Ideas on practicing music with a focus on quality. This not a ‘how to practice’ post but really just a reminder to students about the importance of quality in your practice sessions. Quality vs Quantity As I’ve said in other…
Another great video by Scott Morris via Guitar Salon International. In this video Morris talks about posture, sitting position, guitar supports and more. Here’s the blurb via their YouTube: “In this lesson Scott addresses the topic of the proper way to…
Problem: Even when students practice efficiently there is still the possibility that they are not practicing well. Here’s an example: Brad practices the most difficult sections of his music during his daily practice session (this is good). He practices the difficult…
A lesson on String Dampening for classical guitar by the excellent Scott Morris. This lesson is via Guitar Salon International. Don’t worry if you don’t fully understand all the theory or harmonic language, the main idea is that some sounds…
As a follow up to last week’s review of Ricardo Iznaola’s On Practicing: A manual for students of guitar performance, I came across a checklist including a statement called “Emotional Detachment”. Here is what Iznaola states: a. Emotional Detachment from the material being…
One of the most important lessons a student can learn is that practicing music is a problem solving experience. I read an article a few years back by classical guitarist and educator Scott Tennant that clearly defined the difference between playing…
I read an interesting section from Art of Classical Guitar Playing (Amazon link) by Charles Duncan earlier today. It was on “The Principle of Functional Tension” and was aimed at dispelling the vague notion of “relaxation” in music. Instead, the author outlines two…
One of the biggest problems with music education these days is that many students are practicing scales in the same way, everyday…forever. For example, let’s say a teacher is using the Canadian Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) exams as a…
Many students wonder how often they should practice with a metronome because there is little consensus in music education as to the benefits or negative consequences. Before outlining some pros and cons of metronome use I’d like to tell you what…
Lesson for Study No.6 Op.60 by Fernando SorFrom my sheet music eBook (PDF): Ten Classical EtudesIncludes fingering, notation & notation + TAB edition.YouTube Video Lesson Link (4k) The first etude is a basic legato study by Fernando Sor. As you improve…
This classical guitar lesson in right hand articulation is brought to you by Strings By Mail and Gohar Vardanyan. It has an excellent discussion about how to play legato, staccato, detached, and general articulation. I like the two different camera angles as well.…
Thomas Viloteau via his youtube channel gives a lesson in right hand arpeggios of classical guitar. He discusses aspects of gaining control, variety to avoid the difficulty of repetitive motions as well as control the texture, keeping the hand stable,…