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 1About This Book 1Foolish Assumptions 3Icons Used in This Book 4Beyond This Book 4Where to Go from Here 5Part 1: Getting to Know the Classical Guitar 7Chapter 1: An Acoustic Guitar in a League of Its Own 9Defining What a Classical Guitar Is (and Isn’t) 10Knowing What a Classical Guitar Looks Like 11Recognizing How a Classical Guitar Physically Differs from Its Peers 14Beyond Physique: Identifying Other Unique Attributes of Classical Guitar 17Player’s form and technique 17Musical knowledge and skills 19Chapter 2: Getting Ready to Play 21Situating Yourself 21Taking your seat 22Supporting the guitar: Leg position 23Embracing the guitar: Arm support 24Placing your hands correctly 25Approaching the Strings with Your Hands 28Fretting the strings: Left-hand form 28Preparing to pluck: Right-hand form 29Stroking the strings: Basic right-hand technique 32Tuning Up 36Adjusting the string tension to raise or lower pitch 36Tuning visually with an electronic tuner 37Tuning by ear 38Chapter 3: Deciphering Music Notation and Tablature 43Knowing the Ropes of Standard Music Notation 43The composer’s canvas: The staff, clef, measures, and bar lines 44Pitch: The highs and lows of music 45Duration: How long to hold a note, what determines rhythm, and so on 47Expression, articulation, and other symbols 50Relating the Notes on the Staff to the Fretboard 51Relishing the Usefulness of Guitar-Specific Notation 54Fingering indications for the right and left hands 54Stepping up to the barre 55Taking on tablature, a nice complement to standard notation 56Part 2: Starting to Play: The Basics 59Chapter 4: One Note at a Time: Playing Simple Melodies 61Practicing Notes on One String 62Exercising your fingers: Strings 1, 2, and 3 63Workin’ (mostly) the thumb: Strings 6, 5, and 4 68PPlaying across Three Strings 72Finger fun on the first three strings 72All thumbs again on the three lower strings 74Cruising through All Six Strings 76No thumbs allowed! 76Fingers and thumb, unite! 77Flowing through Melodic Pieces Using All Six Strings 79Chapter 5: Rolling the Notes of a Chord: Arpeggio Technique 83Playing the Notes of an Arpeggio: The Basics 84Working Your Way across the Strings: The Thumb and Fingers in Order 85Keeping it simple: One digit per string 85Moving the thumb around 87Varying Your Right-Hand Strokes 89Changing the finger order 90Alternating the thumb and fingers 90Adding Harmony to Select Notes 93Feeling the pinch with your thumb and fingers 93Doubling up two fingers at once 95Playing Pieces with Arpeggios 96Chapter 6: Practicing Scales in First and Second Position 101Introducing Scales, the Necessary Evils 101Why scales are important 102How you name them: Applying key signatures 103Where they start and end: A primer on positions 106Playing Major Scales in 1st Position 108The one-octave C major scale 109The two-octave G major scale 110The two-octave F major scale 111The two-octave E major scale 111The two-octave A♭ major scale 112Playing Minor Scales in 1st Position 112The one-octave A minor scale 113The two-octave E minor scale 113The two-octave F minor scale 114Playing Scales in 2nd Position 115The D major scale in 2nd position using open strings 115The D major scale in 2nd position using all fretted notes 116The G major scale in 2nd position using all fretted notes 117The B minor scale in 2nd position using all fretted notes 117Applying Scales in Simple Pieces 118Chapter 7: Exploring Musical Textures 123Coordinating Contrapuntal Music: Layered Melodies 124Playing two melodies in sync rhythmically 125Opposing forces: Separating the thumb and fingers rhythmically 125Thickening the upper part by adding double-stops 127Melody and Accompaniment: Using All Your Fingers 128Matching rhythm between accompaniment and melody 129Getting creative with the flow: Two parts, two rhythms 130Playing Easy Pieces in Different Textural Styles 131Part 3: Improving Your Technique 137Chapter 8: Flat-Fingered Fretting with Barres 139Discovering How to Play Barres 139Half barre 140Full barre 141Practicing Barres in Musical Context 142Half barre 142Full barre 143Playing Pieces with Barres 144Chapter 9: Getting a Smooth Sound with Slurs and Trills 149Connecting Your Notes with Slurs 149Hammering and pulling: Exploring slurs 150Slurring in the context of a larger musical phrase 153Fluttering a Note with a Trill 155Playing trills on their own 155Practicing trills in context 157Playing Pieces Using Slurs and Trills 158Chapter 10: Coloring Your Sound with Tone-Production Techniques 161Creating Tones That Ring like Bells: Harmonics 162Playing harmonics 162Practicing harmonics in context 163Varying the Tone with Vibrato 165Playing vibrato 165Practicing vibrato in context 166Brightening or Darkening Your Sound by Changing Timbre 167Implementing tonal changes 167Practicing changing tone in context 169Tremolo: The Classical Guitar Machine Gun of Sorts 170Playing tremolo 170Practicing tremolo in context 171Playing Pieces Using Tone-Production Techniques 173Chapter 11: Scaling the Musical Ladder beyond Second Position 177Introducing Scales and Skills in This Chapter 178Getting to know the higher positions 178Strengthening your technical skill with practice variations 179Playing Scales That Stay in 5th Position 180The F major scale 181The B♭ major scale 183The D minor scale 183Playing Scales That Stay in 9th Position 184The A major scale 184The D major scale 185The F♯ minor scale 186Playing Scales That Require Shifting Positions 186The E major scale — one position shift 187The A♭ major scale — two position shifts 187The C♯ minor scale — one position shift 189The G♯ minor scale — two position shifts 189Playing Some Pieces Using Scales Up the Neck 190Chapter 12: Combining Arpeggios and Melody 195Grasping the Combination in Context 196Downtown: Melody in the Bass 197Playing a melody within arpeggios in the bass 198Practicing making a bass melody stand out 199Moving Uptown: Melody in the Treble 200Playing a treble melody within arpeggios 201Practicing making a treble melody stand out 202Mixing Up Your Melodic Moves: The Thumb and Fingers Take Turns 203Playing a shifting treble-and-bass melody within arpeggios 203Practicing making a shifting melody stand out 205Playing Pieces That Combine Arpeggios and Melodies 206Chapter 13: Combining Left-Hand Techniques While Playing up the Neck 217Layering Melodies and Using Barres up the Neck: Counterpoint 218Combining Melody and Accompaniment with Barres and Slurs up the Neck 219Playing Pieces up the Neck with Left-Hand Techniques 222Part 4: Mastering Classical Guitar Repertoire 229Chapter 14: Playing Pieces by the Guitar Greats 231Getting Acquainted with the Master Guitar Composers 232Concentrating on Music by the Spanish Composers 233Saying hello to Sor 233Tackling Tárrega 233Focusing on Music by the Italian Composers 236Gelling with Giuliani 236Cozying Up to Carcassi 237Playing Pieces by All the Master Guitar Composers 240Chapter 15: Early Guitar Music from the Renaissance and Baroque Eras 251Getting an Overview of the Styles 252The Renaissance 252The Baroque era 253Identifying Some Renaissance Composers 254Traditional 16th-century melodies by anonymous composers 254John Dowland and other great lutenists 255Recognizing Some Baroque Composers 258Back to Bach 258Getting a handle on Handel 259Playing Pieces from the Renaissance and Baroque Eras 261Chapter 16: The Guitar Comes of Age: The Classical, Romantic, and Modern Eras 269The Classical Era: Mozart’s Muse 270Getting in Touch with Beethoven, the Classical Hopeless Romantic 272Letting the Inside Out with the Romantics: Brahms 274Dreaming with Debussy: Music Becomes Modern 276Playing Pieces from the Classical, Romantic, and Modern Eras 279Part 5: The Part of Tens 289Chapter 17: Ten (Or So) Classical Guitarists You Should Know 291Andrés Segovia (1893–1987) 291Julian Bream (b 1933–2020) 292Oscar Ghiglia (b 1938) 293John Williams (b 1941) 293Pepe Romero and Angel Romero (b 1944, 1946) 293Christopher Parkening (b 1947) 294David Starobin (b 1951) 294Manuel Barrueco (b 1952) 294Eliot Fisk (b 1954) 295Benjamin Verdery (b 1955) 295Sharon Isbin (b 1956) 296Chapter 18: Ten Things to Do When Shopping for a Classical Guitar 297Go Retail if You Aren’t 100 Percent Sure What You Want 298Bring a Friend Along 298Decide on a Price Range Before You Go 298Know Your Materials 299Evaluate the Construction and Workmanship 299Get a Feel for the Guitar 300Check the Intonation 301Listen to the Sound 301Judge the Aesthetics 302Determine a Guitar’s Growth Potential 302Part 6: Appendixes 303Appendix A: Basic Guitar Care and Maintenance 305Keeping Your Guitar Comfortable 306Temperature 306Humidity 306Protection, both at home and on the road 307Cleaning Your Guitar 308Changing the Strings on Your Classical Guitar 308Step one: Remove the old string 309Step two: Tie off the string at the bridge 310Step three: Secure the string to the roller 311Making Minor Repairs 313Appendix B: About the Online Tracks and Videos 315Relating the Text to the Online Files 316Listening to the Tracks 317Watching the Videos 321Index 323