Full Lessons (Pieces) Archives - Classical Guitar Shed

Learn to Play Carcassi’s “Sicilienne” (Short Guitar Course)

Allen — Fri, 24 May 2019 15:00:31 +0000

Matteo Carcassi (1792-1853)is one of the great composers of guitar. His study pieces (aka “etudes”) have been an active part of the classical guitar world for generations.

This small piece, Sicilienne, is a charming piece at the beginning level. It’s great for those near the start of their guitar journey. It’s also a suitable challenge for those just beginning to read musical notation.

The bass notes are all on open strings, with the melody on the higher-sounding strings. The rhythm remains constant for most of the piece. And it sounds great.

The materials include both standard musical notation and TABs. The piece is broken into small sections for easier learning. This is also how the course is organized. Click the button below for PDFs the materials.

About this Short Guitar Course

Below you’ll find 6 lessons exploring Carcassi’s Sicilienne. You’ll find detailed practice strategy. You’ll get suggestions on how to learn this and future pieces. And you’ll discover formulas for musical expression (or “phrasing”) to make it more beautiful.

Click Here for the Course Materials

Click on the boxes below to open each lesson and view the videos.

1. Carcassi - Sicilienne: Overview Lesson

2. Sicilienne - The Rhythm

3. Sicilienne - Learning the Piece - Section 1(a)

4. Sicilienne - Learning the Piece - Section 1(b)

5. Sicilienne - Practice Section 2

6. Sicilienne - The Rest of the Story

Click Here for the Course Materials

For more sheet music by Matteo Carcassi, Click Here.

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Learn to Play Petit Blues (Bélanger) from RCM Preparatory Level on Classical Guitar

Allen Mathews — Fri, 28 Sep 2018 17:00:15 +0000

Petit Blues is a fun piece using chromatic melodies and a swing rhythm. This three-part tutorial lesson goes step-by-step on how to learn, practice and play it.

The RCM Bridges Series has many tunes, old to modern, that are fun to play and musically compelling. The early levels especially are must-haves for any classical guitarist.

Watch the video below for tips on how to practice and learn it, so you play it beautifully.

Click here to purchase the RCM Bridges Preparatory Level Book.

Click Here for other tutorials from the RCM Bridges Series.

About Petit Blues, by Marc Bélanger (RCM Guitar)

Petit Blues is a wonderful introduction to swing time and shuffle feel. It has a melody with bass accompaniment, and stays mainly in the first position on the guitar. The notes are appropriate for beginning-level players. There are chromatic notes (using sharps and flats) that give the piece it’s “blues” flavor. The rhythm is another main feature of this tune. And the tutorial explains how to practice swing time.

Petit Blues is a fun piece to play, and a great way to explore swing rhythms and shuffle feel on classical guitar. Enjoy!

About the RCM Bridges Series:

(From Amazon) Bridges: A Comprehensive Guitar Series serves as the official resource for guitar assessments of the Royal Conservatory Music Development Program. Innovative in its structure, Bridges supports students from the beginner to advanced levels with carefully sequenced repertoire, etudes, and technique. Each of the Repertoire and Etudes books in the series spans all major style periods and a variety of genres, presenting an organized compilation of pieces appropriate for that level of technical development. Nine progressive levels of Repertoire and Etudes scaffold student learning at every stage of musical development. Each book contains a balanced and representative selection of works from the Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and contemporary style periods. From the classics of Aguado to the modern compositions of Zenamon, Bridges connects students to both essential literature and enticing masterpieces never before found together. The Etudes have been carefully selected to support the repertoire and isolate specific technical and musical challenges, making Bridges an ideal collection and a comprehensive teaching resource.

Repertoire in the Preparatory Level Bridges Book:

Valse d’automne (Autumn Waltz) Composed by L. Gingras
Exercise 13 Composed by E. Barriero
Danse des Iles (Dance of the Islands) Composed by F. Lambert
First Exercise on the E String Composed by Johann Kaspar Mertz
Dutch Dance Composed by H. Neusidler
Flocons De Neige Composed by F. Costantino
Bransle de Poitou Composed by A. Le Roy
Moorish Dance Composed by A. Shearer
Carrousel Composed by Claude Gagnon
Ejercicio Composed by J. Ferrer
Sicilienne Composed by M. Carcassi
Andantino In C Major Composed by M. Carcassi
Aeloian Mode Composed by R. Smith Brindle
The Carousel Waltz Composed by Richard Summers
Waltz, op. 241, no. 1 Composed by F. Carulli
Moonlight Composed by S. Rak
Little Herdboy Composed by O. Kiselev
Sciapodus Composed by S. Bell
Eight Composed by Richard Summers
Torito Composed by J. Zenamon
Klangbild 13 (Sound Picture 13) Composed by C. Domeniconi
Oasis-Express Composed by T. Ogawa
Petit Blues Composed by M. Belanger
Dreams Composed by Richard Summers
Studies Lesson 62 Composed by J. Sagreras
Etude in A Minor Composed by A. Shearer
Prelude No. 9 Composed by A. Shearer
Lesson 46 Composed by J. Sagreras
Andante in C Major Composed by F. Carulli
Lyrical Study No. 14 Composed by J.M. Jackman
White Horse Composed by S. Iannarelli
Ukrainian Melody Composed by Ukranian Folk Song
Lesson 48 Composed by J. Sagreras
Lesson 61 Composed by J. Sagreras
Lyrical Study No. 4 Composed by R.M. Jackman
Lyrical Study No. 9 Composed by R.M. Jackman
A la maniere bulgare Composed by C. Camisassa
The Flask Composed by Jeffrey McFadden
A Simple Dialogue Composed by S. Bell, S. Ninou Bell
Repertoire
Valse d’automne (Autumn Waltz) Composed by L. Gingras
Studies
Lesson 62 Composed by J. Sagreras
Ninou Composed by S. Bell

Click here to purchase the RCM Bridges Preparatory Level Book.

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Learn to Play Vacances (Demillac) from RCM Level One on Classical Guitar

Allen Mathews — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 15:30:41 +0000

Vacances (“Vacation”) by Yvon Demillac is a beautiful French piece for classical guitar.

The RCM Bridges Series has many tunes, old to modern, that are fun to play and musically compelling. The early levels especially are must-haves for any classical guitarist.

Watch the videos below for tips on how to practice and learn Vacances, so you play it beautifully.

Click here to purchase the RCM Repertoire and Etudes Level One Book.
(You’ll find many great tunes in this series, and the book is worth the investment.

Click Here for other tutorials from the RCM Bridges Series.

About the RCM Bridges Series:

Click here to purchase the RCM Repertoire and Etudes Level One Book.
(You’ll find many great tunes in this series, and the book is worth the investment.

The post Learn to Play Vacances (Demillac) from RCM Level One on Classical Guitar appeared first on Classical Guitar Shed.

Learn to Play Flocons de Neige from RCM Bridges Preparatory Level on Classical Guitar

Allen Mathews — Fri, 13 Jul 2018 15:00:52 +0000

Flocons de Neige is a fun piece with unique challenges. In addition to being an interesting study in the PAM right-hand pattern, it’s also a brain-bender of sorts.

The RCM Bridges Series has many tunes, old to modern, that are fun to play and musically compelling. The early levels especially are must-haves for any classical guitarist.

Watch the video below for tips on how to practice and learn it, so that you play it beautifully.

Click here to purchase the RCM Bridges Preparatory Level Book.

Related: Listen to Other Pieces from the Bridges Series

About Flocons de Neige, by Frederic Costantino:

Flocons de Neige (French for “Snowflakes”) by Frederic Costantino conjures images of falling snow and whirling snowflakes.

With a steady repeating rhythm and all notes in the lower (open) position, we’d think this a simple tune. But it’s remarkable easy to get confused in this piece. Why? It has to do with how the music is written. But if you learn it strategically, you can master it quickly and have a lovely tune to play.

In this free tutorial, you’ll find practice suggestions on how to learn this piece so you stay focused and bring out all the separate elements in the music.

Here, the melody is hiding in the middle voice. This makes it confusing to learn – unless you know how to practice it!

Click Here for other tutorials from the RCM Bridges Series.

About the RCM Bridges Series:

Repertoire in the Preparatory Level Bridges Book:

Click here to purchase the RCM Bridges Preparatory Level Book.

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Learn to Play Moorish Dance from RCM Bridges Preparatory Level on Classical Guitar

Allen — Fri, 06 Apr 2018 17:00:07 +0000

Moorish Dance, by the well-loved classical guitar teacher Aaron Shearer, is the in the RCM Bridges Guitar Repertoire Series, Preparatory Level, as well as in Mr. Shearer’s books.

The RCM Bridges Series has many tunes, old to modern, that are fun to play and musically compelling. The early levels especially are must-haves for any classical guitarist.

Watch the video below for tips on how to practice and learn it, so that you play it beautifully.

Click here to purchase the RCM Bridges Preparatory Level Book.

Related: Listen to Other Pieces from the Bridges Series

About Moorish Dance, by Aaron Shearer:

Moorish Dance starts with a driving bass line, and never stops. Every other measure, the bass is accompanied by a repeating upper note.

The challenge of this piece is to keep the bass (thumb) in a steady rhythm while adding in the top voice, played by the fingers.

In the tutorial, you’ll find practice suggestions on how to master this trick, so you’ll be sounding ace in no time.

About the RCM Bridges Series:

Repertoire in the Preparatory Level Bridges Book:

The post Learn to Play Moorish Dance from RCM Bridges Preparatory Level on Classical Guitar appeared first on Classical Guitar Shed.

Learn to Play Vals D’automne (Autumn Waltz) from RCM Bridges Preparatory Level on Classical Guitar

Allen — Fri, 16 Mar 2018 17:00:26 +0000

Vals D’automne (Autumn Waltz) is the first piece in the RCM Bridges Guitar Repertoire Series, Preparatory Level.

The RCM Bridges Series has many tunes, old to modern, that are fun to play and musically compelling. The early levels especially are must-haves for any classical guitarist.

Watch the video below for tips on how to practice and learn it, so that you play it beautifully.

Click here to purchase the RCM Bridges Preparatory Level Book.

Related: Listen to Other Pieces from the Bridges Series

About the RCM Bridges Series:

Repertoire in the Preparatory Level Bridges Book:

The post Learn to Play Vals D’automne (Autumn Waltz) from RCM Bridges Preparatory Level on Classical Guitar appeared first on Classical Guitar Shed.

Andantino by Joseph Kuffner (Easy Classical Guitar)

Allen — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 17:11:10 +0000

This Andantino by Joseph Kuffner is a great easy classical guitar piece for beginners. It only uses four of the strings, and the reading and rhythm are fairly straightforward.

However, don’t be fooled, there is always a lot to learn from these “beginning” or “easy” pieces. They’re a great chance to go deep into the learning process, guitar technique, and musical phrasing.

In addition to the full lesson videos below, you’ll also find something extra. If you would like to make this into a true learning experience and expand your knowledge, understanding, and abilities to learn music, you can take the full course below.

Video #1: Listen to the Piece

Video #2: Taking an Overview of the Piece

Video #3: What Are the Hands Doing?

Video #4: Forward Motion

Video #5: Dynamics: Swells and Fades

Move Ahead in Your Music by Digging Deeper

So this has been a great introduction to the Andantino. If you’d like to use this easy classical guitar piece as a true learning experience, and delve deeper into your learning process and mastery of this piece and all its facets, take the course below.

Additional In-depth Course on The Kuffner Andantino ($19)

You’ll find all sorts of little tips and methods, and gain new perspectives on how to practice, how to listen, and how to make music beautiful.

The course has

21 Short videos focusing on every little detail (some you might have missed!)
5 Custom practice resources created especially for this particular piece.
Step-by-step instruction
Deep musical insights
New ways to solve problems

It’s like taking multiple lessons with a teacher. You can bounce around or go in order. Either way, you will definitely come out a better musician.

Extra Practice Resources

In the course, you’ll get these added practice resources to help you learn more quickly, with better understanding:

Sheet Music: notes only, no fingerings (you fill in fingerings to test your memory!)
Sheet Music: with fingerings (the master sheet music)
Sheet Music: color-coded for string changes (for working on the right hand)
Sheet Music: includes TAB (TAB for you non-music readers)
Sheet Music: small sections divided for practice (so you can work in manageable chunks)

Take the Full Course!

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Fernando Sor: “Study in C” (Great for beginners, memory)

Allen — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 18:14:19 +0000

The Study in C, by Ferdinando Sor is a wonderful little piece for beginners. It also has opportunities for intermediate players to explore some specific musical issues, or to serve as an opportunity to practice your memorization skills.

Print the Music and Take Notes On It

To start with, print the music and practice resource packet.(If you have created a free membership, you can also find it in the Member’s Area.

The resource packet has the sheet music and TABs, as well as color-coded notes, small sections, and more. While going through the videos, take notes on the music. (Tip: As a general rule, use a pencil when writing on music).

Don’t assume you’ll remember anything. If you think it’s worth remembering, make a note of it on the music. Even if you do remember it in the short term, you can’t expect to recall all the details if you re-visit the piece in 6 or 12 months.

Mindset and Process

There are a few things to keep in mind when working on any new piece of music.

Have a Higher Goal

To get the most enjoyment, satisfaction, and reward from your time on the classical guitar, it helps to have a larger, overarching goal. While it’s great to learn and polish a piece, there is a lot of time that goes into the process.

To get the most from all this time we spend, a better goal would be something akin to one or more of the following:

– To focus completely in each moment
– To honestly hear each note that sounds
– To show up to each task as if you only got this one shot at it
– To seek first to simply understand fully every aspect of the task at hand

These all boil down to one basic idea:

“Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.” — Greg Anderson”

Eliminate Confusion

First, know that your number one job is to notice and eliminate confusion. To truly notice where you have less than 100% clarity of every musical and technical detail (in both hands), you have to go slow and pay attention to every note.

One of the great skills that we nurture in classical guitar practice is self-awareness and the ability to notice when we briefly pass through a “cloud of confusion”. These “clouds” can be very small: perhaps just an uncertainty of which right hand finger to play next, or what position our left hand should be in.

If you play quickly all the time, you blow through these little confusions and they never get resolved. This is one way that we ingrain mistakes, and undermine our knowledge and memory of the piece.

Be Methodical in Your Process

Whatever process you use to learn pieces like the Study in C, give each step it’s fair attention and time. I recommend starting with the 7-Step process to learn pieces. But as they say, there are many ways to skin a cat (if that’s what you’re into…).

While each step may only a minute or two, if you rush through any one of them, the integrity of your entire work is weakened. If you later find (because you notice these things) that you are not entirely clear of some aspect of the piece, take the time to revisit that part of the process.

Most people just keep repeating mistakes, hoping they will magically go away. Practicing mistakes just ingrains the mistakes deeper into our muscle memory.

Like a drop of coloring in a clear pitcher of water, each repetition of a mistake only discolors it more. The only way back to “clear” is to dilute the stained water with more clear water.

Small Sections, Hands Separately

The first thing we do to truly learn a piece is to create small sections. (For this piece, I went ahead and created small sections for you in the resource packet. Note that we always cross the bar one note, instead of stopping at a bar line.)

This way, our work is manageable and we get the gratification of completion in our daily work.

Working intensely with small sections also leads us to memorize the music to some degree without even really trying. We just know it after exploring fully.

For each section, as you begin working on it, make sure that you know all the notes and musical markings, and that you can clap the rhythm while counting aloud.

Note on Memory: If you go into your work with the intention to memorize the music, your mind will pay more attention and will store it more effectively. Just as if you know that you will have to teach something you learn to someone else, you learn it better. Once in a while, look away from the music and have a go at playing it from memory. Just for fun. This will speed up your learning process, and just may surprise you!

Hands Separately

While playing the hands separately is not the easiest thing in the world, it sure does simplify your work and clear up much of the confusion you may have.

Start with the right hand alone. This means you’ll only hear the open strings sounding.

The point is to learn the right-hand fingerings, and notice the string changes (i.e. “I have 3 notes on this string, then 2 on that one, then back for another 4 notes….”).

In the resource packet, I included a color-coded copy of the music, with each color representing a different string. You can also see the string changes in the TAB.

Bonus Points: See you can look away and do this step from memory before moving on.

Then the left hand by itself. Of course, this will sound like nothing, because your right hand is not playing. That’s okay. Just do it.

Count aloud while doing this one, to keep everything in rhythm.

Before moving on, take a spin at doing this step from memory.

The “A Section”

Now that we know what our fingers are doing, we can make this bit prettier.

“Dynamics” are swells and fades, louds and softs.

As a general rule (ingrain this and you will sound better in everything you play):
Lines going up get quieter. Lines going down get louder.

Yes, there are exceptions to this, as well as nuances and extremes. That’s for later. First, just get used to adding dynamics with this basic rule. (You can’t do the Charleston until you learn to walk.)

There are a couple of other musical “rules” in the video as well. If you like, note them on your score (sheet music).

Last note: When you find chords in the music, such as in bars 7 and 8, put your left hand fingers on the whole chord when possible and let the notes ring out over each other. This makes it more beautiful, and simplifies the left hand.

The “B Section”

The same rules apply for dynamics, but things are a bit more complex in this section.

Here we have a melody and accompaniment intertwined into one line.

The trick with this sort of writing is to decide what you’re going to call the melody, and play everything else quieter. This will tell your listener what they should be listening to.

Again, this is all about eliminating confusion. Even if you go back and change it later, make a decision (even if it’s wrong) on what is what and how you will play it.

The point is not to be right. The point is to nurture the habit of making musical decisions and paying attention to details. If you get confused, great! That means you are stretching yourself. Like any puzzle, keep at it and have fun with it.

Conducting

With practice, your fingers will do just about anything you tell them to do.

The trick is knowing what to tell them.

For this, put down your guitar, raise your music stand, stand up, and take a deep breath.

Go through the music, singing along, or counting aloud, and exaggerate all the dynamics.

Sing and conduct (wave your hands around and express the music with your entire body). It’s okay if this feels funny or silly at first. Do it anyway. This is where the magic happens!

If you can go through the section or the piece in consistently the same way, you’ll have to have made decisions of what gets louder, what gets softer, how fast the music goes, balance, and a number of other things.

Share Your Questions or Story

Any questions about the Study in C, how to learn pieces, or any part of this? Ask in the comments section below!

After learning this piece and going through this process, share your observations, trials and triumphs, and anything you deem noteworthy in the comments below!

The post Fernando Sor: “Study in C” (Great for beginners, memory) appeared first on Classical Guitar Shed.

“Allegro” by Mauro Giuliani: Full Lesson (free pdf)

Allen — Fri, 03 Apr 2015 18:17:00 +0000

Mauro Giuliani was a rockstar.

In the early 1800’s he was known across Europe as one of the best guitarists and performers around. (Sure, no flashpods or dancing girls, but still….)

He was friends with Rossini and Beethoven, and was invited to play with all the top names.

(Alas, like Mozart, he was bad with money, went bankrupt and had to leave town with his tail between his legs. But an amazing player nonetheless.)

He was as widely known and respected as any player on any instrument of the day. Total rockstar.

Allegro by Mauro Giuliani

Quick quiz: what does “allegro” mean?

I’m not telling, so if you don’t know, you’ll have to look it up.

This piece is one of the many gems he wrote for his method books that were published and distributed all over Europe. (200 years later, and we still play from them!)

Divide and Conquer

By breaking this piece up into smaller parts, we can get it up to a high level more quickly.

1. Melody

“Get forensic on it: Pick it apart!”

This piece is characterized by the melody in the bass. It’s exciting, and moves forward easily. To practice this one effectively, I suggest playing the bass all by itself at first.

Ingrain the contours of the dynamics (all written out in the bonus materials).

2. Accompaniment

To accompany the melody, we have chords that we play as arpeggios. Learn the basic chord progression (order of chords) with your full “cowboy” chords. Be able to play the chords as if it were your favorite campfire song. (You can even practice your strumming with it if you like.)

Apart from the chords, practice the main arpeggio (fingerpicking) pattern. You can add this pattern to your technique practice, and use a practice progression, open strings, or any chord.

The main point is that you practice the pattern in a “loop” (meaning you keep it going). Don’t play the song, and don’t be looking at the sheet music for this step. Just memorize the pattern and ingrain it into your muscle memory.

You can add it all back together after you have these main “elements” mastered separately.

3. Bass and Chords

A next step would be to play just the bass along with the chord on the first beat of each measure. Focus on steady rhythm and cleanly landing the left hand chord fingerings.

4. All Together Now

“The end result is determined by the quality of the process.”

Once you have played with all these parts and combinations, you are ready to combine all the elements and play the piece. Hopefully you have gotten each of the above steps somewhat comfortable and up to speed.

It’s important to slow back down to begin this step, and make sure you are keeping everything tidy.

Why Do All This?

Of course you could just plow into the piece and play it from the beginning to start with. So why go through all this trouble?

The answer is: Quality Quality of process, Quality of practice, Quality of performance.

By investigating your music in this way, and by taking it apart and figuring out how it is put together, you become a better musician. You also get it up to a high level of performance very quickly.

Can You Spot a Phony?

Think of it this way: Can you tell if a person telling you something truly understands the subject matter? I could tell you about plate tectonics, but it wouldn’t take you long to figure out that I don’t really understand the details.

Maybe my facts are right, but I am no expert, and you know it.

It’s the same with this piece. If you understand all the elements making up the whole, you are more likely to play it so that you communicate that understanding.

Sure, there are still many technical and musical opportunities that you miss because of your current level, but still, you are at least on the right path.

Let’s hear it!

This is a piece worth playing, so I hope you take the time to practice it up.

When you do, (here’s my challenge to you) put it on Youtube and share the link below in the comments. For real! (Yes, you can!)

Click Here for other tutorials from the RCM Bridges Series.

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Spanish Dance for Classical Guitar (full lesson plus bonuses)

Allen — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 00:11:01 +0000

One of the great things about playing classical guitar is getting the chance to explore the rich world of Spanish music.

Spanish guitar music has its own distinct sound. This sound what comes to mind when many people think of classical guitar.

In fact, for centuries, the instrument we know as classical guitar has often been called the “Spanish guitar”. This became popular at a time when anything in Europe that was seductive or sexy was called “Spanish”. (Go Spain!)

Spanish Dance for Classical Guitar

In this full lesson video, we will explore “Spanish Dance”.

The composer is unknown. Quite possibly this is one of many iterations of a much older piece. This is one of the many traditional Spanish guitar pieces that is been passed along, adapted, morphed, and otherwise loved for hundreds of years.

Divide and conquer: simplifying music for better practice

One of the main points I seek to demonstrate with this piece is the idea of practicing the elements that make up a piece, instead of just playing the piece over and over.

I think Sun Tzu would agree with me here: It’s easier to master small tasks than big ones. And it’s quicker and more efficient to use superior forces for multiple small gains than to go all-in on one big push. This is an age-old strategy that has shaped the world. Now you can use it to shape your guitar practice!

Identify Patterns

note: This way of practicing also complements learning by using the 7-step process I have written about elsewhere.

In this piece, there are a few different patterns that we can identify.

The pedal tone

The first musical pattern we can identify is the repeating high note.

A note that repeats over a long period of time, and move through many different harmonies (different chords) is often called a “pedal tone” or just “pedal”. Sometimes you can also think of it as a “Drone”.

For practice purposes, we can omit this altogether. This enables us to focus all of our attention on the moving notes.

After we have the moving line in our hands, we then add the top note back in.

Patterns in the melody

Another pattern we can find in this piece is how many measures start with a note, go to another note, and then return to the first note.

We can simplify this pattern as well in our practice to get more familiar with the larger sweep of the piece.

To this end, I have included in the bonus materials the “melody framework”. This simplifies the melody to just one or two notes per measure.

By looking at it from this global position, we can better understand how the overall line (movement of the melody) is moving. We can base our choices of dynamics (swells and fades) from this.

Chord shapes

One more pattern we could notice in this piece is that each measure is made up of a single chord position. In other words, if you played all the notes at the same time, it would be a chord.

To more quickly learn this piece, we can simply practice the left-hand chord shapes.

In this way, we can see each measure as a single chord shape. This makes it much easier to memorize, and to practice more efficiently and quickly.

Practicing the chord shapes in this way relates to step five of the seven-step process of learning pieces.

I have also given you the chord shapes in the bonus materials. For an extra challenge, identify the name of each chord. I have included an answer key so that you can check your work.

Using This Approach in Other Music

In addition to learning pieces using the seven steps, you can look for patterns and other ways to simplify the music you are working on.

As you practice looking for ways to separate the music into its different parts (bass, melody, interior voices, chords, rhythms, patterns, etc.), you will understand your music on a deeper level.

This will enable you to learn and memorize music more quickly, to play more beautifully (because of your deeper understanding of the different parts), and to stay more engaged in your practice (which makes it more fun).

The post Spanish Dance for Classical Guitar (full lesson plus bonuses) appeared first on Classical Guitar Shed.

How to Learn Classical Guitar Pieces (Gypsy Dance)

Allen — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 01:09:28 +0000

Click here to jump down to the step-by-step process and videos.

As classical guitarists, we are faced with a conundrum. There is so much great music out there, and we only have a limited time in which to practice.

We want to learn classical guitar pieces quickly, but we also want to bring them up to a high level. In other words, we don’t want to just play the notes, we want to play them beautifully.

But this takes time. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to learn classical guitar pieces quickly, memorize them effortlessly, and be able to play them beautifully, and all this happen within a relatively short timeframe? That’s what this article is all about.

Good ingredients, good soup

By focusing on each element involved in the process of learning a new piece, we can more quickly remove confusion and overcome obstacles. Whenever we have problems in a piece of music, It typically means one of two things:

that we have some form of confusion about what needs to happen and how, or
there is simply a technical challenge that we understand but simply can’t perform very well (such as speed, a stretch, or a shift).

“One of our main goals is to eliminate confusion.”

Either way, if we can identify and eliminate any obstacle or confusion before training our muscle memory, we will be better off. That way, when we do train our muscle memory, we will be training it correctly.

To do all this, and to train our muscle memory to play what we actually want to play (the piece, up to tempo, with drippingly gorgeous phrasing), we have to embrace the process of learning.

Of course, there are many ways to learn anything, but the point is that we have to focus on the quality of our attention at each step of our learning process. If we shortcut any one step of the process, it will weaken the end result.

The Rub (or, “but, but, but…”)

And herein lies the rub. We want to play music. We want to play music, and we want to play it now.

“In addition to the music, we are learning to master our own body and mind.”

It takes discipline and patience, (not to mention an unwavering faith in the process) to deny ourselves the immediate gratification of “hearing what the piece sounds like” and instead practice each step as if it were the whole piece in and of itself.

We will want to speed up the process, skip steps, and just jump right in to playing the piece. And no one is going to be there to stop us.

But over time, with practice, we can learn to treat every step along the way as an end unto itself. We can learn to take great enjoyment in mastering the elements that make up the whole. This is the stuff truly great practice is made of.

The secret to playing beautifully: master the details and play them all in a way that supports and demonstrates the main idea (emotional core) of the music.

The process of learning classical guitar pieces

We can learn pieces in 7 easy steps. The videos below explore each in turn. In brief, these steps are:

Make small sections
Identify all the notes and markings
Clap and count the rhythm aloud
Play the right hand alone
Play the left hand alone
Play hands together with corrective pauses
Play hands together in a steady rhythm

Click here for the 7 Step Formula ebook and cheat sheet. (This is just the ebook, not the materials for the piece below.)

How to Learn Classical Guitar Pieces

I wrote this little tune, Gypsy Dance, to illustrate the process of learning pieces. It is a relatively simple tune, and should be fairly accessible to most people.

“But I’m not good at reading music…”

If you are not-so-great at reading music, that’s ok. I am including a sheet with all the notes on it that you will need. This piece uses only the natural notes on strings 1, 2 and 3, and the open bass strings.

Besides, one of the great things about this 7-step process is that you will have the chance to learn everything in small chunks, so it will be easier overall.

“But I play more advanced music…”

Even if you consider yourself above and beyond little pieces like this, remember, you will still learn from going through the process.

You may also surprise yourself! Some things you may have thought you were great at may prove difficult. If so, contact me and I will send you a bill for the dose of humility! (just kidding.)

So let’s get started! Download the pdfs from the form below so you can follow along, then dive into each step below to learn classical guitar pieces, step by step.

Step One: Make Small Sections

To begin with, decide on small sections to work on. Go ahead and mark these in your music. (You may want to have an extra copy of your music to do this with, instead of the original)

“Build the habit of always crossing the bar line in your practice.”

Tip: Ideally, these do not land at a bar line. When in doubt, start at a bar line, and finish one note after the next bar line.

Remember: Bar lines are like line breaks on a page of text. They don’t really mean anything. They are simply there to keep things tidy and organized. Build the habit of always crossing the bar line in your practice, and everything you play will sound more natural and beautiful.

Step Two: Make Sure You Know What All the Notes and Musical Markings Mean

You can do this section by section as you go, or you could do this for the whole piece at one time. Either way, you want to make sure that you know what every single dot of ink on the page means.

If there is a word you do not know, stop and do not go forward until you look it up. If there is anything you do not understand, now is the time to figure it out.

This is an easy step to skip, But it has a consequence that may not be obvious.

When there are words or symbols that we do not understand on the page, it creates confusion. And the quickest way to learn a piece of music is to eliminate the confusion surrounding it.

As a bonus, you will also learn new musical definitions or symbols, which leads you forward on your path of musicianship.

Step Three: Clap and Count the Rhythm Aloud

Here we are at the third step, and we still have not even picked up the guitar yet.

I know you are eager to start playing the piece, but the moment you start playing it, you start training your muscle memory.

If you just blunder along, and hack through it, you’re training your muscle memory every bit as surely as if you do it correctly. So you might as well do it right the first time.

The quickest way to create a beaten path is to take the same route every time. We are creating pathways and directions in our brain and muscles to perform the piece. So if we can do it the same way every time, we will learn classical guitar pieces much more quickly and make fewer mistakes.

“Do yourself a favor: Learn to count rhythms.”

So before we even start to play the notes, we want to make sure that we know exactly what we are doing rhythmically.

Most beginners are not completely comfortable counting aloud. But here’s the thing: unless you can count it out loud, you really don’t know the rhythm. You may think you do, but there is still confusion there.

Take the time at this stage to figure out exactly where each note falls within the rhythm of the small section you are working on.

If you don’t know how to count rhythm, see this post.

If you skip this step, chances are that most of the practicing you do will be full of mistakes and have to be re-learned. This will add tons of time to your overall process (or you will just never get it quite right).

Bonus Step 3B (when you are ready): Decide On Dynamics and Phrasing

At this time in the process, you have the opportunity to decide on your dynamics and phrasing.

This means determining which notes are loud or soft, where you are going to swell or fade, or if certain notes pop out from the notes around it (accents). You can also notice if there are places where the notes are to played very short (staccato) or need to flow in a certain way (legato).

If you are just starting out, it may be easier to put this step at the end.

“If you are just starting out, it may be easier to put this step at the end.”

But as you can, decide on how you want to make the music is beautiful as possible, and be able to express that within your clapping and counting the rhythm.

It may help to stand up while doing this. You need to be completely engaged and definitive about your choices in the moment. Have high energy and get involved, like this.

You can always change things later if you find a better way. But the more you can engage with the music simply clapping the rhythm and counting aloud (you can count with the pitches of the melody if you know how it goes) the faster you will learn the music.

It will also make the music more immediately meaningful, and contribute to effortless memorization (more on that later).

Quick Primer on Dynamics:

Dynamics are a big subject, but here are just a couple basic rules for deciding on dynamics (swells and fades and the volume of notes) on classical guitar. These rules work most (~85%) of the time. At big climaxes we may choose something different.

1.) Do not accent the high note. If the note is the highest note around (if the note before it and after it or both lower), do not let it be the loudest of the three notes. Another way to say this would be play the highest note quieter. (This can be tricky on the guitar, as the high notes want to pop out. Don’t let them!)

2.) If the notes are going up in pitch, get quieter (at least the last few notes reaching the top of the line).

3.) If the notes are going down in pitch, get louder. Playing this way brings the music forward and creates ongoing action. There will be times when you’ll want to do the opposite, but this way is a better musical choice 95% of the time.

4.) Repeated notes start quieter and get louder. This creates action in the music, instead of simply playing the same note the same way over and over. Sometimes you may want to play the first note louder. If so, let the second repeated note be quiet and get louder from there.

(Of course you could make repeating notes fade and get quieter, but this leads to a “dying away” effect that should be used very sparingly. It can easily become exhausting for the listener, and drain energy from the piece. Imagine someone who sighs a lot. Very draining.)

There are other “rules “to this subject. But these are great start.

Step Four: Play the Right Hand Alone

Using only open strings, with the left-hand off the guitar, play the right-hand in rhythm with the correct fingerings.

This step does not sound very pretty. You are only using the open strings after all. Just be okay with that.

Be sure to let the open strings ring, and don’t mute them out for this step. That way if you make a mistake you’re more likely to hear it. It also reinforces in your mind where the string changes take place.

“Be sure to write your fingerings in your music.”

If the right-hand fingerings, PIMA, are not written in the music, now would be the time to figure them out and write them down.

What many less advanced players do is to get into the habit of working on the left-hand first and letting the right-hand do whatever it wants to.

This may work at first, and at slow tempos, but it doesn’t scale. As you get into more advanced music or faster tempos, if the right hand is not consistent, you’re bound to run into trouble.

Basic Rules of Right Hand Fingering:

Here are the basic rules of right-hand fingerings:

1.) When both are present, the thumb plays the stem-down notes and the fingers play the stem-up notes.

2.) When possible, do not repeat fingers. In other words, don’t play consecutive notes with the same right hand finger. This is especially important with notes that happen in quick succession.

3.) When crossing strings, choose fingerings that allow for ease in the right-hand. This means moving from I to M or M to A when moving up the strings (toward the floor), and from A to M or M to I when moving down the strings (toward the ceiling).

When you decide on them, write them into your music. Don’t assume that you will just remember them (“Pride goeth before the fall”, and all that). You can always go back later and change them if they don’t work out.

When performing the step, continue to count the rhythm aloud. If you decided on dynamics within the previous step, use them in this step as well (and every step forward). Use dynamics both in your voice as you count, and with your fingers as you play.

As always, exaggerate dynamics like crazy in your practice.

Step Five: Play the Left Hand Alone

Next, we play the left-hand alone, without the right hand.

This sounds like a whole lot of nothing. You’re not actually be making any sound while doing this. But even so, it is truly an important step.

Warning: Your right hand will be extremely tempted to sneak around and play the strings so that you can hear the notes. Don’t let it!

Remember to keep counting aloud and place your fingers using the correct rhythms. It may help to sing along if you know the melody.

The point here is to have your left-hand do slowly exactly what you would like it to do later at full tempo.

You can use the step to observe the different “shapes” that your fingers make. You may also notice what chords or scales the notes make up.

As all steps, treat this step as an end unto itself. Think about connecting notes, and maintaining good hand position.

Step Six: Play the Hands Together, Note By Note

At long last, we get to play the music with both hands!

It’s all very exciting! But a word of caution: go slow enough so that you maintain all the good work you have done so far.

Remember, you are still “waxing on and waxing off”!

“For Pete’s sake, SLOW DOWN!”

Go note by note, and make 100% certain that you are using the correct fingerings in each hand.

In this step, you can throw rhythm out the window. The point is to combine the hands and solidify the fingerings. The rhythm can wait.

This does not mean to play with bad rhythm, but just that you can take pauses after every note if you like so that you can be sure everything is in order.

This is sometimes called “goal directed movement” or “aim directed movement”.

This is also a wonderful way to practice memorizing your pieces. By going slowly and pausing after each note, you disable any muscle memory, and are forced to know what each hand needs to do.

Step Seven: Play in Rhythm, Slowly. Add the Metronome

After you have played the section you’re working on hands together using corrective pauses, you can go back to counting out loud and playing in rhythm.

Go much slower than you feel you need to at first. This will increase your chances of success.

As with every step, our goal is to eliminate confusion and train ourselves to play the song (or section) correctly. If you try to go too fast too soon, you run the risk of undoing or diluting all the good work you have done in all of the previous steps.

If you need to, or would like to, you can introduce the metronome into your practice at this stage.

(You can also work steps three, four and five with the metronome as you do them. This can make the process of learning classical guitar pieces go much quicker.)

As always, count aloud and use exaggerated dynamics (if you did that step earlier).

Memorizing Music the Easy Way

One of the benefits of learning music in this way is that it can lead to effortless memorization.

Even if you have found memorizing music difficult in the past, there is a good chance that you will memorize pieces you learn in this way without even trying.

“This is a natural way to learn anything: Get Familiar.”

Because you are examining each small section from so many different perspectives (rhythm, right hand, left hand, dynamics, etc.), You are naturally becoming more familiar with the section.

Effortless memorization stems from becoming very familiar with the music.

This is the same way that we learn and memorize most things throughout our daily lives.

Even quicker memorization

If you would like to supercharge your memorization, there are a couple of extra small steps you can take it. These won’t add much time to the process, but will help you to memorize your music much more quickly.

First, begin with the intention to memorize the music. Simply keeping in mind that you want to memorize the music will alert your brain to pay close attention and to remember it.

After all, how will your mind know to efficiently store this information unless you tell it that it’s important?

Throughout each of the steps, as you are doing them, take just a moment and look away from the music and do that step from memory.

Do this when clapping the rhythm and counting out loud. Clap and count aloud using exaggerated dynamics without looking at the music once or twice before moving onto the next step.

Play at the right hand by itself from memory as you learn it.

And also play the left-hand from memory as you learn.

The sixth step from above, playing the hands together using corrective pauses, is very powerful for memorizing music.

Even if you only temporarily memorize each step as you are learning it (for only a few minutes), it will still speed up the entire learning process of the tune. So spending the extra few seconds on each step will go far to boost your memory skills and help learn classical guitar more quickly.

And even if you choose to continue to play with the music in front of you, it will allow you to free up some of your mental energy, which can then focus on other things, such as tone production, exaggeration of dynamics, legato (the smooth connecting of one note to the next), bodily awareness, or any number of other useful things.

But wait, there’s more!

This method of learning is not the “end all be all”, and there are other considerations and ways that you could practice. That said, These seven steps provide a solid physical foundation from which you can build. You can add other practice techniques to this as you wish, and as you are able.

Some of the other things that this process does NOT include can be found in the article: 50 Ways to Test Your Musical Memory

But even if you did none of these things, and only stuck to these seven steps to learn classical guitar music, you will be far ahead of the curve and will gain much satisfaction in your progress.

The post How to Learn Classical Guitar Pieces (Gypsy Dance) appeared first on Classical Guitar Shed.

Bach Bourree for Guitar: Full Video Lesson

Allen — Fri, 19 Dec 2014 19:46:42 +0000

This full lesson video tackles a J.S. Bach Bouree, from the 4th Suite for Solo Cello (BWV 1010). It was originally written in E flat Major. Luckily, we kick it up to the key of A so it plays more nicely on the guitar.

It’s perhaps surprising how well most of the Bach music for unaccompanied strings fit on the classical guitar. The cello suites, and the violin sonatas and partitas are all just beautiful on the guitar. Some lay easier than others, but they all sound good. This Bourrée is a popular piece for intermediate classical guitarists, and is a wonderful study in balance and creating beautiful lines in the melody.

Click Here for other tutorials from the RCM Bridges Series.

Serving Multiple Masters: The Challenge of This Piece

One of the main challenges you face in this Bach Bourrée is to make sure that the upper line and the bass line are clearly separate in the ear of your listener. To do this, you must first know exactly which notes belong to each part, then connect the notes together in each part. This can be a bit tricky, but by practicing the upper melody and lower bass line separately, you can learn to hear the individual lines, and to phrase each line with intention and good musicality. After you have both lines perfected, you can then put them back together and work out the issues that arise from the pairing.

Conflicting desires….

Sometimes, the two lines want to go in different directions with their dynamics (volume, swells and fades). When this happens, there is nothing to do but buckle down and put in the practice to be able to balance the parts. This sort of work can be difficult and challenging, but ultimately is the work that will develop your technique, develop your “musical ear”, and bring you forward as a player.

Click Here for other tutorials from the RCM Bridges Series.

Also mentioned in this guitar lesson are a couple of other tutorials:

How to learn any piece, in 7 easy steps

The Five Major Scale Shapes on classical guitar

To view, download, and print the pdf sheet music and video slides for this lesson, click below.

The post Bach Bourree for Guitar: Full Video Lesson appeared first on Classical Guitar Shed.

Mertz Guitar Piece: Maestoso (full lesson, with pdfs)

Allen — Fri, 05 Dec 2014 18:57:01 +0000

In this Mertz guitar lesson, we take the plunge into Johann Kaspar Mertz’s “Maestoso”. It’s a great little piece I ran across and fell in love with.

Like many small pieces of this nature, we are faced with a choice: Do we just hack through it on the way to some other piece? Or do we bring our highest standards and aspirations to the table?

I am all about the latter. There is no such thing as an “easy piece“, if you truly show up to it, do the hard work and aspire to make it beautiful.

The great thing about pieces like this (and approaching them this way) is that regardless of your level you can always find new challenges and opportunities to grow as a musician and guitarist. Sure, it’s more work, but what else are you going to do? Play pinochle?

Mertz Guitar Music

Johann Kaspar Mertz (1806-1856) was a virtuoso guitarist and composer from Hungary who spent the last third of his life in Vienna.

What I like about Mertz is that his music seems to follow the Romantic* composers music of the day, like Chopin, Schumann and Brahms (if not quite to their level of mastery). While no better or worse than other periods, it does give the music a bit more drama, which I love (in music, not in life!) His wife was a concert pianist, and so he was deeply steeped in Romantic piano music, which probably influenced his writing as well.

Just to put him in the timeline, he was born 25-30 years after Sor, Aguado, Giuliani and Carulli (and you can really hear the difference in their musics). And was just a few years younger than Carcassi, who also left us some really nice Romantic guitar music. Bach died in 1750, Mozart in 1791, and Beethoven in 1826.

*”Romantic” music refers to music from the Romantic Period (~1830-1900). It was marked by music becoming more expressive, passionate, inventive, virtuosic, and expansive (longer pieces). Music was less for the royal courts and church (as it was before) and more for concert halls and artistic expression.

As with all pieces, go slow and take things one step at a time. A wise man once said: Slow is Smooth and Smooth is Fast!

“Slow is Smooth and Smooth is Fast!”

So download the pdfs and/or TABS below in the orange button and hop to it!

(note: I am providing TAB, but there really is no substitute for reading music. You miss a ton of information using TAB. That said, use the TAB if you need to. It’s better than nothing!)

What do you think?

Any thoughts or questions? Share them in the comments below!

The post Mertz Guitar Piece: Maestoso (full lesson, with pdfs) appeared first on Classical Guitar Shed.

Full Lesson on Fernando Sor Guitar Moderato (op.35, no.2)

Allen — Sat, 08 Nov 2014 01:13:48 +0000

The Fernando Sor guitar studies have a been a mainstay of classical guitars for centuries. And with good reason.

As is the norm, I take this little piece and dig into many of the nuances and issues we find in it. We talk chords, phrasing, dynamics, and a ton of other topics.

Have fun!

Click Here for other tutorials from the RCM Bridges Series.

The post Full Lesson on Fernando Sor Guitar Moderato (op.35, no.2) appeared first on Classical Guitar Shed.

Full Lesson on Dionisio Aguado Guitar Piece: Moderato

Allen — Sat, 25 Oct 2014 01:33:22 +0000

When I was first learning to read music, pieces took me a long time to learn. I had to struggle through each note and the whole process was very painstaking. My sight-reading is considerably better now, but could definitely be much better.

One of the differences in how I learn music now, compared to when I was more of a beginner, is that I think about more than just what the notes are and where to put my fingers. I now consider how they fit in with the other notes around them. I consider their volume in comparison with the other notes, and how to play so that it’s interesting to listeners (even though no one is actually listening right at that moment).

Exploring the Aguado Moderato

This lesson on a Dionisio Aguado guitar piece explores some of these types of issues. The notes in this piece are not terribly difficult to master. The rhythms are easy. On the surface it looks like a very straight-forward piece.

Click Here for other tutorials from the RCM Bridges Series.

But looks can be deceiving. If we bring higher standard of musical playing, we can find that there are many technical challenges within this piece.

This Aguado guitar Moderato is a great study for balancing the volume of the bass note and the melody note. It also provides many opportunities to practice your long-short.

Watch out: It leads to harder stuff….

One of the things I love about pieces like this, with easy notes and more difficult musical challenges, is that we find the same issues in harder pieces.

For instance, the challenges within this piece mirror exactly the ones found throughout Augustin Barrios’ Julia Florida. In Julia Florida, the harmonies are more complex. The fingering is more complex. It uses more of the fretboard. In short, it’s just a whole lot more difficult piece.

And here’s what usually happens: when most people play Julia Florida, they become so concerned with just playing the right notes that they miss all the musical possibility within the piece. The end result is that the piece falls flat, and is not nearly as beautiful as it could be. Just look on youtube at all the poor Julia Floridas out there!

By mastering this skill on an easy piece like this one, when you choose to play a harder piece with the same issue, you have already done much of the heavy lifting. You will be more likely to (1)notice the issue, and (2)make a point to work through this issue in that piece of music.

Aguado Moderato excerpt

Julia Florida excerpt. Notice it’s the same basic idea, but in eighth notes (quavers).

Train like a pro

By spending time with an easy pieces such as this moderato, you can start to master some truly high-level playing without all the distractions that come with harder pieces. That way when you move to harder pieces, you will have a background and foundation of good musicality to bring to those harder pieces.

In many ways, this is like a basketball player doing lay-ups. Or a baseball player or tennis player hitting balls from a machine. This type of work gives you the skills to play beautifully while eliminating distractions (such as more numerous or difficult notes and fingerings).

Any master at anything has gotten there by gaining complete control of the details of his or her craft. And we can do that much easier when we isolate them. That is what these videos are all about.

Click Here for other tutorials from the RCM Bridges Series.

Thanks for reading. I hope it gives you some food for thought. Please leave a comment and share on your social media of choice.

The post Full Lesson on Dionisio Aguado Guitar Piece: Moderato appeared first on Classical Guitar Shed.

Carulli Waltz in C – Op.121 – Classical Guitar Lesson

Allen — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 18:30:14 +0000

This Carulli guitar waltz is a popular piece for classical guitarists. The Carulli waltz in C deals with some common issues, both technical and musical. In this video, learn how to approach pieces like this, how to practice effectively, and how to keep it interesting to listeners (and yourself!).

Click Here for other tutorials from the RCM Bridges Series.

Note: I have removed all dynamic markings from this score, so it’s just notes and fingerings. Have fun!

The post Carulli Waltz in C – Op.121 – Classical Guitar Lesson appeared first on Classical Guitar Shed.

Full Lesson on the Carulli Andante, op. 241 no. 5 for Classical Guitar

Allen — Sat, 04 Oct 2014 04:35:47 +0000

In this video, I give a full lesson on Ferdinando Carulli’s Andante, Opus 241 Number 5. The Carulli Andante is a staple piece for students of classical guitar all over the world. This extended (over an hour!) lesson explores the structure, phrasing, and technical challenges of this classic piece.

This piece is often times thought of as a early level piece. However, I have come to really appreciate smaller pieces for exploring advanced musical concepts. I also thought it might be interesting to some people to see how I approach music, from start to finish.

It may be worth noting that I did not prepare specifically for this video. While I am familiar with the piece, and have taught it in the past, most everything I present here is an exploration and an example of my usual process. If I were to do it over, some things would probably be different. But the basic concepts are sound. (As a teacher of mine likes to say, “Those of us with minds are apt to change them.”

Different breeds

Many of the concepts you’ll see in this video may be new to you, or directly conflict other things you have learned. I encourage you to enter with an open mind, and know that my views on many musical performance issues are not exactly mainstream. If you have a way of doing things that you like and are attached to, then by all means, do it your way.

Many of the ideas expressed in this video are derived from an old piano tradition. My musical coach of several years is a world-renowned concert pianist. While I did not invent much of this (if any), I have adapted it for the classical guitar.

More on the subject

I have videos and articles on some of the concepts used in this video. Here are links to those articles that may serve as a foundation or reference.

Full Lessons (Pieces) Archives - Classical Guitar Shed

Learn to Play Carcassi’s “Sicilienne” (Short Guitar Course)

About this Short Guitar Course

Learn to Play Petit Blues (Bélanger) from RCM Preparatory Level on Classical Guitar

About Petit Blues, by Marc Bélanger (RCM Guitar)

About the RCM Bridges Series:

Repertoire in the Preparatory Level Bridges Book:

Learn to Play Vacances (Demillac) from RCM Level One on Classical Guitar

About the RCM Bridges Series:

Click here to purchase the RCM Repertoire and Etudes Level One Book. (You’ll find many great tunes in this series, and the book is worth the investment.

Learn to Play Flocons de Neige from RCM Bridges Preparatory Level on Classical Guitar

About Flocons de Neige, by Frederic Costantino:

About the RCM Bridges Series:

Repertoire in the Preparatory Level Bridges Book:

Learn to Play Moorish Dance from RCM Bridges Preparatory Level on Classical Guitar

About Moorish Dance, by Aaron Shearer:

About the RCM Bridges Series:

Repertoire in the Preparatory Level Bridges Book:

Learn to Play Vals D’automne (Autumn Waltz) from RCM Bridges Preparatory Level on Classical Guitar

About the RCM Bridges Series:

Repertoire in the Preparatory Level Bridges Book:

Andantino by Joseph Kuffner (Easy Classical Guitar)

Video #1: Listen to the Piece

Video #2: Taking an Overview of the Piece

Video #3: What Are the Hands Doing?

Video #4: Forward Motion

Video #5: Dynamics: Swells and Fades

Move Ahead in Your Music by Digging Deeper

Additional In-depth Course on The Kuffner Andantino ($19)

Extra Practice Resources

Fernando Sor: “Study in C” (Great for beginners, memory)

Print the Music and Take Notes On It

Mindset and Process

Have a Higher Goal

Eliminate Confusion

Be Methodical in Your Process

Small Sections, Hands Separately

Hands Separately

The “A Section”

The “B Section”

Conducting

Share Your Questions or Story

“Allegro” by Mauro Giuliani: Full Lesson (free pdf)

Allegro by Mauro Giuliani

Divide and Conquer

1. Melody

2. Accompaniment

3. Bass and Chords

4. All Together Now

Why Do All This?

Can You Spot a Phony?

Let’s hear it!

Spanish Dance for Classical Guitar (full lesson plus bonuses)

Spanish Dance for Classical Guitar

Divide and conquer: simplifying music for better practice

Identify Patterns

The pedal tone

Patterns in the melody

Chord shapes

Using This Approach in Other Music

How to Learn Classical Guitar Pieces (Gypsy Dance)

Good ingredients, good soup

The Rub (or, “but, but, but…”)

The secret to playing beautifully: master the details and play them all in a way that supports and demonstrates the main idea (emotional core) of the music.

The process of learning classical guitar pieces

How to Learn Classical Guitar Pieces

“But I’m not good at reading music…”

“But I play more advanced music…”

Step One: Make Small Sections

Step Two: Make Sure You Know What All the Notes and Musical Markings Mean

Step Three: Clap and Count the Rhythm Aloud

Bonus Step 3B (when you are ready): Decide On Dynamics and Phrasing

Quick Primer on Dynamics:

Step Four: Play the Right Hand Alone

Basic Rules of Right Hand Fingering:

Step Five: Play the Left Hand Alone

Step Six: Play the Hands Together, Note By Note

Step Seven: Play in Rhythm, Slowly. Add the Metronome

Memorizing Music the Easy Way

Even quicker memorization

Click here to purchase the RCM Repertoire and Etudes Level One Book.
(You’ll find many great tunes in this series, and the book is worth the investment.