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Discover the magic of classical guitar with this fun and easy guide
The perfect starting point to learning classical guitar, Classical Guitar For Dummies, walks you through the steps, techniques, and styles you’ll need to finger-pick your way around some of the most beautiful songs ever written.
Whether you’re a first timer looking to add your very first classical guitar to your collection or you’ve already made the jump to the classical style want to pick up some priceless tips, this book is the easy-to-read companion you’ll want at your side. You can even play along with audio and video examples at dummies.com that will help you on your journey toward classical guitar mastery.
In Classical Guitar For Dummies, you’ll find:
Classical Guitar For Dummies is an essential aid for new and aspiring classical guitarists just beginning to learn their craft. More experienced guitarists seeking to improve their fundamentals and learn some new strategies for creating amazing music will also find a ton of useful info inside.
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
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