sound 301

Judge the Aesthetics 302

Determine a Guitar’s Growth Potential 302

Part 6: Appendixes 303

Appendix A: Basic Guitar Care and Maintenance 305

Keeping Your Guitar Comfortable 306

Temperature 306

Humidity 306

Protection, both at home and on the road 307

Cleaning Your Guitar 308

Changing the Strings on Your Classical Guitar 308

Step one: Remove the old string 309

Step two: Tie off the string at the bridge 310

Step three: Secure the string to the roller 311

Making Minor Repairs 313

Appendix B: About the Online Tracks and Videos 315

Relating the Text to the Online Files 316

Listening to the Tracks 317

Watching the Videos 321

Index 323