Matthew Hutchinson - A New Voice in Classical Guitar

Duet Eight

I can finally play the Duet Eight study, though I definitely need some work on my arpeggio for it. The piece is written in 3/4, with a strong emphasis on the first beat of each measure. My problem is that I'm not allowing my thumb to rest on the string directly below the one I strum, thereby preventing that first note from really get some uumph behind it.

My teacher and I spent most of the evening playing through it, before moving on to Clair De La Lune. Speaking of which, I've slightly improved my performance of that particular piece as well. Both studies are my assignment this week.

We've also decided to learn 4 pieces to play together, and finally record. Minuet and Duet Eight are going to be the first two. He's going to work on finding another couple of pieces to fill out the collection.

Overall, it was a very productive session, and I'm looking forward to an equally productive week practicing.

Duh... where does this note go?

So much for the nightly updates. Oh, well...

Tonight, I got to demonstrate how much of an idiot I am for making much a'do about nothing. Namely, this piece:

This is supposed to be a simple arpeggio study. Not to me, boys and girls! But, enough of the sarcasm. I needn't beat myself up for something I can easily correct.

I was basically intimidated by this study because the only arpeggios I'd practiced involve chord formations. I've never done an arpeggio with all open strings, and I spent all of last week second-guessing myself about what patterns I was seeing in the music. As a result, I wound up spending zero practice time on it.

I discussed my concerns with my teacher tonight. He was understanding, and walked me through the whole piece, note for note. I couldn't believe how easy it really was, which is where calling myself an idiot comes from. Suffice it to say, I get to work on it this week.

I'm Improving

Clair and Lucidity are coming along nicely. Neither are quite up to where I want to be able to play them, yet, but I'm getting there. My fingers finally decided to cooperate with me, thus resulting in a very pleasant practice session.

One thing I sometimes forget - and I know helped a lot tonight - is that, when you practice, you can't just plop your ass down in the chair, assume the position, and start practicing. Getting into the right frame of mind is an integral part of practice. If you aren't mentally up to the task, you aren't going to learn a damn thing. You have to focus on what you're doing, and put every ounce of effort you can into really trying to get it right. Otherwise, you may as well leave your guitar in its case.

Or maybe that's just me.

;)

Some Extra Fun

I'm a metalhead who loves classical music, pure and simple. One of my favorite songs from the 80's is Queensryche's Silent Lucidity. Tonight, I decided to have some extra fun and see how much of the acoustic guitar intro I could teach myself. I was performing the first 4 or 5 measures surprisingly well after about an hour. I had a bit of a struggle getting past the first measure. Lucidity also marks the first time I've worked with odd time signatures; in this case, 5/6.

As for my lessons, Clair De La Lune frustrated me tonight. I spent a half hour on it, and, no matter how much I tried, I couldn't seem to play the right notes. I finally got frustrated and gave up for the night. Better luck tomorrow.

Study in Two Voices

Decided to try this nightly posting thing.... for now...

Remember this?

This is what it sounds like, and is only a sample of what I practiced last night (it's 1:30am as I write this). I'll post Clair De La Lune as soon as I can play it well enough to produce a decent recording.

Study in Two Voices.MP3

Those vertical squigley lines - called "rests" - found between the bass notes, indicate where the bass string is to be physically stopped, to allow for the brief moment of silence the measure requires before playing the next treble note (otherwise known as the melody). See the "i" and "m" markings above the treble notes? Those indicate which finger I'm supposed to play that particular note with - in this case, the "index" and "middle" fingers. All of the bass notes are played with the thumb. This was a difficult study to learn, but I'm proud of the fact that I can finally play it.

A Moral Imperative

There comes a time when, after you've practiced, and practiced, and practiced, and practice.... that it becomes a moral imperative to play a particular piece to perfection - or at least get to a point where you wonder how you could improve on your performance. I've reached that point with Minuet.

Tonight went really rather well, save for the last few measures where, out of the blue, I experienced a memory fart that prevented me from playing as well as I have been this week. My teacher completely relates, but it's still frustrating.

I'm also continuing the study of playing two voices simultaneously. It's a fun effect, but still pretty challenging, especially when trying to play each voice independently before putting the two together.

It's going to be a busy week, that's for sure! Now that I've finally worked out the basics of recording myself, I'll be posting more of what I'm practicing. I'm also considering increasing the frequency with which I post journal updates. Say... every night after practice. Dunno yet. We'll see how it goes.

Minuet Re-Recorded

Finally got rid of the popping noise! I don't know how, but I'm not complaining!

Here's a re-recording of Minuet.

The Journey Continues, and I'm Still Here!

Once again, I'm sorry for not having written more often. As you already know, I'm just really fucking lazy that way. I have to keep reminding myself that I don't necessarily need to write an essay about each week's lesson, just a couple of paragraphs will suffice.

Rest assured, I'm still here, and I'm still studying guitar!

:)

The last few weeks have been terrific. I've made significant progress with Minuet in G, so much so that my teacher and I plan to record a performance in the next couple or three weeks, depending on when I can finally play each of the three parts all the way through, without screwing up. I did a wonderful job on it last week.

I'm still doing scale runs, and still memorizing the fretboard. My "Two Voices" practice is also going really well. I'm working on a piece right now that uses it, Au Clair De La Lune:

It was pretty challenging at first; I couldn't get past the first measure because I couldn't figure out the progression between the half note, the dotted half note, and the two quarter notes. Unfortunately, I misplaced by book the week before last, and had only had two days to practice it before losing it, so this has been my first week working on it.

Finally, because I've been so absent lately, I have a special treat for you. My wife and I recently purchased a copy of Guitar Tracks Pro, a PC recording package that lets you record up to 32 tracks of music and encode it into several different types of formats. Last night, after figuring out how to effectively connect my guitar to my PC, I took a stab at recording myself playing Minuet. Keeping in mind that Minuet has three parts to it - the melody, harmony, and chordal accompaniment - I played each section separately onto three tracks, and then encoded all three tracks into one MP3. It took me nearly 2 hours to record each track well enough that they sounded remotely decent together. As such, my performance is by no means perfect, but I had fun trying (grin).

Comments are welcome, constructive criticism is appreciated. Otherwise, enjoy!

Minuet in G

NOTE: Please excuse the popping noise you're going to hear. The connection between the amplifier inside my guitar, and the cord that connects my guitar to my practice amp, ain't the greatest. I'm saving up for a condensor mic.