A lesson on practicing and refining the musical texture in your repertoire. In this lesson I cover how to isolate and practice the musical texture of a piece of music. I often loop a small section, even just a few beats, to explore and refine the texture to something I think is musically appropriate or desirable. This is not only an exercise in musicality but also an important technique lesson for your hands. Of course, I’m demonstrating on classical guitar but I think this is an important lesson for any instrument. The two works I’m using as examples are from my edition of the 32 works of Giuliani’s Op.50. Here’s the YouTube link if you want to watch the video there.
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I love this! In my youth when I was a serious student of classical music on the trumpet, I remember my teacher one day telling me in exasperation “make music — just playing the notes isn’t music!” I have carried that lesson with me ever since.
I have been following Bradford’s lessons for a couple of years and I am slowly progressing. While I’m always eager to move on to the next grade, I’m purposefully holding myself back until it sounds good. This lesson addresses exactly what I have started to work on recently.
And that’s what I love about these lessons — they always seem to address exactly what I know I’m lacking. That’s validating, instructive and inspires me to keep going, even when progress is slow.
Thanks so much for the feedback and kind words! Happy practicng!
Thank you for this lesson! This is so important. I think we guitarists get too focused on the technicality of a piece and treat it like a goal we must conquer and forget that we are playing music. We behave more like musical athletes rather than musical artists. I love to loop a section until I can feel the music being expressed rather than just playing the correct notes. It is also very relaxing and great therapy after a long day.