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Sergei Gudelev performs Crystal Silence by Chick Corea (1941-2021), arr. by A. Марков. This comes via his Youtube channel (go subscribe). I don’t usually post arrangements of jazz works but this was a beautiful performance with a wonderful spacious quality and really nice guitaristic touches that sound at home in the style. Attention to sustain and phrasing is also a joy to listen to.

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Hungarian classical guitarist Zsombor Sidoo performs Atemzüge für Thomas (Breaths for Thomas) by Wolfram Schurig (b.1967). This comes via Sidoo’s YouTube channel (go subscribe). Beautiful performance with excellent pacing, just enough to be spacious but also complete the sustained lines.

The last two times I’ve featured Sidoo he was playing Bach so it’s great to hear him in this contrasting style. Here’s a little bio of Schurig via ircam where the composer is quoted:

It was and still is less a question for me to elaborate a personal style or to consolidate a constraining musical language, whose vocabulary — once established — must be worked on with self-referential assiduity. Rather, it seems important to me to find a path in which musical perception and — on this basis — artistic experience always become different and, in the best case, always new.

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Question: How do I play rest stroke thumb with free stroke fingers at the same time on classical guitar?

Variant: How do I play free stroke thumb with rest stroke fingers?

Answer Summary: The ability to play each technique separately and to have a rest stroke technique that is relaxed, smooth-moving across the strings, and predictable is key to success. Proper finger movement and planting (preparation) technique also contribute to a simultaneous release. But there are other variables depending on the level of the student, their skills with each individual technique, relaxation, confidence, nail shape, and more. Let’s explore what’s needed in more detail.

Here is the YouTube link in case you want to watch it there.

Rest and Free Stroke Ability

Here are some combinations that need to be practiced before attempting to play a rest stroke with simultaneous free stroke.

• Free stroke thumb
• Rest stroke thumb
• Free stroke fingers
• Rest stroke fingers
• Alternating one note rest stroke and one note free stroke continuously
• Free stroke thumb and fingers together

There are two key elements important to the above:

1. The ability to play flowing rest strokes that glide through the string easily and predictably. This is usually taught by developing a very light, relaxed, and flowing rest stroke. Later, the stroke can be more intense but without losing the easy glide across the strings.
2. The ability to keep your right hand in the same position for both rest stroke and free stroke.

Try This: Alternating one-note-rest-stroke followed by two-notes-free-stroke continuously with i-m without a hand position change. This is essential and will allow you to combine the two techniques using only one hand position. Having different hand positions for each technique will making it very difficult to play them together.

Additional Tips for Simultaneous Release

Movement and Nails – Predictably of the stroke will result in simultaneous release from the finger or thumb. If you are not using nails, focus on the movement of the fingers through the string. If you use nails, make sure your nails are of somewhat even length and that the release is smooth and easy. See my nail lesson here.

Contact Point – Having a consistent contact point and release point on the fingertip or nail is very important. See my nail article even if you play without nails as the diagrams explain it.

Planting – When beginning to combine the two techniques try using long-contact planting in the right hand. Planting is a preparation on the string where contact is made and held before the stroke is executed. Be sure the plant places the string at the exact same spot on the fingertip (or fingertip with nail) so the stroke will be the same each time. A long-contact plant with a confident stroke will result in more predictability.

Move the fingers into the palm with confidence – Hesitation or trying to micromanage the technique will likely result in random release times.

You’ve made it really far! Remember that if you are even playing this at all you’ve come a long way. Congratulations. But now you are in the refinement stage which is a great place to be. It may take some time to work this out but just dedicate a few minutes a day to it and enjoy your practice session.

Questions & Support

If you need clarification on this particular Q&A please leave a comment below. For new and existing questions please visit the main Classical Guitar Q&A page. If you are enjoying the free Q&As you can support the site here.

The post How to Play Rest and Free Strokes at the Same Time on Classical Guitar first appeared on This is Classical Guitar.

A lesson on right hand fingering for common textures using case studies No.41-45. This is from my book: Right Hand Fingering for Classical Guitar: Concepts and Case Studies. This book aims to give students a basic criteria for justifying fingering choices and gaining confidence in deciding fingering for themselves. The combination of concepts and case studies offers a framework for approaching fingering in both logical and musical ways. Here’s the Youtube link if you want to watch it there.

This video covers Examples No.41-45 from the book (Page 29-35).

Video Times

• 00:00 Intro
• 1:20 Case Study No.41b
• 3:10 Case No.42a
• 6:20 Case No. 43a
• 9:45 Case No.44a
• 13:00 Case No.45a
• 16:00 Summary

The post Right Hand Fingering Concepts: Case Studies No.41-45 (Common Textures) first appeared on This is Classical Guitar.

A lesson for classical guitar on feel vs logic in regards to right hand fingering choice. This is from my book: Right Hand Fingering for Classical Guitar: Concepts and Case Studies. This book aims to give students a basic criteria for justifying fingering choices and gaining confidence in deciding fingering for themselves. The combination of concepts and case studies offers a framework for approaching fingering in both logical and musical ways. Here’s the Youtube link if you want to watch it there.

This video covers Examples No.39-40 from the book (Page 27-28).

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Finnish lutenist Tuomas Kourula performs La petite Brunette by Robert de Visée (1655-1733) on theorbo via the Turku Early Music Society and their YouTube channel. Beautiful performance by Kourula with a excellent pacing which sets the mood so well. I also love the setting and the rock holding up the iPad at the end which seems to perfectly represent a lute player in the modern world. Here’s the YouTube description:

“We have a daughter with brown hair and I used to think of her when playing this beautiful, thoughtful piece by Robert de Visée. Later I learned that a “brunette” is actually a song form of French baroque music. The main source of brunettes calls them “Brunetes ou petits airs tendres”, which describes very well the piece I’m playing in this video: a small, tender song. This video was shot in an old, derelict tram paint shop – a place full of character in every sense: visual, aural and olfactory. You can hear the resonance of the room in the video, and there’s something symbolic and hopeful in the way some light finds it’s way through the cracks in the door.”

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External classical guitar albums, editions, gear, products, and composition releases for 2026. Submit your content but beware that only one or two submissions a month will make the list. I can’t list every new thing people do so it’s a lottery and don’t expect anything. Be kind! Email: bradford@thisisclassicalguitar.com

Aaron Larget-Caplan

New Edition
Cider Meditation – SATB + Guitar, audio available, published by the American Composers Alliance.

New Edition
American Patriotic Songs Arranged for Guitar, published by the American Composers Alliance.

New Album
Guitar America 250 – Revolutionaries and Rockstars (Navona Records) • Traditional songs from the Civil to World Wars, Classical works by Bernstein, Berlin, Price (violin-guitar), Hovhaness, Cage, and new works by David Liptak, Ian Wiese, and Paul Simon and Eddie Van Halen. Album info and purchase options here.

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A lesson for classical guitar on Spot Fingering in regards to regulating specific right hand fingering to isolated spots while applying broad concepts for most of the repertoire. This is from my book: Right Hand Fingering for Classical Guitar: Concepts and Case Studies. This book aims to give students a basic criteria for justifying fingering choices and gaining confidence in deciding fingering for themselves. The combination of concepts and case studies offers a framework for approaching fingering in both logical and musical ways. Here’s the Youtube link if you want to watch it there.

This video covers Examples No.35-38 from the book (Page 24-26).

The post Right Hand Fingering Concepts: Spot Fingering first appeared on This is Classical Guitar.

I was listening to a guitar video of Prelude, BWV999 by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) which a popular work to play on lute or guitar (my vid and edition here). But I’ve heard it so much that I started listening to harpsichord performances of the work and stumbled on this one by Bruno Martins via his YouTube. The reworking at twice the tempo in the second half is quite fun and sounds surprisingly appropriate.

As he mentions “The Prelude in C minor, BWV 999 is one of Bach’s most direct and compact keyboard works, built on continuous motion and harmonic progression. Often associated with the lute repertoire, the piece occupies an ambiguous space between instrumental idioms while remaining firmly grounded in keyboard writing.”

One thing about this piece that I always use for teaching purposes is how the harmonic rhythm changes from long values (every two measures) to short values (every measure) throughout the work which really pushes and pulls the forward motion. Fun to see it in play with so many different performers.

Lute is my usual go-to for this and here is the great Evangelina Mascardi via her Youtube. I like the lilting rhythmic delivery here. This would be closer to the model I would imitate these days.

I also really like North’s balanced approach.

And below is me playing it from many years ago. I feel I take it a bit too metronomically, I think I was aiming for a pristine through-experience at the time. I would perform it today with much more flexibility and increased rhythmic pull to the downbeat and increased phrasing on smaller levels. That said, at the time I was listening to a ton of Andras Schiff play Bach on piano and was leaning in that direction.

A common driving forward-motion interpretation by Janos Sebestyen.

Anyway, just a small post about my thoughts and how they change over the years.

The post Prelude BWV999 on Keyboard, Lute, and Guitar first appeared on This is Classical Guitar.

A lesson on voice separation in regards to deciding right hand fingering for on classical guitar. This is from my book: Right Hand Fingering for Classical Guitar: Concepts and Case Studies. This book aims to give students a basic criteria for justifying fingering choices and gaining confidence in deciding fingering for themselves. The combination of concepts and case studies offers a framework for approaching fingering in both logical and musical ways. Here’s the Youtube link if you want to watch it there.

This video covers Examples No.30-34 from the book (Page 21-23).

The post Right Hand Fingering Concepts: Voice Separation first appeared on This is Classical Guitar.

Slovenian classical guitar Duo Aratik with Jure Cerkovnik & Aljaž Cvirn perform the Gigue from French Suite No. 5, BWV 816 by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). Recorded by Uros Baric and Baros Records. This comes via the Omni Foundation and their Youtube channel (go subscribe). Amazing ensemble playing by Duo Aratik with stunning rhythmic accuracy and motivic attention.

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Evangelina Mascardi and Ariel Abramovich perform Contrapunto sobre tenor de la Baxa from Libro IV de Silva de Sirenas (Valladolid 1547) by Enríquez de Valderrábano (c.1500-1557). Performed on a vihuela baxa by Marcus Wesche and vihuela alto by Francisco Hervás. This comes via Abramovich’s excellent YouTube channel (go subscribe). Great to see two of my favourite players come together for a duet. Charming performance filled with a beautiful rhythmic delivery and the wonderful plucky sound of two vihuelas.

The post Mascardi & Abramovich Perform Valderrábano first appeared on This is Classical Guitar.

Italian classical guitarist Cristina Galietto performs a concert including repertoire by Johann Kaspar Mertz, Francisco Tarrega, and Franz Schubert. This comes via Siccas Guitars and their YouTube channel where you can read about the four Siccas Luthier guitars being played. Excellent performances by Galietto filled with so much character, intricate articulations, and beautiful phrasing.

• Programme
• 00:00 Intro
• 00:21 Unruhe by Johan Kasper Mertz
• 02:12 Fantasia (On Themes from La Traviata) by Francisco Tarrega
• 09:22 Ave Maria by Franz Schubert

The post Cristina Galietto Classical Guitar Concert first appeared on This is Classical Guitar.

A lesson on deciding right hand fingering for arpeggio patterns over five or six strings in both ascending and descending situations on classical guitar. This is from my book: Right Hand Fingering for Classical Guitar: Concepts and Case Studies. This book aims to give students a basic criteria for justifying fingering choices and gaining confidence in deciding fingering for themselves. The combination of concepts and case studies offers a framework for approaching fingering in both logical and musical ways. Here’s the Youtube link if you want to watch it there.

This video covers Examples No.26-29 from the book (Page 17-20).

Video Lesson Times

• 00:00 Intro
• 1:45 Ascending 5 Strings
• 5:25 Ascending 6 Strings
• 9:53 Descending 5 Strings
• 15:16 Descending 6 Strings

The post Right Hand Fingering Concepts: Playing Across 5 & 6 Strings  first appeared on This is Classical Guitar.

Question: How can I improve my slurs (hammer-ons, pull-offs) on classical guitar?

Answer Summary: Improving your slurs should begin with a review and examination of good guitar positioning and left hand hand alignment followed by accuracy and relaxation exercises. Once those topics have been reviewed and improved, the light reflex-oriented motion needed for slurs (hammer-ons and pull-offs) can be accomplished at higher levels. Let’s explore what’s needed in more detail.

See my full lesson on slurs: Slurs on the Classical Guitar

Slur Lesson

The first thing we’ll do is just look at a lesson video covering some exercises with slurs in case you need some general tips on playing slurs.

Guitar Position + Left Hand Alignment

A proper left hand position is absolutely necessary to play slurs.

The five main tips for beginners:

• Left wrist is straight (gentle arch), not over-extended
• Left palm and knuckles are parallel with the strings
• Left hand thumb is vertical and behind 2nd finger
• Left hand fingers are curved and on fingertips
• Left hand fingers play very close to the fret

Here are some lessons you should check out.

• Classical Guitar Position (How to Sit and Hold the Guitar)
• Left Hand Position for Classical Guitar

Relaxation and Accuracy

Having a relaxed and accurate left hand is also necessary to playing slurs. Consider the following three points which are also connected to playing with speed.

• Economy of motion is the act of eliminating unneeded movements. Keeping your fingers close to the strings and preparing your fingers directly over the frets increases efficiency.
• Accuracy is self-explanatory but should not be overlooked. Placing your fingers close to the frets allows you to play with less pressure and tension.
• Relaxation enables you to access reflexes connected to your body’s natural ergonomic movements. Focus on slow, accurate playing and relaxation. Allow speed to come naturally as a result of good practice.

Some lessons to explore:

• Left Hand Tension and Relaxation Lesson
• Speed and Relaxation

Slur Exercises & Technique Book

Check out my book Classical Guitar Technique: Essential Exercises, Scales, and Arpeggios. The 122 page book includes: Practice Routines, Tips, 100 Open String Exercises, 120 Giuliani Arpeggios, Scales, Slur Exercises, Shifts, Finger Independence, Barre, Tremolo, Common Harmonics, and much more.

Questions & Support

If you need clarification on this particular Q&A please leave a comment below. For new and existing questions please visit the main Classical Guitar Q&A page. If you are enjoying the free Q&As you can support the site here.

The post How can I improve my slurs (hammer-ons, pull-offs) on classical guitar? first appeared on This is Classical Guitar.

A lesson on repetition of a single finger in right hand fingering on classical guitar. We often emphasize finger alternation but can we choose to repeat a finger sometimes? This is from my book: Right Hand Fingering for Classical Guitar: Concepts and Case Studies. This book aims to give students a basic criteria for justifying fingering choices and gaining confidence in deciding fingering for themselves. The combination of concepts and case studies offers a framework for approaching fingering in both logical and musical ways. Here’s the Youtube link if you want to watch it there.

This video covers Examples No.26-29 from the book (Page 16).

Covered in this lesson

• Repetition vs alternation in calm consistent passages
• Repeated motifs
• Sequences

The post Right Hand Fingering Concepts: Repetition of a Single Finger first appeared on This is Classical Guitar.

Canadian classical guitarists Drew Henderson and Tim Beattie performs Henderson’s arrangement of Sonada de Adiós by Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999). This comes via Henderson’s YouTube channel (go subscribe). Beautiful performance by Henderson and Beattie showcasing some sensitive and balanced dynamic control and carefully sculpted ensemble phrasing. Here’s an except from Henderson’s description, read more at his YouTube:

Rodrigo’s Sonada de Adiós/The Sounding of Farewell (Homenaje a Paul Dukas) was written for piano in 1935. It was published the year of Dukas’ death, in the French magazine Revue Musicale alongside Falla and Messaien’s homages to Dukas.

The composition itself is haunting, with Rodrigo’s hallmark blend of Spanish idioms with 20th century compositional devices. Rodrigo maintains a strong Spanish character, particularly through the persistent semitone motion between E and F, drawing the listener toward the Phrygian mode before the work finally settles in A minor. At the same time, there are some very interesting chord clusters, and parallel motions. There is a recording of Rodrigo performing the work himself which is incredible to hear.

The post Henderson-Beattie Perform Sonada de Adiós by Rodrigo first appeared on This is Classical Guitar.

Theory Lesson No.4a: Note Anatomy, Steps and Skips, Treble Clef Notes, Bass Clef Notes. In this lesson we will learn about the basic visual building blocks of a note, movement on the staff by step or skip, as well as the basic note names on bass clef and treble clef. Although the next lesson will cover the concept of middle C, a brief discussion at the end covers the beginning of octave designation. You can find all the lessons at the Music Theory Lessons page. Here’s the Youtube link if you want to watch it there.

Introduction to Note Anatomy

Notehead – A notehead in music is the oval part of a note that indicates pitch by its vertical position on the staff. It can be filled in or hollow which indicates rhythm (filled for shorter, hollow for longer durations). This is not a rhythm lesson today we will cover rhythm in a later lesson. The notehead is placed on the lines or spaces of the staff to indicate a specific pitch.

Stem

A music note’s stem is the thin, vertical line attached to the note head that helps indicate the note’s duration and later will help indicate other things such as which voice it is part of. In single voice textures the step will point up if below the B line or down if above.

In a two voice texture the upper voice stems will point up and the lower voice stems will point down making the two distinct voices separate and easy to recognize.

Steps and Skips on the Staff

It is useful to when discussing music theory to be able to describe the movement of the notes on the staff. So here is some terminology that will be used throughout my theory lessons. On the staff, steps (stepwise motion) are movements from line-to-space or space-to-line while skips jump over one of those: line-to-line, space-to-space. 

Later on when we talk about intervals this terminology can mean something different but today we are just talking about movement on the staff. 

Naming notes on the treble clef and bass clef

We are going to do some basic note naming today just as an introduction. However, one thing I’m leaving out is orientating the pitch in relationship to middle C whichis a specific note that will help us in pitch and octave designation. I will be mentioning middle C today but be aware that I will be explaining middle C as part of a future lesson: Pitch Designation and Pitch Classes

Note Naming on the Treble Clef

G clef orientation – As we discussed in the last lesson, the treble clef is also called the G clef as it points to G as a reference point.

Using stepwise motion (see we are already using the word!) we can figure out the notes on staff with G as a reference and then utilize the musical alphabet in order.

When first starting to learn the notes using sayings and acronyms can be helpful. For the line notes I use: Every Good Bear Deserves Fish

The space notes spell: FACE

We can also extend the range of the staff with ledger lines either above or below the staff.

Note Naming on the Bass Clef 

F clef orientation – As we discussed in the previous lesson, the bass clef is also called the F clef as it points to F as a reference.

When first starting to learn the notes using sayings and acronyms can be helpful. For the line notes I use: Good Birds Don’t Fly Away

For the space notes we can use: All Cows Eat Grass

We can also extend the range of the staff with ledger lines either above or below the staff.

Preparatory lesson on middle C

In the next lesson we will discuss middle C and the grand stave in order to start understanding how pitch works in terms of octave designation. In other words, how does the register of the notes from all the clefs fit together? Here’s a brief prep into the topic.

We saw middle C twice today already – In a low ledger line on Treble Clef and a high ledger line in bass clef. The below two notes are the same exact pitch.

Both notes are the same pitch written in different clefs

This means that pitches between the clefs can overlap. Clefs are simply a way to organize pitch to sit comfortable on the staff for practical use.

We could also view it in grand staff which combines treble clef and bass clef

We can even write out the same pitches in both clefs. They look like they are different but these are all the same exact pitch and register.

We will cover this topic in greater detail in the next lesson.

Hope you found that helpful. Find more theory lessons on the Music Theory Lessons page. I’m offering these lessons free of charge but feel free to support the site here. If you need any clarification on this particular lesson please leave a comment below.

The post Theory Lesson No.4a: Notes on the Staff first appeared on This is Classical Guitar.

Pièces caractéristiques pour guitare, Op.123 (1964) by Belgian composer Jean Absil (1893-1974). Performed by Bradford Werner. I’m trying to feature more music by modern and contemporary composers and external publishers on the site and this is a great piece to start with. I’ll be adding all ten movements to this post over the next few weeks so check back often. The sheet music is by Editions Henry Lemoine.

Jean Absil (1893–1974) was a Belgian composer, organist, and teacher known for his modernist style blending neoclassicism with modal and polytonal techniques. A student of Paul Gilson, Absil composed symphonies, concertos, and choral works, and served as a professor at the Brussels Conservatory, influencing generations of Belgian musicians.

Jean Absil wrote a good number of guitar works primarily for Nicolas Alfonso, a prominent Belgian guitarist and pedagogue. Alfonso was one of the leading classical guitarists in Belgium during the mid-20th century and collaborated with several composers, including Absil. I suspect this work was also written for him but I haven’t found any additional information yet.

Pièces caractéristiques Op.123 (Pieces and Youtube Links)

• I. Prélude
• II. Invention
• III. Pastorale
• IV. Humoresque
• V. Valse
• VI. Cantilène
• VII. Scherzo
• VIII. Chant du soir
• IX. Pavane
• X. Tarentelle

This video was performed on a Marcus Dominelli classical guitar with Augustine Regal strings and a GuitarLift Ultimate support. All my gear here. Subscribe to the free membership newsletter and if you’re enjoying the site you can consider supporting it.

The post Pièces caractéristiques Op.123 by Jean Absil first appeared on This is Classical Guitar.

A lesson on rest and free stroke considerations in regards to sustain and muting in terms of right hand fingering choices. This is from my book: Right Hand Fingering for Classical Guitar: Concepts and Case Studies. This book aims to give students a basic criteria for justifying fingering choices and gaining confidence in deciding fingering for themselves. The combination of concepts and case studies offers a framework for approaching fingering in both logical and musical ways. Here’s the Youtube link if you want to watch it there.

This video covers Examples No.26-29 from the book (Page 17-20).

Covered in this lesson

• Sustain with Rest and Free Strokes
• Rest strokes on high melody during arpeggio textures (Spanish Romance)
• Using rest strokes to mute unwanted sustain

The post Right Hand Fingering Concepts: Rest and Free Stroke Considerations first appeared on This is Classical Guitar.