This is Classical Guitar

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.

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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

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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