The Rosette Room Blog

Benjamin Zander on Music and Passion from TED

2011-07-24T15:18:00.002-04:00

If you are familiar with TED and the remarkable presentations that are given at the conferences. This talk is a wonderful talk by Benjamin Zander is worth every second you spend watching it. It will change your view of classical music and how you feel about it. For those who are musically inclined, this is the short version of Schenkarian analysis.

Irina Kulikova's Naxos Guitar Recital

2011-07-12T09:48:00.003-04:00

Russian born Irina Kulikova's new recital album is full of some new surprises and some familiar faces. As with many of the albums that are presented to us from Naxos, this one presents a recital. Therefore, as a listener, one should feel obliged to sit and listen to the album as a whole. Maybe take an "intermission" between the Sor and the Castelnuovo-Tedesco only to return to let your ears and soul absorb the final masterpieces.

As you sit and let the recital begin, you'll notice the familiar sound of Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major. However, it might sound a bit strange upon first appearance. This is due to Kulikova arranging the piece in its original key of G major. This is a wonderful change that anyone who loves the piece on cello would appreciate. Most of us are used to hearing arrangements in the key of D major. The G major originality actually gives the listener a new emotional understanding of Bach's intentions. My ears were delighted with the playfulness of the Courante and the sweetness the Kulikova plays the Sarabande. The Gigue's dance like interpretation truly moved my body to want to dance.

From the Bach the recital gives a turn to another familiar face but unfamiliar song. I don't believe that many guitarists are familiar with Sor' Fantasia No. 7. I can say that I am not. This is what makes this album such a "must have" for me. I have no recordings in my library of this piece and Kulikova's playing makes it that much more compelling. I initially was struck by the Allegretto and Kulikova's control of dynamics and mood throughout.

After you have gotten another cup of coffee for intermission, then it's time to return for a little Castelnuovo-Tedesco. I believe that most guitarists have a "love/hate" relationship with his music. Most of this comes from his ability to push our musical limits in a tonal form. He tends to make us listen to pieces many times before our appreciation begins to rise. But, when it does, there is no turning back. This is true in this piece as well. As I listen to the recital, as a recital, it is the one that challenges my musical understanding the most. The "Tempo di menuetto" has such an interesting use of melodic and rhythmic themes that I need many more listens to absorb through it. Upon first listen, the "Vivo ed energico" feels like a mix of Boccherini and Villa-Lobos.

Now we come to the beginning of the ending for this recital. The feel of Broadway encompasses the "California Sweet" and presents a sweet musical story. You really feel that each of the cadence points have the feel of Bernstein. There is definitely a story to be discovered here, but not one that you will have to think to hard to find.

Many performers will tell you that it is important to leave a familiar taste in the audiences mouth as an encore. I believe that this is the attempt with the "Recuerdos de la Alhambra." The tremolo is a little more staccato in nature than other performances. I assume this is intended by Kulikova but has an interesting effect on my ears. However, gives the listener a nice comforting conclusion. At some point, this recital should make it into your library.

Within this highly varied selection of original compositions and transcriptions we move from Bach’s masterful First Cello Suite transcribed by Irina Kulikova, to Fernando Sor’s Fantaisie, an ingeniously structured work that is vital and energetic yet at times intimate. Francisco Tárrega’s imperishable masterpiece of tremolo conjures up the Alhambra, Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Sonata, written for his friend Segovia, is a witty homage to Boccherini, while Baroque and Broadway are the motors for California Suite by José María Gallardo del Rey. Irina Kulikova is one of the world’s most gifted young guitarists, a multiple prize winner and international performer.

~Naxos

Click Here to Purchase From Amazon: Irina Kulikova: Guitar Recital

Click Here to Purchase from iTunes

[reprinted by permission from www.chadbecks.com]

Step Back, Slow Down, and Play Better Guitar

2011-04-26T08:00:00.002-04:00

When working on new pieces we many times want to get to the end before we even begin. I am as guilty as anyone at trying to get to the end of a piece, but we in doing so we sacrifice much more than time. We sacrifice ease of movement and exactness of execution the most.

When you find yourself beginning to rush a piece, take a step back and slow things down. Play through the sections that you know but focus only on the pressure it takes you to play each note. This will allow you to truly focus on your hand movements. You might also find that you do not know the piece as well as you thought you did. When slowing things down you'll find that your concentration must increase. This is a wonderful bi-product and will only benefit you when it comes time to perform the piece in front of others.

It may take days or weeks before you truly begin to feel ease of movement after slowing things down. At this point you'll begin to move the piece to higher tempos. That's the time you need to slow it down again. Force yourself to take another step back and truly "feel" how your hands are playing. Every note, every nuance, every movement must be easy before you can truly feel confident that every performance will yield the desired result.

3 Habits to Change in Your Practicing

2011-04-25T08:30:00.006-04:00

We all have habits. As a matter of fact, we tend to talk a lot about habits when it comes to the classical guitar. However, many times we overlook the actual habits in our practice that do not concern the physical act of playing. So with that said, let's change 3 habits that might be hindering your growth on the guitar.

Get a good night's sleep. It is difficult to focus on the guitar when our minds are not fresh. We like to think that burning the candle late at night means we are getting our "time" in on the guitar. But in reality it is actually counter-productive time. The more you can focus the better quality practice you'll enjoy.
Eat a healthy diet. Seems strange to say this as a guitarist, but it is true even for us. A health diet will strengthen your nails and keep you focus for longer. When you eat that huge bean burrito before practicing and don't think that the rumbling in your stomach is affecting you, then you're out to lunch. Playing the guitar takes a lot of sitting. Weighing yourself down with heavy foods before and during practice isn't good for you no matter how you look at it.
Try to pick the same time every day for practice. Our bodies learn by habit. If you can pick the same time every day to practice, then you will be training your body to practice at that time. It will begin to recognize that it needs to get into a certain mode and mood to get the most out of the time allotted.

I guarantee that these habit changes will only be for the better of your guitar playing. We lose sight of how everything we do during the day affects our playing. It's time to take some of it into consideration and make our playing that much more productive.

Let's Learn about Luis Milán

2011-04-23T08:30:00.010-04:00

Most classical guitarist will play Milán's music at some point in our musical journey. Many times however, we fail to at least find out a little information concerning the person's music we are playing. Though Wikipedia is not a scholarly reference, I beleive it will at least give a beginning understanding of the man we all love to play.

Luis de Milán (also known as Lluís del Milà) (c. 1500 – 1561 or possibly later) was a Spanish Renaissance composer, vihuelist (instrument similar to the guitar), and writer on music. He was the first composer in history to publish music for the vihuela de mano, an instrument employed primarily in the Iberian peninsula and some of the Italian states during the 15th and 16th centuries, and he was also one of the first musicians to specify verbal tempo indications in his music.
Frontispiece to Libro de música de vihuela de mano intitulado El maestro

He probably lived all his life in Valencia, though details are sketchy at best. He seems to have been employed by the ducal court until around 1538. In 1535 he published his first book, a parlor game with music, entitled El juego de mandar; in the next year he published what was to be his most important book, Libro de música de vihuela de mano intitulado El maestro. This book was dedicated to King John III of Portugal; this dedication, and the existence of six villancicos which Milán wrote in Portuguese, suggest that he may have traveled to that country and spent some time there.

The book is the first collection of vihuela music in history. It may have been intended as a book for students of the vihuela. The music is presented in grades from simple to complex, so that a beginning vihuelist can proceed from elementary to gradually more complicated pieces as he learns. It contains more than forty fantasias, six pavans, twelve villancicos, as well as sonetos (settings of Italian sonnets), and other pieces; some of the pieces are for solo vihuela, and others for voice accompanied by vihuela. Many are of considerable virtuosity, though not all the ornamentation is provided in detail. The style of the compositions varies from simple homophony to polyphony and virtuoso passage-work; unusual chromaticism also occurs, including strange double-inflections which were quite rare in music from other parts of Europe at the same time. It appears that the book was prepared with great care; alternate passages are given for players who wish to avoid more virtuosic parts, sections of pieces are indicated as optional, and he provided verbal tempo indications, for example ni muy apriessa ni muy a espacio sino con un compás bien mesurado ("neither too quickly nor too slowly, but with a moderate measure"). Half of the villancicos are in Castilian Spanish, and half are in Portuguese.

His last publication, El cortesano (1561), modeled on Il Cortegiano by Baldassare Castiglione, gives a vivid and entertaining picture of life in the Valencian ducal court. While it contains no music, is a valuable account by a professional musician at the time.

The music of Luis Milan is popular with performers on the present-day classical guitar because it can be adapted very easily to their instrument.

Rotenburg Guitar Week Begins July 17th

2011-04-22T08:00:00.006-04:00

The Rotenburg Guitar week begins July 17th and ends on July 24th this year. It looks like it will be packed again with quite a few notable teachers. Individual instruction will be given by Raphaëlla Smits, Thomas Müller-Pering, Dirk Lemmermann and Hans Wilhelm Kaufmann, and others.

Apparently you get your choice of either either 3 lessons (standard) or 6 lessons (intensive) though I am not sure how it works. Also available is multiple lessons with one instructor of your choice. Again, the site is unclear on the order of things. Maybe I am just not reading things correctly. No matter what you choose, your going to be studying guitar in a no doubt charmin north German countryside.

The concerts are as follows:

Sunday, July 17, 8:00pm
OpeningConcert
Konzertsaal der Theodor-Heuss-Schule,
27356 Rotenburg, Gerberstr. 16
Eric Robberecht, violin and Raphëlla Smits, guitar

Friday, July 22, 8:00pm
Young soloists!
St.-Marienkirche zu Ahausen
27267 Ahausen, Hauptstraße
Prize winners of the 10th Anna Amalia Competition Weimar

Saturday, July 23, 8:00pm
GuitarDay
Konzertsaal der Theodor-Heuss-Schule,
27356 Rotenburg, Gerberstr. 16
Concert of the participants of the
Rotenburg Guitar Week

For more information visit: The Rotenburg Guitar Week Website

Carcassi is On My Mind - Op. 60 No. 3

2011-04-21T16:44:00.000-04:00

This lovely little piece by Carcassi is one of the first classical guitar pieces I played when beginning my training. It has a very sweet melody and has the feel of a lullaby. The performance here is very enjoyable.

Get Some Scale Practice from Carcassi

2011-04-21T12:41:00.002-04:00

We all need to be working on our scales to keep our hands in good working order. It's one thing to play songs and expect your hands to begin to learn different movements. But scales allow us to seriously focus on technique without having to always work on the musicality of a piece.

These little exercises come from a very old version of Carcassi's Op. 59. Opus 59 is his method on playing the instrument and is filled with many great pieces for the beginning (and advanced) guitarist. You'll notice that these exercises do not use the current method of fingering. They use one of the first methods of placing fingers on the notes. I wanted to use this one instead of recreating one because it's nice to know how to read these markings for when you come across them yourself.

Here's how the right hand fingerings are notated:

"+" is for your thumb (p)
"." is for your index finger (i)
".." is for your middle finger (m)
"..." is for your annular finger (a)

The first exercise you'll play is straight up and down. The second uses the scale in thirds. The final one is a mixture of scale movement and arpeggios. Pay very special attention to the right hand fingering. Because it's in the key of "C" you won't have to worry about the accidentals. This may seem basic for many of you, but we can all learn from doing the basics again.

The Guitar by Federico Garcia-Lorca

2011-04-20T09:33:00.001-04:00

The Guitar - La Guitarra

by Federico Garcia-Lorca (1898-1936)

As the guitar begins to weep

The crystal cups of daylight shatter.

As the guitar begins to weep.

It's useless

To stop it.

Impossible

To stop it.

It's cry drones on, monotonous

as crying waters,

As the wind cries

Over the snow-swept hills.

Impossible

To stop it.

It cries for far-off things:

Sands of the burning South

that long for white camelias;

Arrow without target,

Evening

With no tomorrow,

And the first sparrow dead

Upon the branch.

Oh guitar!

Great heart

Wounded by five swords.

Translations by Steve Berman

Make Your Nails Strong

2011-04-19T19:00:00.004-04:00

I have said it once and will say it again, "you're only as good as your nails." We all know that our nails are where our sound begins. Without proper care and maintenance our nails are going to suffer. So here are a few tips to help you out.

Stay away from water. Now I don't mean that you should wrap your hands in plastic bags unless you are playing guitar, but I am saying that water is an enemy to your strong nails. You need to take extra care when your nails are soft from exposure to water which will weaken them while they have water absorbed in them.
Do more with your left hand. I know we all have a dominant side to us, but try using the other every now and then. It takes a bit of getting used to but your nails will thank you. Remember the last time you snagged a nail in your zipper? Well, I do and I hope I'm not the only one.
Eat a balanced diet. Your nails grow from within. You need to take care of your body to take care of your nails. Have you ever wondered why a doctor looks at your nails when you go in for a physical? Well, you nails have a lot to tell when comes to your health. Eating properly will only improve the strength of your nails.

Beijing Guitar Duo Playing Scarlatti

2011-04-19T12:00:00.004-04:00

For those of you who have never heard these two fabulous performers, get yourself ready. Before you click play, make sure you are seated and can focus entirely on the music. They are two of the best players to come from China and are fantastic. They will also be performing at the Koblenz International Guitar Festival & Academy (see earlier post). So without further ramblings, click play.

Beijing Guitar Duo - Sonata by D Scarlatti from Bill Capone on Vimeo.

19th Koblenz International Guitar Festival & Academy

2011-04-19T07:00:00.003-04:00

It's that time of year again to get suited up for the Koblenz festival. I know all of you went last year . . . o.k. I didn't either but it's a good idea to keep these festivals in your mind. Someday I will be there, but for now it's good to keep track because the talent that arises gets broadcast to the world and lets us know who to listen to and what to learn about.

This year of course is a star studded event featuring (drum roll):

David Russell, Manuel Barrueco, Marcin Dylla, Aniello Desidero, Pavel Steidl, Zoran Dukic, Romulo Larrea Ensemble, Matteo Mela, Ricardo Gallén, Marco Tamayo, Goran Krivokapic, Lorenzo Micheli, Alexander S. Ramirez, Beijing Guitar Duo, Rafael Aguirre, Gabriela Demetrova, Steve Thachuk, Joscho Stephan Quartett, Sheila Arnold, Agustín León Ara, Cecilia Rodrigo, Quartetto Furioso, Konrad Ragossnig, Hubert Käppel, Judicaël Perroy, Lucio Matarazzo, Sonja Prunnbauer, Costas Cotsiolis, Dale Kavanagh, Rolf Straver, Russell Poyner, Nigel Boyle, Robert Brightmore, Andreas Michel Andino, Alfred Eickholt, Graham Wade, Gerhard Reichenbach, Tadashi Sasaki, Ansgar Krause, John Dearman, Günter Schillings, Volker Höh, Michael Schmitz, Günter F.C. Forsteneichner, Tobias Kassung, Alvaro Mendizabal, Stephan Schlemper, Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie

Alright, I copied this from the festival website but you should take some time to see who these people are and what they mean to the guitar world at large. Let's take Sonja Prunnbauer. Who is she? Well for starters, this German born guitarist has eleven albums recorded with her name on them. You should take the time and listen to her work. You might even have your ears opened up to something intriguing and new. I know mine have.

With all the workshops, master classes, and lectures, minds of the classical guitar world are going to be working overtime with new musicological and theoretical thinking. I am getting excited just writing about it. Hopefully, someday, I'll be able to attend and report from there, but until then I'll just have to reap the benefits of those great minds that attend and share their fruit with the rest of the world. Oh, I almost forgot, the festival begins June 6th and last through the 13th.

New Barrios Cancíon de la Hilandera Playing Analysis

2010-09-18T17:34:00.002-04:00

The Rosette Room just released the its newest edition to the sheet music section with playing analysis on the site - Cancíon de la Hilandera. We think you will be very satisfied with the quality and thoroughness of the music and analysis. Our hope is that it will inspire and help you to perform the piece to the highest level.

As mentioned before, The Rosette Room wants to add something that is not available elsewhere on the internet. We feel that an analysis that will allow you to understand the difficult technical movements of a piece is sorely missed for most classical guitar pieces. Therefore, our goal is to present these to you quickly and in very high quality. Some of the playing analyses will be free while others, like this one, will require a small purchase. If you don't already know, this website does not create itself. It takes a lot of time and effort to produce this amount of content. This has lead to the decision to begin to charge for the more difficult pieces that take much more time and effort to create and analyze.

We hope you enjoy our work and will continue to support us by coming back to see our new efforts. For now, we hope you enjoy working on this wonderful piece by Barrios.

Go to Cancíon de la Hilandera Playing Analysis

Classical Guitar Sheet Music Files

2010-09-11T08:58:00.000-04:00

As many of our visitors have noticed, our sheet music files are no longer on the site as they once were. The Rosette Room decided to take them off in the format that they were being presented.

It is our desire that we offer something of value to the guitar community. In our desire to bring well typeset pieces for your use, we failed to realize that it was just a redundancy from other sites on the internet. We find that many sites have good and bad versions of many pieces and growing by the day. Therefore, our sheet music files are going to take on a different form.

Our new section that will feature the sheet music will primarily feature playing analyses of the pieces that we feature as pdf downloads of sheet music. This is an area that is not found in many places on and off the internet.

You can see the beginnings of this process by viewing the Sheet Music link on the Home page. Or, just click this link: Sheet Music.

Learning Notes and Fingerings (for guitar)

2010-09-03T18:35:00.000-04:00

Do you really think much has changed in the past 80 years of studying an instrument. We'll, if you do, then check out this excerpt from W. Gieseking's article on Practical Considerations in Pianoforte Interpretation. It does not specifically deal with guitar but the relationship is undeniable. The word piano has been replaced by "[guitar]" where needed.

To learn the notes of scales and arpeggios and their fingerings is just the beginning of the first step. If a student cannot learn these properly he may as well give up studying the [guitar]. One may play these a thousand times, even with only average regularity of tone and time, without making genuine progress.

No! One must listen, listen! Listen with concentration and think!

The student must proceed with his pieces and his larger compositions in exactly the same manner. He must select a passage, practice slowly and with the utmost attention to tonal quality and nuance.

While playing a composition I hear in my imagination the kind of tone I desire for each note, each phrase. Then my ear passes judgement, and thus my brain constantly and intuitively directs and appraises the movements of my fingers and hands.

Fortunately my memory is so reliable that I rarely am obliged to play over my notes. Hence, I carry little music with me when travelling. If i find a passage slipping from me I go to a music shop, look over the notes and then go back to my hotel and perhaps practice them. As to memorizing new pieces, I find it easier to do this away from the keyboard. A minute study, reading every detail on the printed page with sufficient concentration is, for me, at least, the quickest and surest way to memorize even the most difficult of compositions.

There are certain technical principles which must become second nature to anyone who wishes to play the [guitar] artistically.

Need there be anything else to say?

Learning Villa-Lobos Preludes and Choro No. 1

2010-08-30T10:41:00.000-04:00

Anyone ever interested in the classical guitar and its repertoire has at some point crossed paths with Heitor Villa-Lobos. His compositions for the guitar are heard yearly at countless concerts and competitions. Hopefully, they are also heard in countless homes across the globe enriching the lives of all who venture to play them.

Ironically, there are very few players (and teachers) that fail to dig deeply into the music to have a much more useful understanding of the pieces themselves. Along with the understanding there are few who actually realize the areas of the pieces that will give them the most trouble technically and musically. This is where Abel Carlevaro's work masterclasses play an important role in any players life.

Carlevaro's second volume features the five preludes and Choro No. 1 by Villa-Lobos. The masterclass is unique in that Carlevaro tackles almost every aspect of the pieces. From interpretation to technical challenges, Carlevaro dissects each piece making them more manageable and understandable. In the Carlevaro way, he gives the student exercises to prepare and work on difficult sections. The end of the book features a table giving direct guidance to the location of the difficult movements in each piece that was discussed in depth throughout the work.

For anyone seeking to move forward intelligently and musically in the playing of Villa-Lobos, then one must consider these masterclasses indispensable.

Carlevaro Masterclass: Villa-Lobos 5 Preludes, Choro No. 1

Composer Profile: Henri Wieniawski

2010-08-27T10:53:00.000-04:00

As classical guitarists, we find many of our favorite pieces to be works that were not originally written for guitar. From Albéniz to Bach, the guitar repertoire has been enriched by those seeking to bring this beautiful music to the guitar through their transcriptions. Today, we present a bit of history of a wonderful composer that has yet to find his way to favor in the transcribing guitar community. His name is Henri Wieniawski (Vee-nĭnoff-skee).

Wieniawski was born in Lublin, Poland, in 1835 and died in Moscow, Russia in 1880. His musical training was nurtured for the most part in Paris. At eight his mother took him to study at the Conservatoire. He studied primarily with Massart and three years later won first prize in playing the violin. At this point, like many other talented youth of the time, he took to the concert stage and toured throughout Europe. In 1860 he was made solo violinist to the Russian Emperor. This is no small ordeal considering that he was following in the historical footseps of Tchaikovsky. Tchaikovsky himself admitted openly of his admiration of Wieniawki's gifts as a virtuoso and composer.

The year 1872 found Wieniawski on tour in America with the famed Anton Rubinstein. The performances of these two great musicians received high praises from every concert performed. Eventually he returned to Europe where he accepted a post at the Brussels Conservatory. However, being a true performer at heart he eventually abandoned the position in favor of continued touring.

The surpassing technique and the beauty of tone characteristic of his playing places him in the ranks of the violin virtuosi of all time. Among his compositions, two should be made known to those who want a taste of his work, the D Minor Concerto and the Légende. Each one may spark your interest in his music and possibly a desire to place such beautiful melodies on the guitar. The piece below, Légende, begs to be played as a duo.

Omiš Guitar Fest 2011

2010-08-13T10:29:00.000-04:00

The association "Little strings" has organized the second international guitar competition in Omiš on the 5th - 10th April 2011.

The festival will take place at hotel Plaža premises in Omiš. As a part of this event, a competition will be held for classic and electric guitar including a discipline "Guitar and voice". In addition, within the festival, presentations by supreme guitar builders Stefano Robol (Italy) and Mato Blažanović (Croatia), concerts and copyright workshop will be held, guarantying a good time for all festival attendees.

You are kindly invited to demonstrate personal guitar skills and win great rewards, or simply to enjoy good music and amusement. Welcome!

Artistic and competition director:

Neno Munitić mr art

Below is the YouTube video featuring a performance from the 2010 festival. You will be surprised to see it on The Rosette Room because it contains an electric guitar. However, the competition features different guitar categories and one of them is the classical guitar. The video is poor quality but decent playing.

Winner of the GFA competition 2010 Johannes Moller

2010-07-06T10:05:00.000-04:00

Congrats to Johannes Moller from The Rosette Room for winning the international solo competition this year at the Guitar Foundation of America competition. Enjoy this video of his interpretation of Recuerdos de la Alhambra.

Duets Will Change Your Playing

2010-06-29T08:41:00.001-04:00

No matter what style of classical guitar music you play, duets will improve every aspect of your playing. It will even improve your solo playing. Why do we not play them more? Most of us are too shy and unsure of ourselves to attempt it. Therefore, you need to pick music that is easy enough to handle for both those involved (the duet).

Once you begin you will notice that playing in a duet is much different than solo. You find that you have to stay in time and count. This is usually a downfall of most amateur musicians. They say, "I just want to feel the music." The problem is that when we feel the music, we forget about where the music might actually be going. Therefore, your rhythm and timing will become fine tuned whenever having to play with (and not over) another musician.

If you are interested in performing, then duets make a great avenue to move into this field. Playing with a partner takes a load of pressure of both of you. If you miss your mark, then your partner can cover and vice versa. Also, giging as a duet makes you hear better. It forces you to not focus entirely on your part but rather focus on the music as a whole. Many people think that solo playing is the peak of performing. I tend to disagree. Solo playing is hard but playing as part of a larger entity requires the most of you as a musician.

No matter your level, it is time to start playing with other musicians.

Suggested Resources:


Easy Classical Guitar Duets	Classical Guitar Treasury: Duets Ensembles

Secret to No Squeaks on Recordings

2010-06-26T01:00:00.006-04:00

It is only in the last fifty years or so that we have become obsessed with not having any squeaks or string noise when shifting from one position to the next. With the ability to "cut and paste" a recording, the level or perfection of the song could be established on recorded music. This, of course, left every amateur and aspiring professional scrambling to find the perfect movement in every song with the least amount of string noise.

Thankfully, science that allows us to record so easily today also has made a way to reduce the noise of position shifting. Now, not every position shift will cause a string noise, but many arpeggio passages and others will. The new technology, if you don't already know, is the polished string. Below is a link to a set by D'Addario which are the only ones that I know of currently. The string is lightly polished to get rid of the ridges that the wound strings create by being wound. When they are reduced there is less friction between your finger and the string reducing the sound we call string noise. They have been used by many guitarist to record songs without the slightest hint of noise. Whether this is good or bad, I am not sure. It always encourages me to hear a concert of a virtuoso where they have string noise. It reminds me that it is a part of the guitar experience.

If the new strings don't work, then try this home remedy for reducing string noise is the water trick. Before recording, dip the fingers of your fretting hand into a cup of water for about 30 seconds. The skin will absorb some water and make them soft. Dry your fingers and then play a passage that you are trying to reduce the noise on. You will be amazed at how much less you hear the strings on the bass side. The one drawback is that this also causes your calluses to be weakened and my cause you a bit more pain if you do this for a lengthy amount of time.

All-in-all, I am not too worried about string noise in live playing. It is a part of the idiomatic sound of the guitar and I don't want to worry too much about it during a performance. I would rather have my music be more in tune with my emotions at the time. However, in practice elimination of string noise is a constant work in progress. In other words, work hard to meet you goals of reducing string noise in practice, but let the music flow when performing.

Suggested Strings:

There's No Substitute for Time Behind the Box

2010-06-24T00:43:00.003-04:00

In the world of playing the guitar, there is no substitute for "time behind the box." What does that mean? It means there is not substitute for the time you put in playing your instrument. You can say it's quality vs. quantity. But in reality, it is jus the shear amount of time you spend playing your instrument.

The Musician's Way:
A Guide to Practice,
Performance, and Wellness

Sure we talk about technique and the best way to approach certain aspects of guitar playing. All of those can make us play more efficiently and effectively. But there is another old statement, "you can't stop genius." I don't believe that all who are considered genius are really what they are considered. I believe that most genius that we know are those that spent the most time with one problem the longest. This equates "time behind the box."

I have seen countless players that do not have the perfect technique, but their playing is magnificent. Sure we could argue that it could be much better with better technique, but could it? Really? I am not sure. The bottom line for you and me and anyone else out there playing the guitar is that we have to spend the time to get the results. Time is the only factor.

New Recording Piraí Vaca Titled "Aires Indios"

2010-06-15T10:21:00.000-04:00

Piraí Vaca says of his new release:

This disk of Bolivian music has had a long gestation process. The idea of making it is one that has pursued me since my adolescence. Although I believe, really, that it is a sort of debt which I was born with. A kind of job that I had to do and I think I had it written on my back even before my parents called me Piraí, like an indian.

His website bio states:

Pirai Vaca is currently one of the most recognized Bolivian artists at a national and international level. Due to his charisma on stage, his technique and his firm belief in the spiritual and renewing function of music, he is one of the most admired Latin American guitarists. The Washington Post had this to say about his presentation: “.... he made an impact on the audience with his profound musicality and control....” and, recently, in the German newspaper the Rhein Zeitung, the critic commented: “... and without fear of contradiction, we could say that with Pirai Vaca, at the Mosel Music Festival, we had one of the outstanding guitarists in the world ...”

1. Sonata Chiquitana XVIII Allegro
2. Sonata Chiquitana XVIII Andante
3. Sonata Chiquitana XVIII Presto
4. Aire Indio 1
5. Aire Indio 2
6. Aire Indio 3
7. Aire Indio 4
8. Aire Indio 5
9. Aire Indio 6
10. Alma Cruceña
11. Leyenda
12. Feria
13. Guadalquivir
14. Allegretto Scherzando
15. Nevando está
16. Epicedia

Aires Indios can be purchased at CDBaby.com.

Words from John Williams

2010-06-12T11:15:00.002-04:00

On-line vs. In-person Guitar Communities

2010-06-10T11:03:00.000-04:00

Obviously, the internet is here to stay. There have been many, many good additions to life through life online. One of them is the ability to interact with the community of guitarists around the world regardless of geographic location. It is causing the next Renaissance of classical guitar to unfold right under our noses. More and more amateur and professional guitarists are engaging in conversation and instruction via the internet.

But what about live performances? Sure we have YouTube and can perform in the comfort of our homes (pajamas and all). But, is that really a performance? Does it really have the same effect? The answer is always no. There is something about live performances that can take us places that a recording will never take us.

The only way to make sure this element of playing stays in tact is local guitar communities. These communities must be volunteer and open to whomever wants to participate. Where the group meets at in a participants home or a library does not really matter. The goal is to have a place for people to perform and actually share their music face to face. There is not other kind of interaction that is quite the same. And it allows each memeber the opportunity to have the proverbial "carrot" hanging in front of them to get them into their rooms and practice more frequently because a performance is upon them.

Wherever you are geographically located and regardless of skill level, find out if a community like this exist near you. If it does, then join immediately and begin to see the fruits of such an endeavor. Otherwise, form one yourself. Place flyers and open your home to those of the guitar community around you. You'll find that the rewards overwhelmingly outweigh the challenges.