Level II Classical guitar lessons. Information page

When learning to play a piece of music on the guitar (or on any other instrument) we are always confronted with the following sequence of steps as we try to learn the piece: First we take a quick look at the music score to get a sense of the difficulty of the piece if we have never heard it. In our minds, as we start browsing the pages, we start taking mental notes as we try to figure out the movements of the fingers. I don't know about other musicians, but in my case I find it useful to review a new piece that way. It gives me a head start for when I am ready to tackle the piece. My memory will have assimilated bits and pieces of the music notation and the structure of the composition that will fall quickly into place as I start learning the piece. With the guitar in hand and through trial and error, as I work my way through the piece, I will try to figure out what fingers to use on both hands. I will try to come up with the best finger combination so the music can flow with no problems. As I travel through the score I will start noticing sections, phrases and different parts of the score that I will feel inclined to enhance with the use of nuances such as color, timber, dynamics, crescendos and decrescendos and all sort of expressive elements and tools. I will start experimenting with color and timber by moving my right hand fingers along the strings near the saddle, close to the sound hole or close to the frets. I will also experiment by playing the strings or string with my nails only to get a more metallic sound in certain passages, or by using the tip of my fingers to create a softer tone.

In level II, the student will find more technical demands on both hands as well as more suggestions about how to use color and phrasing as means of expression. I have included 9 pieces by several celebrated Guitarists and Lute players who were performers as well as composers such as Robert Johnson (1583-1633), Carlo Calvi (1610-1670), Gaspar Sanz (1650-1710), Sylvius L. Weiss (1685-1750), Carulli (1770-1841), Sor (1778-1839). Each one of the pieces has been separated into different sections to facilitate the learning process. For example: each composition is broken down into: a normal tempo video, a slow tempo video, a right hand explanation video and a left hand fingering explanation video. I have also included the pdf files with music notation only and music notation/tablature as well as links to the composer’s bio. Each one of the pieces comes with music notation only sheet and music notation/tablature sheet on pdf file format. Both the videos as well as the music sheets can be downloaded to your computer for you to keep. I have also added the sound track of each piece with out the video for the student’s convenience. In some of the pieces I talk a little bit about dynamics, phrasing and expression. This brief introduction about musical interpretation is something new that was not included in the beginner’s level course. The beginners course is just about technique and the level II includes both, technique and working on expression. We all know that it is necessary to have a good technique in order to play a piece well, but technique alone is not all that is needed when it comes to interpretation. Without expression (musical feeling) a piece of music is dead on arrival. By adding dynamics, color, phrasing and other expressive marks to a composition the music comes alive.

These are only a few of the aspects to look for when we are learning a piece of music. The art of musical interpretation and the technical/mechanical aspects of playing an instrument is a life time learning process. For a beginner student as for the most virtuoso performer the path is the same; to search, look, find and render the most truthful and honest interpretation in a piece of music. If you are new to Classical guitar playing and it is a style that you are interested in learning, I would recommend starting with the beginner’s level videos. It covers the basics such as music notation, note values, timing, use of the correct finger combination, etc. One of the most admired composers of the XX Century, the Spaniard Joaquin Rodrigo (1901-1999), who wrote The Concierto de Aranjuez for Guitar and Orchestra was once asked: ...of the many recordings and interpretations of the Concierto you have heard which one, in your opinion, would you consider to be the best. Rodrigo thought for a minute and replied: “It is very difficult for me to say and single out one performance. I have heard many, many excellent performers playing the Concierto and every one of them have brought a different light and interpretative intention to the Concierto de Aranjuez. Some of them have even phrased whole sections in such a way that I did not even realize it could be possible… so it has been a revelation for me to see the different approaches that performers from different nationalities and with different temperaments have brought and contributed to the re-creation of the Concierto”.

I wanted to quote Joaquin Rodrigo because his comments clearly point to us that music interpretation is something that we obtain as we mature playing the instrument we love. Your personality, music knowledge, as well as the amount of sensibility you will developed over time will play an important roll in your musical interpretations as your playing becomes more relaxed and less focused on the mechanics of moving the fingers. Musical interpretation is not based in a mathematical formula that we can learn. It is an elusive quality that we all strive to capture when we play a piece of music. It is not an exact science, but a mysterious feeling that needs to be nurtured over time and that with the right combination of sensibility and technical command of the instrument will manifest itself. I hope you enjoy the lessons.