4 Templates for Classical Guitar Practice Sessions
Contrary to what many people might think it is not in your lessons but rather in your practice sessions where you will improve as a musician. A lesson will shine a light on areas you need [...]
Fixed Fingers – Guitar Exercise
Finger independence is important. It helps with speed, accuracy and control, all very integral to making music. To work on our finger independence this exercise, called Fixed Fingers, takes three fingers and locks them in [...]
Left Hand Warmup
This set of fingerings is a great template to use with left hand warm up exercises. I say template because there are tons of ways you can add extra difficulty and variation to them. Rhythm, [...]
On Making Mistakes
Wouldn’t life be boring if everything were perfect? I am not going to waste my time preaching that making mistakes is OK and that too many classical musicians are obsessed with perfection. Honestly, I [...]
Breaking down a passage of music
It is always surprising when after weeks, months and even years of studying a piece of music you can still be surprised by seemingly obvious musical elements that have eluded you for far too long! [...]
Metronome Technique
When I was in my teenage years I built up quite a large collection of metronomes. I was absolutely convinced that they kept breaking, one after another. I had tried new batteries, different settings, and [...]
Choosing Repertoire
It is important to consider carefully which works you choose to study because more often than not, they stay with us throughout our entire lives. Our repertoire can shape us and even define what type [...]
Making the most of your practice time
For those of us who battle with the hectic modern lifestyle it can often be difficult to make time for practice. Families, work and life’s little surprises always have a habit of getting in the [...]
Give Your Fingers Lungs!
In masterclasses and lessons I have come across passages that the student simply does not play musically. Even with repeated attempts to convey the shape and phrasing of the line students sometimes have [...]
Slow Practice
In my lessons with students I find myself repeating a few core ideas many times. Perhaps one of the most common suggestions I make to students is to... slow down. Guitarists seem to have a [...]