October 2011
10/22/2011
CHAPTER 1 Right Start
[caption id="attachment_175" align="aligncenter" width="243" caption="Pulgar Thumb"]
Sit with either a brace that elevates the neckof the guitar (as shown in the front viewabove) or a foot stool that elevates the left leg(as shown in the side view where the narrowcurve of the guitar rests on the left leg). Theweight of the right hand holds the guitar inplace. This allows the left hand to be freefrom touching the guitar neck (only the leftthumb print and finger tips contact the guitarwhen playing). The tuning gears are about eyelevel, the shoulders relaxed and level, and theback streight. Don’t slouch into the back ofthe chair.
At first these sitting positons may seem awkward,but even though many good players varythem, sometimes radically, I highly recommendthat you be tenacious in following them a while.
Bad habits can seem more comfortableat first, but create barriers to returningto the tried and true. Some details of yoursitting position will certainly be personalized,but these steps should put the useand enjoyment of the guitar at your fingertipsbefore too much experiment.
Don’t rest your left elbow on your leg. It is acommon and serious mistake as it binds upthe left hand. Only the left thumb and fingertipstouch the guitar and strings leaving theleft arm free all the way up to the shoulder
Holding the guitar
Labeling the hands
Position and use of the right hand
Pitch and tempo in 3/4 time
Quarter and half notes
Sitting Comfortably with your Guitar
Sit with either a brace that elevates the neckof the guitar (as shown in the front viewabove) or a foot stool that elevates the left leg(as shown in the side view where the narrowcurve of the guitar rests on the left leg). Theweight of the right hand holds the guitar inplace. This allows the left hand to be freefrom touching the guitar neck (only the leftthumb print and finger tips contact the guitarwhen playing). The tuning gears are about eyelevel, the shoulders relaxed and level, and theback streight. Don’t slouch into the back ofthe chair.
At first these sitting positons may seem awkward,but even though many good players varythem, sometimes radically, I highly recommendthat you be tenacious in following them a while.
Bad habits can seem more comfortableat first, but create barriers to returningto the tried and true. Some details of yoursitting position will certainly be personalized,but these steps should put the useand enjoyment of the guitar at your fingertipsbefore too much experiment.
Don’t rest your left elbow on your leg. It is acommon and serious mistake as it binds upthe left hand. Only the left thumb and fingertipstouch the guitar and strings leaving theleft arm free all the way up to the shoulder
Your Hands
Care of your hands is of primary importance. Just as the development of guitar construction followedthe principals of hand shape over the years, we choose our instrument and personalize ourplaying according to the shape of our hands. Take note of the precision of your primary instruments.The guitar follows the hands, which follow the heart. Keeping all of our instruments in tune is aninfinite chore with infinite rewards.[/caption]
The left fingernails should be kept as short as possible. When the nails are short, fingers can correctlypush straight into the fingerboard at a 90 degree angle. This helps with intonation (being in tune)because strings don’t stretch or relax varying the pitch (how high or low the note sounds).
Pitch is the measure of vibrations per second created by the guitar. The faster the string vibrates thehigher the note sounds. Pitch is often confused with timber (the difference in sound when the woodof the guitar or the type of string used will change the sound). We tune a guitar to pitch, but choose aguitar for timbre. The right fingernails influence quality and variety of timbre (tone). Nails should protrude slightlybeyond the tip of the finger. Nail length will be slightly different for each finger. Adjust the length sothat each finger strikes with equal ease. Shape your nails with a fine file to follow the curve of your finger (avoid creating flat spots). Whenyou finish polish the tips of your nails with an extremely fine file. The timbre will change according to roughness or smoothness of the nail. Polished nails scratch less against the string, and initiate a pure tone. [caption id="attachment_179" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Rest Stroke"][/caption] You will notice that muscle groups tend tocome into action automatically when you even“think of moving. That is because your musclememory has been trained to activate thesemuscle groups every time your pick up a tool.When approaching an instrument (as opposedto a tool) extra tension is less desirable. Sinceevery conscious thought invokes the use ofmuscles we must:
1. Train our muscle memory to relax betweenthe notes (relaxation response). 2. Train our hand to use only those parts needed to execute the note (energy discrimination) Hold your right hand in the position shown,with your wrist away from the top of the guitar.Your fingertips and thumb meet the strings as your only reference point. No part of your right hand should touch the guitar top. The back of the hand remains stationary while the fingers strike the notes. Some of the steps below are exaggerations of good technique that counter balance common pitfalls. 1. Set the fingertip and the string. Make theflesh and nail touch simultaneously. 2. Position joint #3 (your knuckle) out from thestring being played. A line from your knuckle tothe string forms a 90 degree angle to the guitartop. 3. Relax joint #1 (closest to your nail) as yousuddenly push section #3 (from your second joint to your knuckle) forward. Set the string in motion by moving your fingertip in the directionof you palm. 4. Continue to relax joint #1 ( your first joint)as you come to rest on the next string. This iscalled the rest stroke because you finger tiprests on the string next to the one played. 5. Relax your hand into its original position asyou set the next finger to repeat the steps. These steps will slow you down radically. Theslower you practice the faster your will be ableto play in the future. Soon you will be able toapply this action to scales or modes and forget the steps. They require a great deal of conscious effort now, but the goal is to forget them.Should your right hand technique fall short in the future, refer to these steps as a checkpoint.
