Matthew Hutchinson - A New Voice in Classical Guitar

Practice, Practice, Practice

I've just returned home from this week's lesson.

We had a nice little chat about different methods of memorizing the fretboard. I'd recently read about one method that involves 3x5 note cards, and was curious to know whether there was any real added benefit to that method, compared to what I'm doing now - learning the fretboard through scale work. He told me there are as many different methods of learning the fretboard as there are people who will tell you what works for them. The important thing is not to stress over doing so. Knowing the fretboard comes with time and lots and lots of practice.

My current study of playing multiple voices in a piece continues proving very difficult. We did some work on it tonight, but it's requiring some serious brain power and coordination of my hands to be able to play. I liken it to trying to get off a particularly difficult tongue twister.

We played "Minuet in G" again, and I fucked up in a few places... again. One thing I often find especially challenging when we play together is the fact that we don't have a metronome running, so I'm forced to have to try and keep time in my head. While I realize this is a necessary skill, it doesn't change the fact that I've yet to play the harmony, melody, and chord sections perfectly, all the way through, when I play with my teacher. I'll nail it one of these days! I guarantee it!

:)

Prelude to a Spanish Melody in Two Voices

That's not the actual title of a piece I'm studying, rather more a play on words for the three pieces I am studying:

Spanish Melody
Prelude in C Major
A Study in Two Voices

Music is a beautiful thing. The language of music is beautifuly tricky. Those things we call notes can start to play tricks on your eyes after a while, and if you're not careful you can wind up every which way but on key. I'm referring to repeating notes and patterns in a melody.

Here's a picture of the first two pieces I'm practicing that feature this phenomenon:

Spanish Melody has just one note that repeats all the way through: E. A, B, C, and G make up the rest of the melody, and the whole piece kind of see-saws up and down that four-note progression. It's a beautiful, simple piece, but a bit tricky at first glance. Because E is played throughout, all I have to focus on is A, B, C, and G.

Prelude in C Major is causing some frustration. The first two measures are easy: Keep my index finger on the second fret on the second string while playing E and alternating between G and A during the first two measures. Once I've reached the end of the second measure, I can't seem to figure out where my fingers need to be to begin the pattern that starts on the third measure, in enough time for the first beat of that measure. I know the notes. I know how to play them, but because the pattern that begins the third measure is so completely different from the pattern in the first two measures in terms of visual reference, my eyes go cross-eyed and I trip over myself.

The third piece I'm working on has proven particularly.... interesting:

There are two distinct parts to this piece, called "voices". Each part combines to make the whole. And, though it's a very simple looking piece, it's very complicated. The atmosphere it creates is incredible. It's a delightfully ominous sounding practice. It also features something I haven't worked with since grade school: rests (those black, vertical wavey lines that look like someone went a bit nuts with a calligraphy pen). Rests represent a period of time during a measure in which nothing is to be played or heard. Nothing.

The trick to learning music in two voices, my teacher instructed me, is to learn how to play each voice seperately. Focus on one voice, play it flawlessly, and then focus on the other voice, and play it flawlessly. Once I'm comfortable with both voices, I should be able to combine the two. This is a lot harder than it sounds, for two reasons:

1) The bass notes that make up the bass line (E and A) are both played with the thumb. The treble notes, (A, B, C, and D) require alternating between just your Index (I) and Middle (M) fingers, and

2) I have to mute the last bass note before each rest immediately after plucking it.

I've yet to make it past the second measure when playing both voices, without screwing something up. It's a great practice though. I can't wait to finally be able to play it.

As for Minuet in G, still working on perfecting it. I'm getting very, very close. I had to cancel this week's lesson because I had a mild cold I was trying to kill.

See ya next week!