The Bonnie, Bonnie Banks Of Loch Lomond
Tarantelle - N Coste
Rosita - F. Tarrega
Saturday, 12 June 2021
10 String Guitar
My first experience on a 10 String Guitar, shown to me by Li Zhao (China) my former student from Yamaha Music Academy (Kelana Jaya). He came to visit me in Feb 2019 and surprised me with this instrument.. The additional strings are mainly used for open strings which gives the extra resonance to the bass line. Most 10-string classical guitars are tuned in the style of Nasrciso Yepes (E, B, G, D, A, E, C, A#, G#, F#). This unusual tuning helps increase resonance of those notes which a normal six-string guitars do not normally generate. For more information on 10-string classical guitars: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten-string_guitar
Correct Right Hand Postures
Corrected Posture
Corrected Posture
Good Right Hand Posture
Slightly bent wrist
Knuckles nearly in line with strings
Fingers perpendicular to strings from top view
Thumb slightly forward
Front View
Side View
Top View
The Alexander Technique
What Is The Alexander Technique?
"The Alexander Technique is a method that works to change (movement) habits in our everyday activities. It is a simple and practical method for improving ease and freedom of movement, balance, support and coordination. The technique teaches the use of the appropriate amount of effort for a particular activity, giving you more energy for all your activities. It is not a series of treatments or exercises, but rather a reeducation of the mind and body. The Alexander Technique is a method which helps a person discover a new balance in the body by releasing unnecessary tension. It can be applied to sitting, lying down, standing, walking, lifting, playing a musical instrument and other daily activities..."
The following article describes how the Alexander Technique can help ease the problems of a guitarist especially the sitting posture which actually can effect the left and right hand movement.
from Guitar July 1978
Tremolo Exercises
The guitar is not a sustaining instrument in that it is not possible to produce a long continuous note as with a bowed instrument or a blowing instrument. However it is possible to give the illusion of sustained sound by playing a succession of repeated notes which is known as tremolo. The most common form of tremolo uses the right hand thumb to play a bass while each note of the melody is played three times with the a, m and i fingers. The most simple exercise to begin with is to play the 'E' on the 4th string of the guitar and a, m and i fingers on the open 1st string. As shown in Ex 1 the notes should be played slowly and make sure the notes sound evenly spread out. Most of the time beginners will tend to play the fingers of a, m and i notes quite separated from the thumb. Keep fingers relax with right hand knuckles quite parallel to the strings and with the free stroke technique try to play with a good projection. As for practice purpose play the Ex 1 slowly and clearly from the 1st open strings up to the 5th position and back.
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
The next exercise is to try moving the thumb on different strings. This exercise from Malaguenas uses the 2nd, 3rd and 4th strings as the bass line and the a, m and i fingers will still use the open 1st string. This time try practice with some dynamic changes and slow down towards the end.
Exercise 3
Some songs make use of the tremolo for the variation as shown in this short Japanese traditional tune The first part uses block chords while the tremolo comes in as a variation..Take note at bar 19 and 23, the melody moves to the 2nd string briefly and also at bar 24 where it finishes the melody on the 3rd string with the last note ended with the 'm' finger and the bass 'A' with the 'p' finger. So be careful to shift the a, m and i fingers to the 2nd and 3rd string melody smoothly without interrupting the flow of the music. This requires practice.
Kojo No Tsuki
Exercise 4
Romance de Amor is another favorite tremolo piece to start with because it is a variation from the original triplet arpeggios with the 'a' finger playing the melody line. For the tremolo version, the 'p' finger of the right hand will play the first beat for the bass and the 2nd and 3rd strings will play the accompaniment. If you practice the first bar accurately then it is quite easy to play the whole tune because the right hand thumb movement is the same throughout except that you have to concentrate on the left hand shifts.
Romance de Amor
Exercise 5
The Flamenco tremolo is quite similar with the classical tremolo in that it has one extra stroke which means instead of p a m i now it becomes p i a m i making it a quintuplet for each beat. Most classical tremolo has each stroke of the thumb playing eighth note beats on the accompaniment as can be seen from the song Romance de Amor. The music is in 3/4 time and the thumb has to play 6 strokes on the lower part for each measure. As for the Flamenco tremolo the thumb usually plays each stroke for each quarter note beat, therefore if the music is in 3/4 time the thumb will only play 3 strokes for each measure.. So if the tremolo uses only p a m i it does not sound tight enough to create a smooth effect thus the p i a m i will make the difference. Please try the following exercise taken from 'Soleares'
Exercise 6
Another Flamenco piece with the "p i a m i" stroke from 'Farruca.' In some measures the tremolo notes for the right hand fingering "i a m i" does not play in groups of the same notes but has melodic movement. At the 10th position onwards the melody changes in between the "i a m i" strokes, makes it very difficult because you have to shift your left hand at the right timing to execute the melody. A lot of co-ordination is needed for the left and right hand. No left hand fingerings are given here, give a try on your skills.
Exericse 7
This exercise helps to improve the repeated notes of the tremolo to run more evenly. Very often most players when practicing the tremolo tend to rush and the "a m i" strokes of the right hand tend to form groups of notes with the rhythm much separated from the "p" finger. So instead of practicing "p a m i" all the time a reverse exercise is necessary so that the "a m i" fingers can control the strokes independently. Here you can try "p i m a m i" making it a sextuplet and play on each string of the guitar running on E major scale. It is not easy at first but after some practice it will work smoothly like the p a m i tremolo.. Some players use this technique in their Flamenco performances.
Reference (Some other popular songs with tremolo technique)
Feste Lariane by Luigi Mozzani (Intermediate)
Sakura by Yuquijiro Yucoh (Advanced)
Cancion de la Hilandera by Augustin Barrios Mangore (Advanced)
Recuerdos de la Alhambra by Francisco Tarrega (Advanced)
Una Limosna por el Amor de Dios by Augustine Barrios Mangore (Advanced)
Un Sueno en la Floresta by Augustine Barrios Mangore (Advanced)
En Las Cuevas by Paco Pena (Flamenco) Advanced
Classical Guitar Table Strutting
Kevin Aram
from 'Guitar' June 1983
Daniel Frederich - Classical Soundboards and their bracing
From Orfeo Magazine
Daniel Friederich
Maria Elena
One of my most memorable tunes I always hear during the early 1960's. At that time I was just beginning to learn the guitar and admired the beautiful tone produced by Natalicio Lima (Los Indios Tabajaras)
Tadashi Koizumi
Masterclass with Tadashi Koizumi (Chief Guitar Instructor, Yamaha Foundation, Japan) August 1978.
Friday, 11 June 2021
K. Yamashita/ Paul Fischer at Singapore International Fest' 2000
Kazuhito Yamashita (Classical Guitarist) at Singapore International Fest' 2000
Paul Fischer (Luthier) at Singapore International Guitar Fest' 2000
Always In My Heart
One of my favorite Los Indios tunes I hope to be able to play during my younger days.
It was so fulfilling to copy exactly what I heard from their recordings and to
be able to produce a reasonably good tone to suit the music. A tribute to Natalicio Lima.
He has given a lot of inspiration to many guitar lovers who are still listening
to their songs today. Attached below is the sound file for the backup for those who wish to try. Begin the melody after the 5th click.
For slowed down video with tabs please check out on the link below.
South East Asia Guitar Festival 1978 - Bangkok
 |
Panel Of Judges, South East Asian Guitar Festival, Bangkok, Thailand 1978 |
Andre Segovia
Andre Segovia (1893-1987)
is considered to be the father of the modern classical guitar movement by most modern scholars. Many felt that without his efforts, the classical guitar would still be considered a lowly bar instrument, played only by peasants.
Segovia's quest to elevate the guitar to a prominent position in the music world, began at the early age of 4. His uncle used to sing songs to him and pretend to strum an imaginary guitar in his lap. Luckily there was a luthier nearby and Segovia took an instant liking to the guitar. Although discouraged by his family, he continued to pursue his studies of the guitar. He set a goal for the guitar and himself early in life. It was to bring Guitar studies to every university in the world and have the guitar played on every major stage, just as the piano and violin.
In 1928 Segovia made his American debut in New York City. Before long, composers like Heitor Villa-Lobos even began to compose original pieces specifically for the guitar. Segovia himself began transposing works for the classical guitar as well, most notably his translation of Bach's Chaconne as well as many transcriptions of the lute and harpsichord music. In addition to recording and performing, Segovia spent the remainder of his life and career successfully influencing the authorities at conservatories, academies and universities to include guitar in their instruction programs with the same emphasis given to the other well known instruments like the violin and piano. His early struggles were recorded in his 1983 memoir "Andre Segovia: An Autobiography of the Years 1893-1920. He died in 1987.
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