October 29, 2004
A Lesson Canceled and Arpeggios Continue
The Monday before last, I had to cancel my lesson because my left wrist decided to flare up (I really hate the weather sometimes). This week, we played through the two arpeggio studies I've been working on. I continue to improve, but I've still got work to do to.
The last line of exercise #21 is proving slightly difficult, mainly beacuse the bass and melody seem to work against each other while still creating a pleasurable aural experience.
Beyond that, nothing new. I'm considering doing another recording, soon.
October 15, 2004
Ooh, Harmonics!
This week, I learned how to tune my guitar using harmonics! It was actually kinda funny, I've been using my electronic tuner at home, to tune my guitar, so much that I'd forgotten how to tune my guitar by ear. So, my teacher taught me how to tune using harmonics.
The advantage to using harmonics, as apposed to the traditional method of fretting the strings, is that you don't run the risk of accidently bending the string while tuning. There's no pressure on it to go anywhere.
I'm doing really well with the two arpeggios studies I've been practicing for the last several weeks. I've still got a few kinks to work out before my teacher's comfortable with moving on to whatever's next, but he does feel that I've made significant progress since we began these two particular exercises. Here they are again, for reference. They're exercises 21 and 23:
October 05, 2004
Classical Arpeggiating
This week I learned that classical guitar offers a distinct advantage over other styles when it comes to arpeggiating chords: you don't have to try and form the next chord shape all at once. Instead, you can form the chord as you're arpeggiating it, in the same order as the notes are played - from the lowest note to the highest. Doing so helps promote an even smoother, warmer performance without sounding jerky and hurried.
That said, my assignment for the week is to practice smoothing out my arpeggios by forming the chord shapes with my left hand as my right hand plays the notes. Trust me, it looked a lot easier when I was watching my teacher demonstrate, than I've described here.
hehehe...