Hector Quine -Introduction to the Guitar

Introductionto the HECTOR QUINE INTRODUCTION to the GUITAR by Hector Quine Professor of Guitar at the Royal Academy of Music, Guildhall.School of Music, and Trinity College of Music, London. PREFACE 'Introduction to the Guitar' does not claim to show you an easy way to learning the guitar. There is no such way. It is an attempt to set down in print what is often considered to be unteachable except through personal lessons: i.e. technique. Whilst the chief objective has been to provide a technical guide for the aspiring guitarist who wishes, or who is compelled, to teach himself, the book may also be useful as a textbook for the teacher who likes to work to a definite plan. No attempt is made to teach the rudiments of music, although of course these must be learned as soon as possible. Numerous textbooks on this subject are readily obtainable, and the beginner is advised to study one of these simultaneously with his practising of the guitar. 'Introduction to the Guitar' is intended to cover approxi mately the first year of study, although some beginners will inevitably make more rapid progress than others. No particular 'Method' has been followed, a logical analysis of modern prac tice in guitar-playing being the only guiding principle. No apology is offered for the quantity of detailed discussion on what may seem to the beginner to be trivial matters. Every experienced guitarist knows that it is only by careful attention to this kind of detail that a true mastery of the guitar, which should be every aspiring guitarist's aim, is to be attained. Oxford University Press Music Department'44 Conduit Street London W1R ODE © Oxford University Press 1971 Printed in Great Brrta- The illustrations were drawn by Thomas B. Pitfield. CONTENTS 1. Tuning the guitar 2. 3. 4. Explanation of signs and symbols Nails and fingertips Left-hand nails 5. Practising methods 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. Sitting position and grip of the guitar Right-hand position Right-hand finger movements Single notes on one open string Crossing the strings Single notes with the thumb Thumb in conjunction with fingers Arpeggio playing Left-hand position Left-hand finger positioning Crossing the fingerboard 17. 18. 19. Arpeggio exercises (first set) Finger-independence exercise Playing from memory 20. 21. 22. Arpeggio exercises (second set) Scale of C major Exercises for m and a fingers 23. 24. 25. Arpeggio exercises (last set) Position-changing Two-octave scale 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. Transposition using the same fingering Study for thumb and index finger Right-hand free strokes Application of apoyando and free strokes Memorizing studies and pieces Left-hand positioning for chords Position-changing technique in chord playing The barre 34. The half-barre' 35. 36. 37. Study No. 2, Op. 60, by Carcassi Economy of movement in the left hand Harmonic minor scale 38. 39. Study No. 3, Op. 60, by Carcassi Arpeggio exercises with accents 40. 41. 42. 43. Slurs (descending) Study No. 4, Op. 60, by Carcassi G major scale Tremolo 44. 45. 46. Study No. 7, Op. 60, by Carcassi Slurs (ascending) Melodic minor scale 47. 48. 49. Chord playing - right-hand technique F major scale Slurs (combined) 50. 51. Study No. 10, Op. 60, by Carcassi Five- and six-note chords 52. Recommendations for further study 1. TUNING THE GUITAR Few problems cause the beginner more difficulty than the accurate tuning of the guitar. Some time and trouble should be spent over this, as it will also help to lay the foundations of a training in attentive listening. Not many people are born with an acute aural sense, but all can acquire it by perseverance and concentration. It is an absolute necessity for any musician, and particularly for the player of a stringed instrument. The 'open' strings of the guitar are tuned as follows: Ex. 1 -3~ D B E m -O- XE but, as guitar music is always written an octave higher than it sounds, the treble staff only is used, and the open string notes therefore appear thus: D Ex.2 "cr -©- B zo: -^- The guitar must always be tuned to the correct 'pitch', as the tension of the strings depends on this. For example, should the pitch of the instrument be too high, the strings will be very taut and difficult to press and strike. Furthermore, considerable damage may be done to the guitar itself. On the other hand, if the pitch is too low, the strings will be too slack, and it will be impossible to obtain clear notes. Playing on a guitar which has been carefully tuned will help to accustom the player to the sound of the correct pitch. Only one of the strings needs to be tuned from some external source, and the other five can then be tuned from this one. Most players prefer to tune the top string: Ex.3 Jtt from a pitch-pipe, a tuning fork, or from a piano. Tuning forks are usually made to sound either A or C: Ex.4 A -©- $ r ^- so that the top string of the guitar needs to be 'stopped' at either the 5th or the 8th fret to obtain these notes. $ The diagram below will show their positions on the fingerbos^^. .TUNING. FORKS Ex.5 •&• -9- II III IV vi vii vru ix xi xn Having tuned the top (E) string, now tune the 2nd (E) string until it produces the same note (E) when stopped at the 5th fret, as the top open string. Continue, string by string, (now always stopping at the 5tn fret) until all the strings are in tune. Finally, check to see that the top and bottom strings sound exactly two octaves apart, as errors can easily accumulate. These instructions should be easily understood if read in conjunction with the above diagram. Next, tune the 3rd (G) string similarly, but stopping it at the 4th fret to produce the same note (B) as the open 2nd string. 2. EXPLANATION of SIGNS and SYMBOLS used in GUITAR MUSIC 5. PRACTISING METHODS Four sets of symbols are used in guitar music to indicate to the player how the notes are to be played. They are as follows: RIGHT HAND LEFT HAND p - Thumb (French: pouce) i — Index finger 0 1 2 3 4 m — Middle finger 5 — Ring finger (French: annulaire) — — — — — Open string Index finger Middle finger Ring finger Little finger STRINGS (T) —E(highest sounding string) ©-B (3)-G POSITIONS I. II, III, IV, V, VI etc. (see notes below) ©-D ©-A (If)— E(lowest sounding string) The art of practising correctly is one of the most misunder stood aspects of learning to play an instrument. This remark applies to most aspiring musicians, but particularly to guitarists. The reason for this situation is not hard to see. The guitar makes a relatively pleasant sound no matter how it is played, and there is therefore a strong temptation for the beginner to select pieces which he has heard (and which are often far beyond his capabilities) and to pick his way laboriously through them over and over again. He will inevitably stumble frequently at a difficult place, hesitate, repeat the fault, and then go on. It is hardly surprising that his technique and his performance of any given piece show little improvement, even over a consider able period of time, as his 'practice' consists largely of actually perfecting his ability to make mistakes. It cannot be too strongly emphasized that the only logical way to practise is to work to a pre-arranged plan, and to follow this plan strictly and systematically. Many readers of this book will be amateurs with limited time available for practising, and for them a methodical approach is vital, as every minute spent with the guitar must be productive if the learning process is not to be drawn out inter minably, and enthusiasm allowed to wane. Broadly speaking, there are two ways of practising, and both are necessary at different stages of learning an exercise, study or piece. The Roman figures indicating the positions in fact show the fret where the first finger of the left hand is to be placed. It frequently happens that the first finger is not being used at all, but the position number still shows where that finger would be placed. The letter 'C' (or sometimes 'B') in front of the Roman figure indicates that the index finger stops all the strings at that fret. (See para. 33: The Barre'). The first method is the slow, rhythmic approach to specific difficulties whereby, the nature of the problem having first been analysed and understood, the difficult passage (it may be only a single bar or less) is played repeatedly at about half speed, and with meticulous attention to rhythm. If there is still some hesitation or stumbling of the fingers, the speed should be reduced still further until the passage can be played with absolute continuity. When this has been achieved the speed may again be increased by degrees over a period of several days. The second stage in practising should not be attempted until all the individual faults have been eliminated by the above pro cess. This stage consists of putting all the fragments which have been practised in detail back into their context. This is done by playing the whole scale, study etc. up to speed and con tinuously from the beginning to the end, with no stops or hesitations, even when a mistake is made. This, too, must be done many times, but always in perfect rhythm. A surprising degree of technical facility can be acquired with an average daily practice of only an hour or so. How this hour should be spent will depend on the stage of development reached, so the practising schedule will need to be modified from time to time. 3. NAILS and FINGERTIPS Nowadays, it is considered essential to cultivate a 'nail only' technique for the right hand in order to develop power, speed, clarity, and purity of tone. This is not to say that it is impos sible to play with the flesh of the finger, but only that nail tone is very much to be preferred. A player who, for one reason or another, cannot, or does not wish to grow his nails to the required length, can nevertheless acquire a good technique, although his tone will inevitably be less good than that of the nail player. All the instructions in this book are intended for playing with the nails, but the broad principles apply equally to the flesh player. Length and shape of nails: When viewed from the palm side of the hand, the nails of the index, middle and ring fingers should project about 1/16th of an inch beyond the fingertip (n.b. the little finger is never used.) The shape of the nail should follow the curve of the fingertip, with no corners or projections. The thumb nail may be slightly shorter, but should also follow the contour of the thumb in shape. 6. SITTING POSITION and GRIP of the GUITAR A chair without arms and of normal height should be used, and a footstool for the left foot. It is impossible to specify the height of the footstool, as this must depend on the player's physique and, of course, the height of the chair. As a guide, it is useful to remember that the left thigh should slope slightly upwards towards the knee, and the right thigh should be parallel to the floor. One should sit squarely, and as far forward on the chair as possible. The back must be straight, but the whole trunk may lean forward slightly from the waist. A comfortable posture is of the utmost importance, and unnecessary tension in any part of the body must be avoided. The calves of both legs should be perpendicular to the floor from every viewpoint, and the feet should rest firmly with both heel and toe on the floor (right foot), and footstool (left foot). The finishing of the nail edge is important, as a rough edge will invariably produce a scratchy tone. The use of fine sand paper boards or a fine 'India' stone is recommended in preference to a metal file. 4. LEFT-HAND NAILS It is essential that the nails of the left hand be kept short, but it must be remembered that the fingertips are to a certain extent supported by the nails, so they must not be cut back so short that the tip of the finger can bend back over them. This point will be found to be just in front of the elbow joint, at a small indentation in the bone of the forearm. On no account should the muscles of the forearm press on the edge ci the guitar. A common fault is to allow the right shoulder to 'hunch', causing tension in the arm, and care should be taketo see that the upper arm is fully extended, so avoiding this tension. 7. RIGHT-HAND POSITION The underlying principle which governs the right hand's position aims at using the most natural movements of the wrist joint so that maximum comfort and relaxation of all the muscles which are not directly involved in playing may be achieved. The beginner should make a habit of putting the right nana in position in three simple stages every time he sits down to practise and, on beginning each new exercise, this position should be checked. First stage: Hand straight and in line with forearm, with the palm facing the floor. (FIG. 3A) 3a ^ ( -tfzl (FIG. 1) The lower bout of the guitar is gripped by the thighs, with pressure being mainly exerted by the left leg/which pushes the guitar against the right leg. This slight pressure causes the guitar to rise, and should be counterbalanced by the weight of the ( Second stage: Jp right arm resting on the guitar's top edge. The exact position of the right arm is important, and will be described later. It is very important for the guitar to be held upright, and a fourth point of support (the chest, resting lightly against the upper edge of the guitar) will help to maintain this position. The pressure on the guitar at the three main points of support should be as light as possible; in fact the right arm should not really press at all, but merely rest its weight on the top of the instrument. If the guitar is correctly held according to these principles, there should be no need to grip the neck with the left hand in order to support it. The right hand should likewise be completely relaxed, and simply 'hanging' from the resting point. Hand drops forward from the wrist so that the palm is now facing towards the elbow. It is particularly important that the wrist should not turn sideways. (FIG. 3B) The exact position for the right elbow to rest on the guitar's edge can be found by a simple experiment. If one imagines the whole arm to be a dead weight (i.e. completely relaxed) then a point can be found where the forearm and upper arm exactly balance eath other. (FIG.2) Third stage: Without in any way altering the wrist, the forearm is now moved outwards away from the guitar to a distance of about Vh to 2 inches from its position in second stage. (FIG. 3C) 1 Now check the position as follows: 1 The inside of the forearm and the thumb should be at It is of the utmost importance that, if the nails are to be used, then the nail and only the nail should strike the string. A combined flesh and nail technique gives the worst of both, and the best of neither. almost a right angle to each other. 2 The distance from the inside of the wrist to the sound board of the guitar should be approximately equal to the width of the left hand at the knuckles. 3 The palm of the hand should be facing towards the elbow, not towards the guitar. 4 The entire hand, wrist and forearm should be completely relaxed, and should feel that they are entirely suspended from the resting point on the edge of the guitar. The direction in which the finger moves in striking follows the line of the hand and arm or, to put it another way, the finger moves inwards towards the palm of the hand. No attempt should be made to play at a right angle to the strings. This would be very difficult physically, as well as producing a poor tone. 8. RIGHT-HAND FINGER MOVEMENTS In regard to the length of the stroke, it must be clearly understood that the strings of the guitar are struck and not plucked, and the finger will therefore begin its stroke about 14 inch from the string, striking, following through, and then coming to rest on the next string. This action of resting on the next lowest string is known as 'apoyando' or 'supported stroke', Fingers should always move almost entirely from their main joints, (i.e. with the tip and middle joints remaining slightly bent but relaxed) and with a hummer-like motion. It will be noticed that, with the hand held in the position described above, the string will be struck with that part of the finger which is nearest to the thumb, and not with the finger zip. This is correct, and is vital to good tone production. (FIG. 4) and it forms the basis of all modern right-hand technique. It is also important for the finger to strike the string inwards (i.e. towards the soundboard of the guitar) rather than merely de flecting it in a line parallel to the strings. A finger must never begin its stroke by resting on a string which is about to be struck, as this would in fact cause a plucking action. Finally, it must be constantly borne in mind that the fingers should always strike very firmly in order to develop muscular strength. 9. SINGLE NOTES ON ONE OPEN STRING The following exercise should now be learned and practised, using the index (/") and middle (m) fingers of the right hand on the top (E) string, and playing apoyando strokes. A balanced movement of the fingers is essential. This is best illustrated by thinking of the action of the feet in walking, with the lower (B) string representing the ground. When one finger is descending the other is ascending, and they pass each other at about the middle of their stroke. It is always better to leave a finger on the lower string a little too long, rather than to let it bounce off too quickly. Ex.6 Count: 1 i 2 m i 3 2 3 1 772 3 + 2 a m 1 + 3 m m m m I m m i I m P 1 r nr r r ® 2 m + 3 m + l in 2 + m 3 + m l 2 + m 3 I + m i i 2 m 3 + l 1 m 2 I + m 3 I I m i i t i I / £ £ ^^ F^g? Try to make the sound as legato as possible, and practise the exercise until tone and volume of the two fingers is exactly matched. Also, be sure to count carefully, giving each note its full value. 10. CROSSING THE STRINGS It will be apparent that to maintain the hand in the same position for every string would be impossible, unless one bent up the fingers and abandoned the apoyando stroke. Some al teration of the position of the forearm is therefore necessary. The movement is very simple; the arm, pivoting from its resting point, travels in a curve across the strings, but without any change occurring in the relative positions of the wrist, hand or fingers. (FIG. 5) This movement is usually a little more difficult to execute when travelling from bass to treble than from treble to bass. Practising in front of a mirror will be found to be an invaluable aid to correct training. The following exercise is designed to give practice in crossing the strings and more playing with / and m fingers in apoyando. Ex.7 Count: 1 a TT i 2 m 4 m 2 m 4 etc. m i m m m m m © m m © ®- © WW © ^ Note the order in which the fingers play in the following variation. In common with all exer cises, these should be practised many times, with careful attention to the sound produced, and to rhythmic accuracy. Ex.8 Count: 1 a i 2 m 1 2 l m 1 i m 1 m m i m ^^ l m 2 m i m 1 2 i m l m m i 12Z m\ 1 2 + 2 + f^ m m~- m i m m i 1+2 m i m 1 + 2 m + 2 1 + 2 + l 7/2 m i m i m i m i $ • ^ 1 2+3 4 m # 1 2+3 4 12+3 1PPP ff^^pSg 4 1234 1 2 34+ 1 2 E 34+ | 1 0 ^w 4+ 1+2 3 4 -XT ^ 12 3 m i 4 m 5 6 i -«: -*'•' -«: 123 m p 4 i 2+3 123450 m i m i 56 m $ 12 ^^ 3 4 5 b li r f r f ^^^^^ i± m m \ WE. * m • \ \ 12 i m 3 i 4 m 5 6 i 123 45G123 4 5 h 12 3. 4 in 5 G i m I m i m i m i m m i, m i 3 £ i f m The fingers do not play on the 6th string at this stage, as apoyando strokes are impossible on this string. 11. SINGLE NOTES WITH THE THUMB The thumb is always held straight, and moves (like the fingers) from the main joint. It must be extended outwards away from the hand, and strike on that side of the nail which is farthest from the fingers. The thumb should never play an apoyando stroke. * Assuming that the thumb is to strike the bottom string (E), it begins its stroke held almost at a right angle to the hand (FIG. 6), then moves straight down (as though the fist were being clenched) and without bending from the tip joint, and comes to rest against the first joint of the index finger. The commonest faults are to allow the thumb to move outwards away from the strings, or to propel it by a downward movement of the hand. There are a few exceptions to this rule, but they occur only in advanced pieces. Ex.9 Count: 1 2 3 123 123 123 123 m iFf 5 12. THUMB IN CONJUNCTION WITH FINGERS using a 'balanced' movement, something like that described in para 9. That is to say, when the thumb is striking and moving down towards the hand, the finger should be moving back wards preparatory to striking, and vice versa. Practise now the following exercise, watching carefully for this balanced movement. The actions of the thumb and fingers have been described separately, and all that remains now is to combine them. The basic problem is to keep them out of each other's way, part icularly when they are striking adjacent strings. This is done by Ex. 10 Count: 1 + 2 + i + 2 + etc. p i p I p i p i p i p i p i p i p i p i p i p i r p i p i r r f f r + 2 + 3 + etc. » wwm*%m. r r i p i p Count: l f wm rrfinri r : f r m « f r r f r i Count: l + etc. i 13. £ gfes f P r pf r ' r n^r ARPEGGIO PLAYING PfTi^ r? r ' Ring finger (a) strikes String Mj There are of course many different combinations of fingers, thumb and strings in arpeggio playing on the guitar, but for the Middle finger (777) strikes String (2) Index finger (/') strikes String (3) Practise now the following exercise, slowly and evenly, using apoyando strokes with the fingers, and 'free' strokes with the thumb. Do not forget the 'balanced' movement mentior.ec in paras. 9 and 12, which applies equally whether one, two or three fingers are being used. moment it will be assumed that the thumb plays only the three bass (wire-covered) strings, whilst the fingers play one each of the three treble (plain nylon) strings, as follows: Ex. 11 Count: 1 p + 2 m^ m + 3 + 14. LEFT-HAND POSITION Two cardinal points must be constantly kept in mind with regard to the position of the left hand: 1 The hand plays no part in supporting the guitar, or main taining its position. 2 The thumb is the base from which the hand and fingers work, and should be positioned in the ce7?fre of the hand, and not opposite the index finger. It is necessary to go into some detail concerning point (2), as unless this point is clearly understood and put into practice, many faults can easily develop. If one imagines a line running lengthwise down the middle of the neck of the guitar, the normal place for the thumb is with its tip just meeting this line. (FIG.7) There are a few occasions when the thumb comes above this line, but these may be disregarded for the present. The tip joint of the thumb must not bend, but remain perfectly straight, and only the ball should press against the guitar neck. Seen from immediately behind, the thumb is placed at a right angle to the edge of the neck. (FIG. 7) In playing single notes (which is the only aspect of left-hand technique being discussed at the moment) the back of the hand should be kept parallel to the edge of the fingerboard. (FIG. 8) This position can be a formidable stumbling block for many beginners, and much perseverance may be needed to train the hand. Constant checking and correction will be necessary and here again a mirror will be found to be a valuable aid. The little finger is obviously much shorter than the other fingers, and it is therefore only by adopting a correct position that this difference in finger length can be accommodated. All the left-hand fingers must be kept bent the whole time at both joints so that the fingers will press only with their tips, thus developing maximum strength with the minimum of effort with a hammer-like action. (FIG. 9) There will be a strong tendency in the beginning to apply pressure to the strings by pulling with the arm, instead of 'squeezing' the guitar neck between thumb and fingers. This tendency can be overcome to a certain extent by (1) placing the thumb in the centre of the hand (see rule 2 above), and (2) by making sure that the thumb is in the lower half of the neck. Pushing the wrist slightly forward, particularly when stopping the lower strings, also helps to position the hand correctly. 15. LEFT-HAND FINGER POSITIONING The only correct place for the left-hand finger is immed iately behind the fret. If the finger is placed a little way back from, or slightly overlapping a fret, buzzes and muffled notes are frequently produced, as a simple experiment will show. It is therefore imperative that the habit of accurate finger placing be cultivated from the beginning. (FIG. 8) There may be some initial difficulty in separating the two middle fingers from each other, but by gently forcing them apart (by their own effort, not with the other hand) this prob lem is usually overcome fairly soon. For the present purpose, it must be assumed that the four fingers will always stop four consecutive frets, e.g.: 1st finger at fret V, 2nd finger at fret VI, 3rd finger at fret VI I, and 4th finger at fret VIII. 16. CROSSING THE FINGERBOARD As with the right hand (para. 10) so the left hand must em ploy some means of crossing the fingerboard from the top string to the bottom and back, which leaves the basic move ment of the fingers unchanged. In the case of the left hand, the thumb acts as the pivot, remaining on the back of the guitar neck in the same place the whole time. The adjustment of the hand position itself is effected by pushing the wrist forward and withdrawing it. (FIGS. 10A & 10B) Notice that the wrist is practically flat when the fingers are playing on the top string, and at almost a right anglefor the bottom string. The strings in between need positions of the wrist which vary in degree between these extremes. Trying to bear all these rules in mind, practise now the following exercise at the Vth position, using the left hand only. No sound will of course be produced. Ex. 12 V i m TJE 772 (i) ¥ TT safe © ©• ?J—I ©— ©• r $±m j © 4_L, ®- m T r £^ ©• ©—' It is most important that each finger should continue to press the string down until after the next finger has pressed. In fourth and sixth times. When the above has been thoroughly mastered, the exercise can be extended to include all other combinations of left-hand other words, a somewhat 'heavy-footed' walking motion of the fingers is needed in order to make the sound legato. Premature lifting of the fingers results in notes being cut off, and causes a jerky, staccato progression. When this exercise has been practised for several days with the left hand alone, the right hand should be combined with it, fingers. The chief purpose of this exercise is to develop finger independence and, from a purely technical point of view, it is only necessary to know the finger-sequence as follows: (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) using using using using using 1st and 3rd fingers 1st and 4th fingers 2nd and 3rd fingers 2nd and 4th fingers 3rd and 4th fingers using the formula shown in Ex. 7. This exercise (using both hands) must be practised very slowly and with great care; con stant attention being paid to the positions and movements of hands and fingers. A good plan is to play the exercise, say six times, concentrating the attention on the right hand for the first, third and fifth times, and on the left hand for the second, Ex. 13 but, for the sake of completeness, here is the notation. l-m- 3 <2>3SE tT .fit m 30 tfr i r f u r f £ (3) * £ ^^c± m i\ (•!-) i jy§ »r°*f feS wm *r* as •(».., i j i , i a j as r r ^r i*r £ s (5) Y*N^ 33=3t 5f m^ j mm r r ife m 85 ft £eee!| 4» §=|§=S^!_1 ^= 17. ARPEGGIO EXERCISES (FIRST SET) Paras. 12 and 13 should be re-read before these exercises are attempted. Ex. 14 i m i V| "Lj ® i |a i mi a i ' 4 3 00 3 0#(5 r© a§ 3 0 0 m f 4 r r 3 It should be remembered that the exercises given in this book are intended to be treated as an accumulating series (see para. 5), and therefore all the previous exercises as well as the current one should be practised every day. This habit of build Exercise 14 above forms the first two parts of a six-part sequence of increasing difficulty, which are intended to be practised as a continuous whole. The remaining parts will be given later in the book. SUMMARY ing up a 'repertoire' will become even more important when studies and pieces are to be learned later. The writer has known many guitarists whose 'repertoire' consisted of one piece —the current one! A further reason which applies specifically to the exercises is that they are so designed as frequently to relate to one another, as in the case of Nos. 7 and 12. The daily practising session should now comprise the following exercises: Nos. 9 to 14 inclusive. 18. FINGER-INDEPENDENCE EXERCISE Before practising the following exercise, read these instruc tions very carefully, as the exercise is valueless unless practised correctly. 2 Keep the hand still, allowing only the fingers to lift and descend with the minimum of movement. Fingers must be kept well spread out, and up to the frets. 1 All fingers must be left down behind the finger which is stopping the note to be played: i.e. when 4th finger plays the last note in bar 1, all four fingers must be pressing the string. The same with the second note in bar 3. When 3 Play slowly, very evenly in time, and make the notes as legato as possible. 4th finger returns to the string for the second note in bar 4, the 3rd finger must return with it. The right-hand formula will again be that used in Ex. 6. Ex. 15 m m $ -kr (D- E3 9-0—^ jjijllgjiggie iiif 3^S m m >\\r ta The above may be practised on all strings (except the bottom one), and later, when some facility nas been gained, at all positions. 19. PLAYING FROM MEMORY It will be a great aqvantage if all the exercises are memorized as quickly as possible, as there will then be no need to look at the book whilst practising, and the attention can be concen trated entirely on the general posture, hands and finger —ovements. guitar-music practice (seepara 2), the following three essentials: (1) the finger, (2) the string, and (3) the position on the fingerboard, e.g.: V indicates that the 2nd finger must stop the No attempt will be made in this book to teach sight reading. Tnere are sound technical reasons for this, and the subject is best left until a certain mastery of basic technique is achieved. (3) 2 3rd string atthe 6th fret (see note on pos itions in para 2), and the note produced would be: For the time being, every effort should be made to learn fingerpatterns by any available short cut, so that correct technical habits are learned before other complications are introduced. To help the beginner to learn these patterns easily and quickly, a system of left-hand fingering will be used in exercises and scales which shows clearly, and in accordance with standard Ex. 16 $ 20. ARPEGGIO EXERCISES (SECOND SET) Ex. 17 pmim ar£Lj. & Ill 1^ \a m im a m m* r i ,fe p m f ^ f 0 = =I • c -~-^ f 21. SCALE OF C MAJOR f Scales are played using the same technique as in Ex. 15, but with one important difference. Only those fingers which stop the actual notes of the scale press the strings, whilst the other fingers remain off the strings; i.e. the first two notes of the scale are stopped by fingers 1 and 3. The 2nd finger must not descend on to the string with the 3rd, but should remain poised above it. All the fingers which are not in use at any moment should be kept poised about 1/2" above, and in line with the string which is being stopped. (FIG.11) The question of how long a finger should remain after the note has sounded (in the ascending scale), is easily answered if the following rule is observed. All the fingers which have stopped a string should stay on that string until the first note on the next string has sounded; i.e. fingers 1 and 3 remain on string (3) until finger 1 is needed to stop string (2) . Likewise, fingers 1, 2 and 4 remain on string (2) until finger 1 is needed tostop string (T) . Descending scales of course need different treatment, as each finger must be lifted before the next note can sound, and it is mainly a matter of perfect coordination. Try to use the as cending part of the scale as a standard by which to judge whether the descending part is legato and well timed. The scale of C major (one octave) is given here, first in guitar-symbol form (see para. 19), and secondly in notation. Use right-hand fingers / and m alternately. V ® © © © 1 1 1 4 3 2 3 2 © Ex. 18 3 1 r t t T 3f ^ ^ e (D®- i ®- ®- ®- 22. EXERCISES FOR 77? AND a FINGERS All the single-note exercises (Nos. 8, 12, 13, 15 & 18) should now be practised using 777 and a fingers of the right hand in an alternating sequence. This must be done in addition to and not instead of the / and 777 pattern which has been used up to now. Make a point of varying the finger which begins the sequence; i.e. do not always play the first note of (say) the /' and 777 pat tern with / but sometimes with 777. This gives practice in cross ing the strings in different ways. It will be seen that, in the example below, A is easier than B, owing to the natural posi tioning of the hand, but, for complete fluency and flexibility of the right hand, both must be practised (in scale-playing) until they feel equally familiar. A © ' © m ® m © 23. ARPEGGIO EXERCISES (LAST SET) Ex. 19 paid m a 1 a 1 = 3 $ f E a \m a i a m a T ^ T 3=5 r M^^ f T When the above exercise has been learned, it may be incorporated with Exs. 14 and 17, to com plete the series, which should then be practised for continuity from one pattern to the next; i.e. without a break in the rhythm when changing to the next pattern. They must also be practised, of course, for evenness in rhythm, tone and volume of the individual arpeggios. 24. POSITION-CHANGING Moving the hand from one position on the fingerboard to another without gaps in the sound, glissandi, or interruptions to the rhythmic flow, is one of the most exacting aspects of left-hand technique, but like all other technical problems, it can be made very much easier by careful attention to one or two basic principles. The first of these concerns the position of the thumb in rel ation to the fingers. It was stated in para. 14 that the thumb should be placed in the centre of the four fingers. It is even more important for this rule to be observed when the hand is changing position, as there is a strong tendency for the thumb and fingers to get 'out of step' whilst the hand is moving. The usual faults are for the thumb to drag on the back of the neck, thereby getting left behind when moving up the fingerboard, and the fingers will therefore neither remain in line with the string, nor up to the frets. In addition to the support which a correctly positioned thumb gives to the hand in moving, it is also necessary for a finger to act as a guide to the new fret. For the present, only the first (index) finger will be used for this purpose. This finger must stay in contact with the string throughout the whole of the following exercise. Not too much pressure should be ap plied whilst the hand is moving, or a glissando sound will re sult — although even this is technically preferable to removing the finger from the string altogether. The only other finger (3rd) which is needed in this exercise simply lifts off and returns to the string without any sideways movement in relation to the other fingers. Care must be taken or attempting to 'lead' the hand when moving downwards. The most apparent effect of these faults will be that the hand will change its angle to the fingerboard, (FIG. 12) to avoid a 'crab-like' movement; i.e. the spacing of the fingers must remain constant throughout, except for a very slight adjustment to accommodate the different fret-spacings. Guide the hand to the new position by looking at the fret to which the 1st finger is about to move. Look at this fret before the hand moves away from its previous position, and do not try to watch the hand itself in motion. A useful analogy is aiming a missile at a target. The eye always focuses on the tar get before the missile is fired. Watching the hand moving along the fingerboard would be like trying to watch the missile in flight. The purpose of the exercise is to give practice in positionchanging in general, but more specifically, from II position to V and back again. Any alternating right-hand finger-pattern may be used. II V II © 1 3. ...1 1 3 1 upward change downward chanoe Ex.20 ii ii ii etc. § lj TT 25. TWO-OCTAVE SCALE i m n|W "~r i J r T r ppj=p A further scale fingering, which forms the lower octave of a two-octave scale, may now be practised, in the 11 position. Note that this scale begins at the /// fret with the 2nd finger; see para. 2 on the subject of positions. © © © © © 2 1 1 4 4 Ex.21 II w ©- T»- ® ©- © 3 When the above pattern is combined with Exs. 18 and 20, a continuous two-octave scale is form ed. This should be practised many times until it has been thoroughly memorized, and until it can be played without any detectable gap in either rhythm or sound, or any glissando in the positionchange. The following is the complete pattern: II 0 24 ©12 4 V 1 3 ® 1 3.. ©12 4 © 13 4 3 1 0 4 2 1 II 0 3 1 31 ©421 © 4 2 Ex.22 II $ 3-r«- ^^ (D1 00 H I | J II l« | 1 ' © 29 r T 1 ®" i I ®(• » j (3; ¥ 26. t=^=± 3* ® ®- ® ® w TRANSPOSITION USING THE SAME FINGERING It will be apparent that any pattern like the one above, which does not use open strings, can be played in a number of different places on the fingerboard. The result of shifting the complete pattern up the fingerboard by one fret will be to raise the pitch of the scale so that it becomes a scale of C sharp B major begins at position I, shifting C major (illustrated) „ II „ C sharp major , III „ D major , IV „ E flat major V E major ,, „ „ VI „ to position IV „ „ V „ „ VI „ „ VII VIII „ „ IX major instead of C major. Likewise, a further shift of one fret makes it into a scale of D. All the scales listed below can be played using this same fingering: All these scales should now be practised, and their positions on the fingerboard carefully noted and memorized. This is more easily done if the key-note of the scale is associated with a particular fret (e.g. E flat — V). 27. STUDY FOR THUMB AND INDEX FINGER The following study, which is a simple practical application of the principles discussed in paras. 11 and 12, should now be memorized and practised. As a preliminary, the above paras, may be re read, Ex. 10 revised, and Fig. 6 studied. Note that the left-hand fingering always follows the rule of one finger to a fret (see para. 15) and, as the whole study is in the I position, the left-hand finger number will coincide with the fret number. Ex. 23 Study pipi p i p i HECTOR QUINE n Fine 3 f S f T \j ' T feS nf 3£7~ fi T f V TTT r r TV T * 28. RIG HT-HAND FREE STROKES TJ.C.oi Fine A new type of stroke has now to be learned. This is the problem of damping other strings to be considered. 'free' stroke, and is so called because the finger does not come to rest on the lower string after playing, but by-passes it with a minimum clearance. The essential point which must be under stood concerning this stroke is that, in all other respects, the At this point, the use of apoyando becomes entirely a matter of musical judgment. The following can be taken as a general guide to the occasions when apoyando may be used: 1 In scale-type passages which are unaccompanied. 2 Where a scale passage is accompanied only by a single bass line which is not played on an adjacent string. finger movement is exactly the same as for apoyando; i.e. the string is struck inwards towards the body of the guitar, and must never be plucked upwards. Avoiding the lower string is relatively easy, and involves only a slight lifting of the tip joint of the finger after the note has been sounded. All the arpeggio exercises (Nos. 11, 14, 17 & 19) may now be practised using free stroke, but should still be played from time to time with apoyando. The latter practice will help to maintain a standard both for finger action and quality of tone and attack. The sound of a free stroke should match as closely as possible that of apoyando. Some difficulty is often encountered with the third (a) finger when free strokes are used. To help in overcoming this, a light apoyando stroke may be played with this finger for the time being, but care must be taken to see that the volume is evenly balanced with the other fingers. 3 To bring out a melodic line on the top string where the accompaniment is in arpeggio form. 4 When playing accented notes. (This needs to be dealt with in the context of actual examples, which will be given later.) 29. APPLICATION OF APOYANDO AND FREE STROKES It will be deduced from the foregoing that a mixture of apoyando and free, strokes is frequently needed. This is illus trated in a simple way in the study which follows. All apoy ando strokes will, for the moment, be indicated by the sign: > placed above the note, but it must be emphasized that this is by no means a general rule in guitar music, and the player is usually left to judge for himself which notes to play with apoyando, and which with free stroke. The mechanical effect of the apoyando stroke is to give greater power in attack by making sure that the finger 'follows This exercise will allow the right-hand problems of playing 'mixed' strokes to be studied before the left-hand tech-;c_e = dealt with in detail. Ex. 24 > > > > > through' after the string has been struck. This follow-through brings the finger to rest on the lower string, and in so doing prevents that string from sounding. In playing a scale or any other single-note passage this lower string damping does not matter of course, but where two adjacent strings are to sound simultaneously, (e.g. in chord-playing) the free stroke is essential. Ex. 23 above provides an example of inadvertent damping caused by the use of apoyando. The stroke of the finger, whilst not actually preventing the lower notes from sounding, cuts them short in some instances, and interrupts the legato flow of the bass melody. The apoyando stroke is invaluable for playing melodic passages and accented notes, but there is always the f The five repeated notes at the top of the arpe treated as a melodic line in this study, and are tht _ with apoyando, whilst the three notes which begin the arpeggio are all free strokes. 30. MEMORIZING STUDIES AND PIECES Para. 19 referred briefly to the advantages of practising exer cises from memory. It is even more important for studies and pieces to be memorized, as the techniques involved are gen erally more complex and need greater attention to detail. It must be remembered that the purpose of these studies is purely technical, and the means employed to learn the notes is there fore of very secondary importance at this stage. Do not be too concerned, then, if you do not know where the notes are on the of the hand, and the measure of their correctness or otherwise is simply whether the fingertips are up to the frets. From (FIG. 13), it will be seen that the whole arm is free to move through an arc of about 60°.pivoting on the ball of the thumb. Any position of the arm between these two extremes can be used, but for a practical example compare FIG. 14A, which shows the parallel position needed for the first chord of the following study, (Ex. 26) with FIG. 14B, where the arm is fingerboard, but follow closely the fingering, string and pos ition signs and, having located a chord, memorize its'fingerpattern'. at an angle of approximately 45° for the second chord. The arm should move freely through this arc in order to adjust from one chord to another, with as little movement of the wrist as possible. 31. LEFT-HAND POSITIONING FOR CHORDS In fingering chords the left hand does not always remain parallel to the edge of the fingerboard as in single-note playing 32. POSITION-CHANGING TECHNIQUE IN CHORD PLAYING (see para. 14.). In fact, there are numerous different positions Finger and hand movements must be coordinated in a systematic manner if sound technical habits are to be deve loped, and hesitations at the position changes avoided. The following rules, once learned, can be applied to every study or piece which involves chord or arpeggio playing. 1 Remove all fingers from the previous chord, excepting any which are to move along the same string to the next chord: e.g. Fingers 1 and 2 in the first bar of the study. 2 Move the hand up or down the fingerboard to the next chord position, keeping any remaining finger (or fingers) in contact with the string as a guide to the new position. (This is indicated on the music by a dotted line.) N.B. The rules contained in para. 24 concerning the thumb in position-changing must be observed. 3 Simultaneously with (2) above, adjust the angle of the hand, as described in para. 31. 4 When the left hand reaches the new position, place the fingers in the order in which the strings are to be sounded. (i.e. from the bass note upwards in the case of this study.) 33. THE BARRE It frequently happens that several notes in a chord are to be found at the same fret (on different strings of course), and to stop them with separate fingers is often inconvenient, or even impossible. It then becomes necessary to employ a technique known as the 'barre'. This means that the index finger (very rarely any other finger) is laid flat across the fingerboard, par allel to the fret, so that all the strings are stopped by it. (The sign for the barre is given in para. 2, but in some older editions of guitar music a square bracket: [ preceded by a figure 1 is used.) Rather more pressure is obviously needed to stop six strings with one finger than to stop only one, but clean, accurate barre-playing is not entirely a matter of sheer strength; rather it is a question of just the right amount of force being applied in the most efficient way. Three basic rules regarding the barre must be constantly borne in mind: 1 The index finger must remain perfectly straight from the main joint to the tip. The strings can only be depressed completely if there is no arching of the finger. (FIG. 15) 2 The pressure must be applied by 'squeezing' the neck of the guitar between index finger and thumb. The arm must never be allowed to pull against the grip of the guitar in order to obtain pressure. 3 The thumb position for the barre is directly opposite the index finger instead of in its normal place, as described in para. 14. The following exercise may now be practised for a few minutes at a time. The chord is placed at the V position and should not, at this stage, be played in any lower position on the fingerboard. The patterns for the right hand are those learn ed in paras. 17, 20 and 23. All fingers should play apoyando, as this will 'test' the cleanness of stopping by the left hand. A slight pain in the base of the thumb may be felt in the beginning, but this is simply due to unaccustomed work being done by an underdeveloped muscle. As the muscle becomes stronger with practice the pain will diminish. Short, but fre quent practising sessions with longer intervals between them will do much to hasten this process. It will be seen from the illustration that the wrist is kept well forward, and this point must always be watched as it will keep the finger straight and make sure that the pressure is correctly applied. Ex.25 a i m i CV pi mi XI vS pp T® r© 1© etc. 34. THE HALF-BARRE Tnere are many instances in guitar music of open bass strings oeing needed in conjunction with a barre on the treble strings. ~_ese occasions call for the use of what is loosely known as the -laif-barre.' As the term implies that exactly half the strings •E ".: be stopped with the index finger, one would imagine —at a half-barre only applied to the top three strings. In fact, tienumber of strings can vary between two (exceptional) and • = =~d still be indicated on the music as a half-barre. The The method of stopping the half-barre is the same as for the full barre, except that the hand is withdrawn slightly from the fingerboard to allow for the shorter length of finger needed to stop only some of the strings. There is a danger of the middle joint of the finger being bent due to this withdrawal, and the top string will then be underneath the bend. The result of this fault will be a 'dead' note from this string, but the difficulty is easily overcome if the finger is made to bend slightly inwards from the middle joint to the tip. This is done by pushing the wrist slightly forward, and bringing the thumb a little lower cthe back of the guitar neck. (FIG. 16) - - :: ..r--. is as for the full barr£, but is preceded by '%'. 35. STUDY NO. 2, OP. 60, BY CARCASSI Only part of this study is printed, as this is all that is neces sary to establish the technical principles which have been ex plained in the foregoing paragraphs, but the complete study is available if the reader should feel that further practice in this technique is needed. The printed section should now be learned. Play very slowly and evenly at first, taking care to see that the right hand's movements are not forgotten in the effort of mastering the lefthand pattern. Be particularly aware of the rhythmic pulse, and keep the right hand playing steadily in time, even if the left hand has not managed to stop the next chord completely. This is much better training than allowing the rhythm to be broken whilst the left hand gets into position. The study will need to be practised many times, until it can be played very legato and from memory. Ex.26 Study No. 2 Op. 60 Moderate- ma mi m«m .jn^ >_>_>_> y:-: !-#-•ZL m i m a M. CARCASSI > > > r~3 HJ75 w 3=^ ^= r f f > > > > > 35. ECONOMY OF MOVEMENT IN THE LEFT HAND 37. HARMONIC MINOR SCALE Passing mention has been made in earlier sections of the need for economy in both hand and finger movements. This need is even more vital where chord playing is concerned. The visual impression created by uneconomic movements is of fin gers flying all over the fingerboard, whereas the lifting and re placing of fingers should be barely perceptible to the observer. It will be readily understood that a finger never needs to lift off the fingerboard further than is necessary to allow the string sufficient clearance to vibrate freely; i.e. about % inch, although a little more lift than this is usually permissible. If the finger is kept bent at both the tip and middle joints the whole time, and only moves up and down from the main joint, it will be found that the backlift is automatically restricted, thus giving more economical movements. This has the further advantage The technique used in playing all scales follows the prin ciples outlined in paras. 21 and 24. The position changes should always be practised separately at first, as they are the most difficult part of the scale to per form smoothly. Remember always to keep the index finger in contact with the string whilst moving the hand from one position to another. This scale may be transposed in the same way as the scale of C major. Ill that the 'aim' of the fingertip is more accurate and reliable. Sideways movements of the fingers should be kept to the min imum necessary for the various chord shapes, and the natural tendency to allow all the fingers to retract after each chord must be resisted. ©13 ©13 ©23 ©12 © 1 2 4 4 4 1 VII 2 1__._ III The above aspects of technique should be carefully con sidered, and every effort made to develop efficient, economical movements. ___2 1 ©421 © 3 2 ©431 ©431 Ex.27 VU III $ m m hi *0=Z 301=2 © ¥ CD- -fry 10 ZP 1 0'" * f^M^ CD- ® i m ¥^ Bb,B,C,C#,D. 2#- --1 Vr* 1, zta: (D ® 0 •3TT 38. STUDY NO. 3, OP. 60, BY CARCASSI 1 2 This study is essentially the same as No. 2 in the application of right-hand principles; i.e. it employs both apoyando and free strokes, but there is now a clearly discernible melody. The only finger 2 on string (2s) . After completing the first bar, remove finger 1, leaving notes which make up this melody are those which are played by the a finger and are, of course, always apoyando strokes. It is important to keep a good balance between the melody and the accompanying arpeggio. The accompaniment should be only about half as loud as the melody. It is also essential for Slide finger 2 on this string to fret III, and at the same time bring the elbow right in to the side, thus bringing the hand parallel to the fingerboard. (Do not forget to keep the thumb opposite finger 2 whilst moving.) (FIG. 17B). the melody notes to be 'connected' to each other; or, in other words, played legato. This is chiefly a matter of keeping the left-hand fingers pressing the string down for as long as possible, and of making sure that a string, once sounded, is not acciden tally damped by the right hand. Fragmentation of the melody will make the study musically meaningless. The left-hand pat terns are a little more complex than those of Study No. 2, and greater use is made of the barre and half-barre. The chord- 3 Place the fingers on the new chord in the following order: finger 3on fret IV, string (&) finger 4on fret IV, string 0 finger 1on fret II, string (T) It is not necessary for the right hand to wait for completion of all these movements before playing. It can begin its arpeggio as soon as the bottom note (G sharp) is stopped by the left hand. change from bar 1 to bar 2 provides a perfect model for em ployment of the principles outlined in para. 32, and the follow ing is a step-by-step description of this change: For the first chord, fingers 1,2 and 3 are all on the 11 fret, so the necessary position of the arm is at about 60° to the fingerboard, with the elbow well away from the body (see FIG. 17A). The principles embodied in the above example should be carefully followed in every chord-change throughout the study. Ex.28 Study No. 3 Op. 60 Andantino u M. CARCASSI I VfeCV CII ~/r. 3 3 «i a sS j . J r r f r > > j ^ a j PS T f r wm . m > r ft^htrF . m & r , >• f m m -r^e*11—- 0 T §^^p - ^ |» J ^ i 3_J =: =£= —==-¥ f T j. 1 V2QVU m T -•== I P > >i >t %^ r E=2 f i 1 zm r a TiJy _ P P P im 3jB s? m 3=1 £=^ rT BBL. r^ ^ r rn rn gfe tu f -— IV II—*—»*1|. ©> T '/2CV^ : f r m f j=j ^ £=^=^; r* r m*fL i "i ^ ! J £=^ pi HI. .2] t * 3 flJf"-^ i '/2CV_ Pi ftCVIlpim % S 11 rt n J ^ £ mi J i iiL_m I £=^ ^Sp MA:: 'rp.J j hrgk J f ^ « «, g >i i "i % s& 17 f 39. ARPEGGIO EXERCISES WITH ACCENTS The apoyando and free strokes in the above Carcassi study are only applied in a rather specialized way, so that the apoy ando stroke is always played by the a finger. For the further development of right-hand finger independence, it is now necessary to practise using apoyando strokes with all the righthand fingers (but not the thumb) in turn, whilst playing free strokes with the remaining fingers. The first pattern in Ex. 14 provides a useful basis for this exercise, which may be practised in the following ways: 1 All the notes which are played by 777 finger are apoy ando — the remainder, free stroke. without any help from the right hand. The finger action is best described as a lateral pulling of the string across the fingerboard. Slurs are indicated by a curved line joining two (or more) notes together, thus: Ex. 29 2 All the notes which are played by /' finger are apoyando — the remainder, free stroke. To execute this slur, first place both 1st and 2nd fingers on The above system of practising accented notes may then be applied to the arpeggios contained in Exs. 17 and 19. the top string MJ at frets V and VI, making sure that the tip joints of the fingers are standing square and perpendicular to the fingerboard. Then, after striking the string with a righthand finger, bend the middle and tip joints of the 2nd finger sharply, bringing the finger tip in towards the palm of the hand, thus making it snap off the string. This will sound the note (A) which is being stopped by the 1st finger. An important point concerning this movement is that the 40. SLURS (DESCENDING) An essential part of guitar left-hand technique is the 'slur', (or 'snap', as it is sometimes called). This consists of a move ment of the left-hand finger which sets the string in vibration Ex.31 Study No. 4 Op. 60 Allegretto M. CARCASSI > >, > ra V PJjnajn « g ^ m o-OT j >i^m 11 HI . m II a p f p i m p i m>. m V « « Pir in ^a tJf > >.^ >. m £ xnP i i m > . f'.r.. .. i >t^ i >s^ i. f p i m ^ a T t3H o- 3 0& VII T II B , V6CII i p " m S ii ^ pP r® ¥ 42. G MAJOR SCALE Note that apoyando strokes are not possible for the bottom two notes of this scale. Nevertheless, sufficient stability of the right hand should have been acquired by now to ensure a con fident attack with free stroke on the bottom string. The layout of this scale fingering makes it particularly suit able for training the hand in the movement described in para. 16. a stage further it is recommended that, in addition to the pre vious sequences, all scales should be practised using three fin gers in the following sequence: i, m, a, 777, /, m, a, m, etc. To take the development of right-hand finger independence This scale fingering can, like the others, be transposed. The keys to which it can be applied are shown under the notation. Ex.32 iHn * Si 3 TV •+0 30 *0 20 * ©' ® CD- CD WFI,QAb,A,BI».B. <D- 33 J 0 .i J k0 A 43. TREMOLO The tremolo technique is a rarely-used, but nevertheless very beautiful effect. It could perhaps be described as an 'aural illu sion' because it gives the impression, when well executed, of a rapid uninterrupted succession of notes, whereas in fact only three notes out of every four are actually played. It is the near est that the guitar can get to a true sostenuto. There are various ways of writing tremolo, but the following is probably the most common: Ex.33 p am i p a m ipamipami $ 5 etc. f f The illusion is created by the fact that the ear tends to ima gine that the first note of each group is sounded, but is 'drowned' by the bass note. To produce this effect is not —as is popularly supposed a matter of sheer speed, but rather one of perfect metronomic regularity. Much slow, painstaking practice is needed therefore to perfect the technique. from each finger as do, say, scales or arpeggios. The correct approach to the problem is, as usual, to practise with a slow, heavy apoyando stroke at first, meticulously count ing the groups in four, and taking great care to avoid a gap in time between the bass note and the first tremolo note of each 'flick' at the string in rapid succession, as they might in drum By far the most common mistake is to allow the fingers to group. As control of the finger pattern is built up, the top line should be practised on an inner string. This imposes a restric tion on the fingers, as more care must be taken over the 'back- mingon a table. This does not produce a true tremolo at all, as the technique demands as much of a positive, controlled stroke Ex. 34 lift' in order to avoid touching the top string. Tremolo fre quently occurs on inner strings, as will become apparent later. etc. 44. STUDY NO. 7, OP. 60, BY CARCASSI The principles involved in playing this study have been main ly learned in earlier parts of this book, but one or two points need particular attention: 1 The bass line should be slightly louder than the accom paniment, but only free strokes must be used by the thumb. The bass line must also be very legato, and it will help greatly to achieve this if, as a preliminary exercise, this line is played alone, omitting the accompaniment, i.e: Ex.35 etc. ^m Careful attention to this will also encourage aural memo rization of the melody before the complete study is attempted. o*: U* lfl« 2 or (b) slide along the string to a note in the new chord. To train the right-hand fingers to play both tremolo and arpeggio with complete regularity, and to achieve smooth transitions from one technique to the other, it is advis able to practise the study using apoyando strokes (thumb excepted of course) for a few days to begin with. All left-hand patterns should be thought of as chords, and fingers should therefore remain on the strings as long as possible. Note carefully the places where a finger can either (a) remain on a note from one chord to the next, Ex.36 Study No. 7 Op. 60 Allegro p a m i p a m i p am i p am i a=in M. CARCASSI piaipimipimi I T T w 29 za '771/0 f f T f I f p I ti I 45. SLURS (ASCENDING) The basic technical principle of ascending slurs is extremely simple, as the string is set in vibration merely by 'hammering' it with the fingertip. However, great accuracy in 'aiming' the finger at the string is needed, or the resulting note will be very weak, or even completely inaudible. string must be struck very squarely by the exact centre of the fingertip. This latter point is of more importance than the use of great force. As with the descending type, ascending slurs are easy to play rapidly, but a firm, clean attack can only be developed by slow, rhythmic practice. The action of the finger is from the main joint, the middle and tip joints remaining well bent throughout the stroke. The Ex.37 V ^1\ m i m m in m III $ H ® ff-M t3s I ffi is J»_ Jil4 Tar 777 3^ l 23 m_ St^t 46. MELODIC MINOR SCALE The melodic minor scale differs from the scales which have position, locating fret VI with the 4th finger should cause no problem (see para. 24). This scale may be transposed in the same way as the others. The keys to which the fingering may be applied are indicated below the notation. been learned previously, as its ascending and descending pat terns are not alike. Particular attention must be paid to the downward position-change on the top string, a detailed des cription of which is given below: Ex.38 Both 1st and 2nd fingers, having been placed on the string for the first two notes of Ex. 38 (B natural and C), they re main on it during the position-change, and are then ready m to stop the last two notes (A flat and G). The 4th finger only stops the string when the hand has reached III position. If the hand is kept parallel to the fingerboard whilst changing 1**= Ex.39 m 4^ ijfe »f Bb,B,C,C*,D. 47. CHORD PLAYING - RIGHT-HAND TECHNIQUE So far, only single-note playing has been encountered, either in scale or arpeggio form. It is now necessary to study the tech nique of playing chords. Strictly speaking, a chord is, by definition, three or more notes sounded simultaneously, but this section will also include double notes and spread (arpeggiated) chords. A basic principle which must be constantly remembered is that the action of the fingers in playing a chord is identical with that of a free stroke in arpeggio playing. The only point of difference is that several fingers perform this action at the same time. One of the commonest faults in the beginning is to allow the action of the thumb to be affected, in an unconscious at tempt to keep it away from the fingers. There must be 770 change in its basic movement, which is straight down towards the index finger (see paras. 11 & 12). The following exercise is designed to give practice in playing with thumb and finger simultaneously. The two notes must sound at exactly the same moment. If the thumb persistently strikes before the finger it is generally because it is hitting too hard. Lighten its stroke and apply a little more strength to the finger. Ex. 40 in 111 m $ m r j m j J 777, j i J m J U\ J m, J ^^ 1 J 3 prrr f r r r fr r r r r r ~ "J t # i i j 1 J i=Tr=* r^r p r r r rr f r f r r r «| 771 m 3 It will be apparent that there is more than one way of play ing a double note and if, for example, two adjacent fingers are used instead of finger and thumb, the action is less complex and therefore easier to perform. It also produces a different sound, and finger and thumb a more pronounced bass. Begin the following exercise with the fingers held close to gether (but away from the strings) and strike as with a single finger playing a free stroke, moving only from the main joints of the fingers. effect musically, fingers generally giving a more 'integrated' Ex.41 U a .1 i i i l Now, combining the elements of Exs. 40 and 41, practise the following very slowly, taking care that all three notes (where written) sound together. Ex. 42 i m J=J m=k Lj "I 1 ,1 \i t i L\i j I #t^j $ i U I J i \i J i ^ ^ J i 1 r-r~rj rj~j ^ * r T r T ' r f f ' r *, *, r * r p * r * 1 It would seem a simple matter to add one more finger (a) to the above patterns, so making a four-part chord, but, as so often happens, the third right-hand finger has peculiar prob lems of its own. It is also, in a sense, the most important finger, as it plays the top or melody note and ought therefore to pro duce the best quality of sound of any finger. It will probably be found, though, that the a finger has a tendency to begin its stroke rather too far from the string, and then to 'dab' at the string with a jerky, reflex movement. One way of preventing this from happening is to keep the little finger bent up into the palm of the hand. This in turn will bring the a finger further in, and help to shorten its stroke. It should be pointed out that this is merely a practising device, and should be abandoned as soon as control of chord-playing is achieved. Spreading, or arpeggiating a chord, involves a similar action of the fingers, but then the thumb and fingers play in sequence instead of simultaneously. The technique itself is, in some res pects, easier, but great attention must be paid to evenness of rhythmic spacing. The effect of the spread chord as compared to one played with all notes sounding together is somewhat similar to the effect of apoyando as compared to free stroke, i.e. it creates an accent. Musical judgment is therefore needed in deciding when to use it, although its use is occasionally indicated on the music by the sign: ( Ex.43 a m a m |l |jj i n A i i\ r fii kmd m ^ i * i r TTl f r r r * r f r r r zJ^j u"7j |p j ij j j ij~3 j n ' r' J iflj j m i 48. F MAJOR SCALE This scale can, like all the others, be transposed. The keys to which the fingering can be applied are shown under the notation. It is nowipossible, using one or other of the three major scale fingerings which have been given, to play all the twelve major scales. It will be apparent that alternative fingerings are available in some cases, and all forms should be practised. Ex.44 C#,D,Eb,E,F. 49. SLURS (COMBINED) It will be readily appreciated that by the use of both types of slur a succession of notes can be produced on one string without the use of the right hand, apart from the initial note of the sequence. with, as usual, great attention to rhythmic evenness. Actually counting the triplets: 1, 2, 3, can be a great help in this respect, especially in the early stages. Note that a right-hand finger strikes the first note of each triplet. The following combined exercises should now be practised Ex.45 50. STUDY NO. 10, OP. 60, BY CARCASSI The purpose of the following study is to develop the tech nique of combined slurs, and to give further practice in chordplaying for the right hand. It should be noted that the right hand plays both double notes and three-note chords. The fin ger combinations arep, /, m for the chords, and /', tt? for the To achieve the intended harmonic effect the study must be played legato, and the tone sustained as much as possible; e.g. in bar 2, the left-hand 1st finger (which is stopping the note 'A') must not be lifted until after the second chord in the bar has sounded. This will involve a slight stretch between 1st and 2nd fingers. Particular attention should also be paid to keeping down any finger which is common to two consecutive chords in changing position, and to adjustment of hand position for the various chord shapes. Both these points are dealt with in o=ra. 24. Ex.46 double notes. The latter sometimes occur on strings CO and \T) , and sometimes on strings (¥) and (T) . To maintain a uniform attack no matter which strings are being played, a slight movement of the hand is needed, as described in para. 10. This movement applies equally to chords and arpeggios, as it does to single notes. Study No. 10 Op. 60 Allegretto M. CARCASSI if m l Lg^d^^Ey jjS r xjmn r r vn i T 1/2cvn S 4Pa — 2< j 2J jsnrn • safe M m r r i I a g vj r T r a r —-^ r ^ 'i ijSJS r m k 4^- r~- _ a a 51. FIVE-AND SIX-NOTE CHORDS Five- and six-note chords are frequently met in guitar music, such chords always, of necessity, being arpeggiated. There are two possible ways for the right hand to play them. The first method is merely an extension of the technique described in para. 47, but with the important difference that the thumb must glide over two or three bass strings. This must be done with as little hand movement as possible, to avoid dis placing the fingers for their part of the chord. Rhythmic evenness is vital, and a chord should never be broken rhythmically between its lower and upper parts. The alternative technique of playing a five- or six-note chord is to use the thumb alone for all the strings. This is Ex.47 a in a I! i usually indicated by the sign: j . The movement of the thumb is mainly from the wrist, and takes the form of a gliding mo tion diagonally across the strings towards the bridge from bass to treble. m P* A f (FIGS. 19A& 19B) f w 52. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY Study Study Study Study Study No. No. No. No. No. 19 OP. 60 5 OP. 48 CARCASSI GIULIANI SOR SOR AGUADO 22 OP. 35 17 OP. 35 18 24 studies & 10 scale exercises SOR (ed. Segovia) SOR (ed. Segovia) Study No. 1 Study No. 9