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 way of a good practice session! When we do make some time for practice it is important to make that … Read more
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 a very difficult time understanding musicality. Until they sing. Almost by magic, when I ask a student to sing a melody, they … Read more
Recording yourself is one of the best ways to improve your abilities. We often have quite a different idea in our head of what our playing sounds like compared to the scathing honesty of a recording. If you record yourself and hear things that you want to improve then you have already learnt something and … Read more
Our ears can often play tricks on us and one of the harshest truths we have to come to terms with as guitarists is…we don’t always sound as good as we think we do. By no means should we become hyper-critical of our own playing but in order to improve we must be aware of … Read more
Bass stopping on the classical guitar allows you to control the resonance of the bass strings. By controlling the resonance you can remove muddy harmonies and create clear bass lines. With multiple voices swimming around in a piece of guitar music it is all too easy to leave strings ringing. The campanella quality of the … Read more