Overview

Discover the magic of classical guitar with this fun and easy guide The perfect starting point to learning classical guitar, Classical Guitar For Dummies, walks you through the steps, techniques, and styles you’ll need to finger-pick your way around some of the most beautiful songs ever written. Whether you’re a first timer looking to add your very first classical guitar to your collection or you’ve already made the jump to the classical style want to pick up some priceless tips, this book is the easy-to-read companion you’ll want at your side. You can even play along with audio and video examples at dummies.com that will help you on your journey toward classical guitar mastery. In Classical Guitar For Dummies, you’ll find: Foundational and advanced techniques, from adapting your playing posture to coloring your tone with vibrato Tips and tricks on playing classical guitar favorites, like Cavatina by Stanley Myers Explorations of classical scales, up and down the guitar neck Classical Guitar For Dummies is an essential aid for new and aspiring classical guitarists just beginning to learn their craft. More experienced guitarists seeking to improve their fundamentals and learn some new strategies for creating amazing music will also find a ton of useful info inside.

Full Product Details

Author:   Jon Chappell ,  Mark Phillips
Publisher:   John Wiley & Sons Inc
Imprint:   John Wiley & Sons Inc
Edition:   2nd edition
Dimensions:   Width: 18.80cm , Height: 2.30cm , Length: 23.40cm
Weight:   0.454kg
ISBN:  

9781119873020

ISBN 10:   1119873029
Pages:   352
Publication Date:   05 May 2022
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Available To Order  
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Table of Contents

Introduction 1 About This Book 1 Foolish Assumptions 3 Icons Used in This Book 4 Beyond This Book 4 Where to Go from Here 5 Part 1: Getting to Know the Classical Guitar 7 Chapter 1: An Acoustic Guitar in a League of Its Own 9 Defining What a Classical Guitar Is (and Isn’t) 10 Knowing What a Classical Guitar Looks Like 11 Recognizing How a Classical Guitar Physically Differs from Its Peers 14 Beyond Physique: Identifying Other Unique Attributes of Classical Guitar 17 Player’s form and technique 17 Musical knowledge and skills 19 Chapter 2: Getting Ready to Play 21 Situating Yourself 21 Taking your seat 22 Supporting the guitar: Leg position 23 Embracing the guitar: Arm support 24 Placing your hands correctly 25 Approaching the Strings with Your Hands 28 Fretting the strings: Left-hand form 28 Preparing to pluck: Right-hand form 29 Stroking the strings: Basic right-hand technique 32 Tuning Up 36 Adjusting the string tension to raise or lower pitch 36 Tuning visually with an electronic tuner 37 Tuning by ear 38 Chapter 3: Deciphering Music Notation and Tablature 43 Knowing the Ropes of Standard Music Notation 43 The composer’s canvas: The staff, clef, measures, and bar lines 44 Pitch: The highs and lows of music 45 Duration: How long to hold a note, what determines rhythm, and so on 47 Expression, articulation, and other symbols 50 Relating the Notes on the Staff to the Fretboard 51 Relishing the Usefulness of Guitar-Specific Notation 54 Fingering indications for the right and left hands 54 Stepping up to the barre 55 Taking on tablature, a nice complement to standard notation 56 Part 2: Starting to Play: The Basics 59 Chapter 4: One Note at a Time: Playing Simple Melodies 61 Practicing Notes on One String 62 Exercising your fingers: Strings 1, 2, and 3 63 Workin’ (mostly) the thumb: Strings 6, 5, and 4 68P Playing across Three Strings 72 Finger fun on the first three strings 72 All thumbs again on the three lower strings 74 Cruising through All Six Strings 76 No thumbs allowed! 76 Fingers and thumb, unite! 77 Flowing through Melodic Pieces Using All Six Strings 79 Chapter 5: Rolling the Notes of a Chord: Arpeggio Technique 83 Playing the Notes of an Arpeggio: The Basics 84 Working Your Way across the Strings: The Thumb and Fingers in Order 85 Keeping it simple: One digit per string 85 Moving the thumb around 87 Varying Your Right-Hand Strokes 89 Changing the finger order 90 Alternating the thumb and fingers 90 Adding Harmony to Select Notes 93 Feeling the pinch with your thumb and fingers 93 Doubling up two fingers at once 95 Playing Pieces with Arpeggios 96 Chapter 6: Practicing Scales in First and Second Position 101 Introducing Scales, the Necessary Evils 101 Why scales are important 102 How you name them: Applying key signatures 103 Where they start and end: A primer on positions 106 Playing Major Scales in 1st Position 108 The one-octave C major scale 109 The two-octave G major scale 110 The two-octave F major scale 111 The two-octave E major scale 111 The two-octave A♭ major scale 112 Playing Minor Scales in 1st Position 112 The one-octave A minor scale 113 The two-octave E minor scale 113 The two-octave F minor scale 114 Playing Scales in 2nd Position 115 The D major scale in 2nd position using open strings 115 The D major scale in 2nd position using all fretted notes 116 The G major scale in 2nd position using all fretted notes 117 The B minor scale in 2nd position using all fretted notes 117 Applying Scales in Simple Pieces 118 Chapter 7: Exploring Musical Textures 123 Coordinating Contrapuntal Music: Layered Melodies 124 Playing two melodies in sync rhythmically 125 Opposing forces: Separating the thumb and fingers rhythmically 125 Thickening the upper part by adding double-stops 127 Melody and Accompaniment: Using All Your Fingers 128 Matching rhythm between accompaniment and melody 129 Getting creative with the flow: Two parts, two rhythms 130 Playing Easy Pieces in Different Textural Styles 131 Part 3: Improving Your Technique 137 Chapter 8: Flat-Fingered Fretting with Barres 139 Discovering How to Play Barres 139 Half barre 140 Full barre 141 Practicing Barres in Musical Context 142 Half barre 142 Full barre 143 Playing Pieces with Barres 144 Chapter 9: Getting a Smooth Sound with Slurs and Trills 149 Connecting Your Notes with Slurs 149 Hammering and pulling: Exploring slurs 150 Slurring in the context of a larger musical phrase 153 Fluttering a Note with a Trill 155 Playing trills on their own 155 Practicing trills in context 157 Playing Pieces Using Slurs and Trills 158 Chapter 10: Coloring Your Sound with Tone-Production Techniques 161 Creating Tones That Ring like Bells: Harmonics 162 Playing harmonics 162 Practicing harmonics in context 163 Varying the Tone with Vibrato 165 Playing vibrato 165 Practicing vibrato in context 166 Brightening or Darkening Your Sound by Changing Timbre 167 Implementing tonal changes 167 Practicing changing tone in context 169 Tremolo: The Classical Guitar Machine Gun of Sorts 170 Playing tremolo 170 Practicing tremolo in context 171 Playing Pieces Using Tone-Production Techniques 173 Chapter 11: Scaling the Musical Ladder beyond Second Position 177 Introducing Scales and Skills in This Chapter 178 Getting to know the higher positions 178 Strengthening your technical skill with practice variations 179 Playing Scales That Stay in 5th Position 180 The F major scale 181 The B♭ major scale 183 The D minor scale 183 Playing Scales That Stay in 9th Position 184 The A major scale 184 The D major scale 185 The F♯ minor scale 186 Playing Scales That Require Shifting Positions 186 The E major scale — one position shift 187 The A♭ major scale — two position shifts 187 The C♯ minor scale — one position shift 189 The G♯ minor scale — two position shifts 189 Playing Some Pieces Using Scales Up the Neck 190 Chapter 12: Combining Arpeggios and Melody 195 Grasping the Combination in Context 196 Downtown: Melody in the Bass 197 Playing a melody within arpeggios in the bass 198 Practicing making a bass melody stand out 199 Moving Uptown: Melody in the Treble 200 Playing a treble melody within arpeggios 201 Practicing making a treble melody stand out 202 Mixing Up Your Melodic Moves: The Thumb and Fingers Take Turns 203 Playing a shifting treble-and-bass melody within arpeggios 203 Practicing making a shifting melody stand out 205 Playing Pieces That Combine Arpeggios and Melodies 206 Chapter 13: Combining Left-Hand Techniques While Playing up the Neck 217 Layering Melodies and Using Barres up the Neck: Counterpoint 218 Combining Melody and Accompaniment with Barres and Slurs up the Neck 219 Playing Pieces up the Neck with Left-Hand Techniques 222 Part 4: Mastering Classical Guitar Repertoire 229 Chapter 14: Playing Pieces by the Guitar Greats 231 Getting Acquainted with the Master Guitar Composers 232 Concentrating on Music by the Spanish Composers 233 Saying hello to Sor 233 Tackling Tárrega 233 Focusing on Music by the Italian Composers 236 Gelling with Giuliani 236 Cozying Up to Carcassi 237 Playing Pieces by All the Master Guitar Composers 240 Chapter 15: Early Guitar Music from the Renaissance and Baroque Eras 251 Getting an Overview of the Styles 252 The Renaissance 252 The Baroque era 253 Identifying Some Renaissance Composers 254 Traditional 16th-century melodies by anonymous composers 254 John Dowland and other great lutenists 255 Recognizing Some Baroque Composers 258 Back to Bach 258 Getting a handle on Handel 259 Playing Pieces from the Renaissance and Baroque Eras 261 Chapter 16: The Guitar Comes of Age: The Classical, Romantic, and Modern Eras 269 The Classical Era: Mozart’s Muse 270 Getting in Touch with Beethoven, the Classical Hopeless Romantic 272 Letting the Inside Out with the Romantics: Brahms 274 Dreaming with Debussy: Music Becomes Modern 276 Playing Pieces from the Classical, Romantic, and Modern Eras 279 Part 5: The Part of Tens 289 Chapter 17: Ten (Or So) Classical Guitarists You Should Know 291 Andrés Segovia (1893–1987) 291 Julian Bream (b 1933–2020) 292 Oscar Ghiglia (b 1938) 293 John Williams (b 1941) 293 Pepe Romero and Angel Romero (b 1944, 1946) 293 Christopher Parkening (b 1947) 294 David Starobin (b 1951) 294 Manuel Barrueco (b 1952) 294 Eliot Fisk (b 1954) 295 Benjamin Verdery (b 1955) 295 Sharon Isbin (b 1956) 296 Chapter 18: Ten Things to Do When Shopping for a Classical Guitar 297 Go Retail if You Aren’t 100 Percent Sure What You Want 298 Bring a Friend Along 298 Decide on a Price Range Before You Go 298 Know Your Materials 299 Evaluate the Construction and Workmanship 299 Get a Feel for the Guitar 300 Check the Intonation 301 Listen to the Sound 301 Judge the Aesthetics 302 Determine a Guitar’s Growth Potential 302 Part 6: Appendixes 303 Appendix A: Basic Guitar Care and Maintenance 305 Keeping Your Guitar Comfortable 306 Temperature 306 Humidity 306 Protection, both at home and on the road 307 Cleaning Your Guitar 308 Changing the Strings on Your Classical Guitar 308 Step one: Remove the old string 309 Step two: Tie off the string at the bridge 310 Step three: Secure the string to the roller 311 Making Minor Repairs 313 Appendix B: About the Online Tracks and Videos 315 Relating the Text to the Online Files 316 Listening to the Tracks 317 Watching the Videos 321 Index 323 

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Author Information

Mark Phillips is an author and former director of music at Cherry Lane Music. He has served as music editor of Guitar and Guitar One magazines. Jon Chappell is a guitarist, author, and former editor-in-chief of Guitar and Home Recording magazines. His work has appeared in Guitar Shop, Keyboard, Electronic Musician, and Guitar Player.

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