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Comment by nacho montero prince on September 20, 2012 at 11:14am

Hello!

I hope to put the question in the right place

I´m looking for the name of the first song that sound in this video
http://acousticguitar.com/article/default.aspx?articleid=25745

And tablature if it could be

Much light!!

Comment by John Horne on September 3, 2012 at 6:53pm

I enjoyed Clive's "African Waltz" and look forward to hearing more etudes in this vein.

Comment by Andy Tulenko on September 3, 2012 at 6:40pm

Haven't been on here in a while.  Pretty busy with all the things going on.

  I have Guliani's studies and I use them also for my students, but I like to start them off with some music. The faster we get to playing some songs, the happier they will be with their instrument.  Ode to Joy is always right up front with a short lesson on reading TAB.  It get them going and it is an easy piece to play. 

 I use Hal Leonard's Complete book (has all 3 in one volume). It's not my perfect ideal, but it cover quite a bit and I use it to intro new concepts and techniques.

 I watched the Etudes you put on YT and those are really nice.  I'm not a classical player but I can see the value of them.  They might be a bit over the head for most up front however.  I have written a few very simple etudes of my own to help introduce new techniques to my students.  Mostly for drilling to get the fingers working the way they want them to.

  I'm rambling a bit here, but I wanted to get this out before I forgot it all. LOL  Back to practice! :D

Comment by Michael S. Jackson on September 3, 2012 at 12:22pm

I noticed that. I signed up with the sole teacher in my area who plays in a band and teaches "guitar" - jazz, country, classical, blues, R&R, all genres. I took classical lessons from him for six months before I quit for a couple of reasons. The biggest reason was he had me doing Guiliani's 120 Studies for the Right Hand - and nothing else. Six months, and almost $400, of this was too much.

Each lesson I was assigned one or two of these, went home to practice, and I showed up next week to prove in 30 minutes that I could do it and we would move on to the next one or two. I've mentioned it here before, but I was taking lessons from him for about a month when I could not play without severe cramping of my left hand and wrist. When I told him I could not play because of the pain, and asked for advice, he said, "Well, most classical guitarists rest the guitar on their left knee - not on the right as you have been doing." Why the %$#@ didn't he tell me this earlier?

To say I was bored would be a gross undersatement! I wanted to play! I've been playing guitar for over 45 years (R&R, blues, folok) and I've been playing three-finger banjo (bluegrass and classical) for 30. I have a fairly well developed right hand, and timing, but of course I had to learn to add the "A" finger. I really wish he would have helped me work through some miniatures, as you call them, such as yours.

After I quit I bought the book (comes with a CD) of Fifty Easy Classical Guitar Solos. I have had a great time adding my own intros and endings to these little pieces. I learned a dozen or so of them but have not had much time to devote to anything lately. One thing I am proud of is I arranged a version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" on my own. I'm very happy with it and consider it as good, or better, than any other version I've ever heard.

Thanks, again, for posting these. Your music is pleasantly varied and I saw right away that the right hand gets a work-out. Do you include advice on hand position, how to avoid "flying fingers," and other instructions to help the student obtain that flow you mentioned? Do you have them on a CD (I find that it helps if the student has an idea of what the piece is supposed to sound like)?

Much more interesting and satisfying than the 120 Studies (which I completed on my own, by the way). I heartily recommend that teachers, such as my former teacher, consider augmenting right hand mechanics with actually playing something!

Thanks again,

m

Comment by Clive Davies on September 3, 2012 at 9:25am

Thank you for viewing the videos Michael,

As a teacher I'm sure that you have encountered many guitarists with poor right hand technique.

I writing these pieces I used interesting and diverse styles of music, where the role of the left hand is simplified by use of similar chords and patterns.

This gives the guitarist an opportunity to focus on his right hand and, assisted by patterns and repitition, allows it to loosen up - letting the music  f  l  o  w  !  

Clive Davies

 

Comment by Michael S. Jackson on September 2, 2012 at 10:27am

I really like these. Thanks for posting them!

m

Comment by Clive Davies on September 1, 2012 at 11:43pm

Hi Guitar Teachers,

Finding pieces that are musicaly interesting and accessable to play...

Over the years I have written many miniatures that can be used as studies.

Please have a look at these five short videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0DkPDwSG6Y&list=PLAB91B5944E41B...

I'd love to hear your comments,

Clive Davies

Comment by Brandon Dyke on February 16, 2012 at 10:04am

New solo guitar EP, Timeless Moments, is on itunes and amazon for purchase here are the links! I hope you enjoy guys!  I would love it if you could rate and review as well.  Thanks!

itunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/timeless-moments/id502060214

amazon http://www.amazon.com/Timeless-Moments-EP/dp/B0078JS8VE/ref=sr_1_5?...

Comment by Michael S. Jackson on November 30, 2011 at 9:14am

I have been doing some research on tab and thought I'd share a bit of it and ask for your input on something I read.

As you know, tab has been around a long time and it works well for fretted instruments and is instrument specific. Standard notation for fretted instruments sometimes leaves the player wondering where to fret the note, since it can be found in several places on the fretboard. Pianos have middle C; flutes have a high D and you know where you are, but fretted instruments can be confusing.

I have seen tab from the 1600s (lute, Ireland) and found variations of it in countries such as Italy and France. It's interesting that France used letters in lieu of fret numbers (a = open; b = 1st fret; c = 2nd fret, etc.) and both Italian and French tablature entered timing notes above the tablature indications (standard notation of quarter, 8th, and 16th notes for timing; not for note fretting).

Here come the controversial comments. Tab had all but faded out for about 100 years when it was revived in the late 1940s. The author (I'm witholding his name and the publication in which he wrote his opinions - which he stated as fact - because of various reasons), in 1996, wrote that the resurgence of tablature is attributed to four things:

1. Industry and science caused WWI and WWII and gave us the atom bomb.

2. There was an urge, in the 1940s, to return to simpler things and a drive to experience the world in a more elementary, emotional manner.

3. People were too stupid and too poor to understand or learn standard notation.

4. Standard notation and classical music is for the socially elite, which people rejected.

I always thought tab was reestablished because it was a simpler form of musical notation and it got people into music quicker and easier than spending years learning how to sight read.

What do you think?

 

Comment by Andy Tulenko on June 19, 2011 at 5:18pm

Terry,

Your students problem is fairly easy to solve.  He has no timing skills.  Get a metronome and do some pattern studies for a month or so and I bet that fixes his ability to play.  If you need some help putting some patterns together, then PM me your email and I'll send you a couple of sheets I use with my students.

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