Tremolo....update.... new approach

I would really like to be able to do tremolo.  I'm not exactly ready for Recuerdos de la Alhambra (well to be honest, I'm probably never going to be, but that's beside the point).  It would however be really nice to play a simpler piece - it's just so darned cool.  Perhaps that piece in Martha Masters' book "Reaching the next level..."  Although I constantly angst (can I use that as a verb?) over my left hand, which I swear is missing a speedy connection to my brain in addition to being length-challenged, my right hand has to date escaped the same scrutiny. Until now.  First shock was that it is slow, really slow.  This is not a good thing to find out if you are trying to master tremolo. So I've been working on speeding up the right hand with arpeggios,  Scott Tennants "walking" exercises with variations, and of course tremolo exercises.

Which exercises would those be?

- tremolo on the first string forwards and backwards
- tremolo with damped strings to listen to the rhythm
- tremolo with dotted rhythm
- tremolo with different finger emphasis
- tremolo with a walking bass
- tremolo in a different finger sequence

Check out DouglasNiedt.com  for a really good description and video download of exercises...

10/2016
I thought I was getting somewhere with this until my guitar teacher pointed out that I had more of a "gallup" rhythm than an even 1-2-3-4.   I really couldn't hear it when I was playing, particularly when the thumb was playing a different string to the fingers. So I recorded it on my trusty twisted wave app (definitely the most user-friendly recording app I've found for the iphone) and as usual, he was right.

 So I tried another approach. This time using the technique suggested at thisisclassicalguitar starting slowly and recording each speed until I was confident I was hearing an even beat on the recording. It was really helpful to be able to relax back into just i and m before things got out of control, and I found it easier to adjust my hand position when only adding a or i to the pattern instead of diving into the complete pattern.   I have been practicing it on the first string and muting the strings with a natty little device  making it easier to hear the rhythm both in real time and on the recording.  I know the left hand works perfectly well to stop the strings if you're just practicing rhythm, but this will eventually allow me to transition to something more musical!  Actually you don't have to purchase anything -you can make something that works just as well by rolling up a small piece of felt and taping it into a cylinder...

I decided that I would do it as part of a right hand warm up for 5 mins each day, and I have been gradually increasing the speed when I am happy with the recording.  It was, and still is, a slowish process and a couple of times I have had to go backwards as I heard that dreaded gallup creeping in...  but progress is being made! Each day I start at well below tempo and move it up, but the starting point is also moving up as I get better at it.   Of course there is also the evenness of the sound as well as the tempo to be considered, but that's for another day!

Playing in a classical guitar orchestra: pros (and a few cons)...

I really have no business playing in a classical guitar orchestra, even an amateur one.  My sight reading skills are rudimentary and I spend a lot of time staring at the fretboard, which, by the way, doesn't help with the sight reading problem.  However our local classical guitar society orchestra has a relaxed attitude to new members -- if you have classical guitar and you're prepared to show up and practice, you can join.  Even I can meet those requirements.  Why bother?  Well first it makes a big change from my normal guitar activity, which still consists largely of playing for myself in a room with a closed door,  alleviated by regular visits to my guitar teacher.  And how often do we get out to meet new people struggling   working on a shared project?   Inwardly I was also hoping it would be a way to get experience performing while being sheltered behind more able players, given my almost paralyzing fear of having to play in public.  I've written more about this in a previous post...

Did it meet my expectations?  Well yes.   Here are the things I was hoping for that actually materialized...

• Rehearsals are fun!  Well mostly - admittedly there were a few stressful evenings right before a performance when things just weren't going right - but mostly we have a really enjoyable time - our conductor has a great personality: he is passionate about guitar orchestra and it rubs off on us!  He enlivens practices with anecdotes  and mini-lessons and is unfailing optimistic and supportive (well, except perhaps in aforementioned circumstances when things might have got just a little bit testy).
• The parts are relatively easy compared with solo pieces, and I started with the easiest (bass) part, so it wasn't outside my ability.
• For the first semester anyway, there were a number of strong players playing the same part as me only louder, so I could make my mistakes anonymously ;) 
• I met lots of new people, some of whom I now consider to be really good friends
• I have managed to play in at least half a dozen public performances, without completely embarrassing myself.

Here are additional benefits that I didn't predict:

My sight reading has improved from non-existent to "remedial" and I can mostly play the      orchestra pieces without staring continuously at the fretboard

I got comfortable with techniques that I had not been exposed to as a beginner - from tasto to ponticello, how to count Indian (and other weird) rhythms and various percussive sounds including one epic section with the strings crossed.  And we did so much playing of pizzicato in the bass parts that I even got moderately OK with the odd hand position. 

•  I learned much better tempo control.  I hadn't consistently used a metronome before starting orchestra, but if you're practicing alone and you want a fighting chance to sync up with the other parts come rehearsals, then a metronome becomes your best friend.
•  I learned to play much louder - for which I can earnestly thank my friend who shielded me by playing the same part as me very loudly for the first semester - leaving me to do my best to emulate her when she moved onto another part.
• I also learned to play all over the fretboard, even above the 12th fret....  yikes
• We have travelled to guitar festivals around the area. Not only do we get to play, we get to do fun weekend trips, meet people from other guitar orchestras, and take the workshops and classes...
• I got familiar with some new apps.  To work out crazy rhythms, or keep on track if you are playing different rhythms than other parts (don't you just love 3 against 2?) I found it helpful to put notation into one of those programs that plays the music for you - I personally use Musescore https://musescore.org/ but there are several other free ones.    And I practice with an app that plays the music from your music collection but will slow it down, change the key or loop it.  I use Anytune, http://anytune.us/ but again there are a number of options. 

Downsides, they are few, but ...

• For me at any rate, it's a lot of work.  So I have less time to learn pieces I want to play or practice technique.  We do 2 semesters a year, and at the end of each semester I really need the break.
• Rehearsals aren't local, so I spend a lot of time driving in rush hour traffic.
• After all the work and the performances are over, I don't have a piece I can play as a result...  a part is after all, only good if played with the other parts.  Though I do have some nice arpeggio warm-ups from playing G3...

• So would I recommend it?  Absolutely!  But be prepared to put in some effort :)   

I've finally got it! Time to speed it up :) Wait -maybe not so fast....

I know I've been told this a hundred times.  Go slowly at first.  Don't try to go so fast!  Slow down!  I thought I'd got it.  But why was I still having trouble with mistakes once I got up towards tempo?  I only rarely seemed to get through it without a mistake, and the mistakes weren''t always in the same place either.  And however many times I practiced it,  those mistakes just wouldn't disappear. " I have to try harder or concentrate better," I thought.

Then the other day I was doing a workshop on flatpicking (don't ask) and as an aside the teacher said, make sure you can do this perfectly 10 times before you increase the speed.  Ten times?  Really?  That got me thinking....  what do I normally do?  Yes I practice it slowly, then when I've finally got it I ramp up the speed, and at the increased tempo mistakes invariably happen.  What do I do then? I keep practicing it at the increased speed to eliminate those mistakes... but they are remarkably persistent...

But wait, how well established was it  at the slower speed? - I maybe did it right once or twice before moving up.  Not 10 times, or even 3 or 4 times.   In fact it seems likely I  have been increasing the speed before getting things solid at the lower tempo, so those mistakes that hadn't truly been eliminated returned with a vengeance at the higher speed.  And then I practiced them!  Duh.  Perhaps this is why I have such a hard time eliminating mistakes.  So here's my new resolution:  practice things slowly until I can do them perfectly 10x. In a row. Only then will I ramp it up.  I seriously hope 10x is overkill because I'm not a patient person, but maybe this is what I've been missing.  It's worth a try anyway :)

I have short fingers! Do I need a short scale guitar?

I don't think it's any coincidence that the majority of world class guitarists seem to have preternaturally long slender fingers - there are just some physical attributes that seem to have been designed for specific activities and this seems to be one of them for classical guitar playing.  However there are many of us who haven't been so blessed... does this make it impossible to play well?  And assuming we are not trying for the impossible, what will make it easier?

I get the impression that amateur acoustic guitarists spend a lot more time fussing about size and shape of their guitars than do classical guitarists.  After all there are a lot more options available - sizes from parlor to jumbo-sized and numerous configurations of scale length, neck shape,  nut width and string spacing.  I must admit to having paid more than passing attention to this myself, having been born with short stubby fingers.  As a result I've come to some conclusions that seem to hold true most of the time.

• Scale length most definitely makes a difference for people with small hands (and here you have to define small - my fingers are not especially short for a woman, but they are probably as short or shorter than most people of the male persuasion). It seems that there are few penalties sound-wise for playing a 640mm rather than a 650mm guitar and 640mm guitars do seem to be becoming increasingly available.  On the other hand reducing the scale to 630mm often is associated with a slightly smaller guitar, which could potentially affect the sound.  I'm not a luthier so would appreciate more information on this point - I don't know if the size reduction is necessary or if its simply because people wanting a short scale guitar also want smaller guitars. In any case, my 630mm guitar is indeed about a cm shorter than my regular scale length guitar.  
• That being said, some short scale guitars are not significantly easier than regular scale guitars because of other factors - for instance a chunky neck. Many classical guitars seem to have necks that are a flattened D-shape, but vertical sides do make it more difficult to reach around. Similar issues with a deeper neck.  For me the easiest to play necks are shallow with sloping sides (more like a flat C-shape than a D-shape).
• The other major factor is nut width - maybe even more so than scale length.  it's obviously harder to reach the bass strings on a guitar with a wider nut.  Depending on the amount of room  taken up by your finger ends, a 50mm or even smaller neck may substantially improve reachability. Most of us don't have the luxury of specifying neck width however, and most guitars are 52mm. But, even on a regular width neck, you can have a new nut built with tighter string spacing. My main classical just got back from the shop having the string spacing reduced from 43 mm to 41 mm and it has definitely improved access.  Coincidentally it has also made descending slurs on the top E string easier - I think the E string was too close to the edge before so the mod has been doubly helpful.   I've also heard that offsetting the strings slightly towards the treble side can help...I haven't tried that, but I may yet reduce the string spacing another mm and offset the change so everything moves towards the treble string.  And if it doesn't work it's not a big deal - one good thing about modifying nuts is if you don't like it, it's not permanent - you can replace the original nut without even taking the strings off :) Bear in mind that changing the string spacing may change the way you fret barre chords because of the creases in your fingers.
• * An instant way to assess the effect of scale length (and to put in perspective the effect you can expect from a 640mm or 630mm guitar) is to put a capo on the first fret, which brings the perceived scale length from 650 all the way down to 615mm ... however this is offset by the wider neck width. It's never really worked for me not to mention it puts the dots on the side of my guitar in the wrong place :( 
• Hand position and how much you can stretch makes a big difference. I'm sure like me you've noticed you can reach things now that seemed impossible when you first started playing - practice certainly improves strength and flexibility, though sadly it has done absolutely nothing for my finger length ;)  I believe regular stretching exercises can also help -  there are a lot of stretching videos on the web, but you might check this one out from a physical therapist, particularly if you have any nagging aches and pains  from sore tendons https://youtu.be/brPzQdBaSjg  While I'm thinking about it, there is an excellent video on finger dexterity available - https://youtu.be/HWmDbbYH1OQ?list=PLF6196E9CC6F6371E
• It goes without saying that if your guitar is not set up properly and the strings are too far above the fretboard, the guitar will be difficult to play regardless of other factors.
• Once everything else is optimized,  lower tension strings also make things easier to fret.
• Whatever anyone tells you - 1mm difference in nut width or distance between frets really does make a difference, though it may not be noticeable to those who are not struggling to reach.

Breaking things down really works

I have a tendency to repeat things over and over without every quite getting it right when trying to master new things. Strangely enough this is rarely effective!  I'm well aware that slowing things down and isolating short passages, note combinations, or even one hand at a time is a good way to master difficult sections, but what about movements that seem impossible to control?

 To give an example,  one of the things I need to do is to stop my LH pinky (4) from rebounding so high when I release it from a string.  This is a particular problem when my hand is stretching and thus is under more tension. In an exercise going up and down the same string with one finger per fret (1234321) if I remove 4 while putting down 3: poof!  4 is an inch above the string.  I found there was no way I could stop this when performing the exercise.  It seemed out of my control...  So I tried breaking it down and performing just that one movement - i.e. 3 goes down while 4 releases - still no joy.  Next step was to slow it down to the point I could control it - it turned out it had to be almost in slow motion, but at glacial speed I could in fact keep 4 hovering above the string on release rather than springing way up.   So far so good.  But slow is one thing, faster is quite another, right? Surprisingly, after a dozen or so repetitions I found I could gradually speed up and the movement was still under control.  Next step, try the whole sequence, but no, we had the suborbital pinky again.  So instead of adding the whole sequence, I just added one movement (3-4-3), again at very slow pace.  Only when that was working well and I had done a number of repetitions did I speed that up. Finally I repeated the process with the whole sequence and yes it works!   Honestly this sounds like a long drawn out process but it was surprisingly quick to reprogram that movement...  Full disclosure  - it's not yet perfect.  Initially I find it helps if I "remind" my fingers before plunging right into the exercise but I have confidence that it will eventually be the new norm.  It might of course help if I did the recommended 10 repetitions at a speed I can do it perfectly before moving on...

Based on this success I have a number of things I need to work on in that same exercise - finger pressure for finger 1 gets heavier the further I move up the fretboard - maybe I should practice that really really slowly just LH concentrating on buzzing the string.  Finger placement - again maybe LH only one placement at a time would work for that.  I'm hopeful that using this technique, of looking for ways to break things down to ever smaller parts  I will be able to get a handle on some things I didn't think were possible...

Guitar/music camps for adults - why go?

I must admit I am an addict of adult music camps of all sorts - guitar, folk music, a mix of crafts and music....  Ok so they aren't for classical guitar - in fact I rarely see anyone else with a classical guitar at these camps, so why go?  I guess if you are a dedicated classical guitarist who has no interest in other types of music, there may not be much to interest you musically. On the other hand the amateur guitarists I meet generally have wide-ranging musical tastes, and this is a golden opportunity to discover other musical genres up close, or even add to the type of music we play.  I have been to a number of different camps now and each offers something but they all seem to have one thing in common.  Most of the participants are older - most likely because we finally have the time to indulge our hobbies now our children or careers are not consuming most of our spare time and energy.  This gives us a rare opportunity as adults to meet people from a wide variety of backgrounds with similar interests.  Looking back, perhaps the last time most of us were in that situation was in college.  Unlike college however, we are there because we have made an active choice to switch gears and go back into learning mode.  There is usually the option to stay in a dorm room inexpensively - I've tried it, and that's one aspect of college living that I can do without, so I often stay in a local bed and breakfast, although if you want to take part in early morning yoga or late night jamming staying on-site is a better choice.

So what exactly can we gain by going to these camps?  When I first started to go I thought I would  learn a lot of new guitar techniques and 'instantly' become a better guitarist.  I should have known that nothing is instant on the guitar, and the chances of achieving a breakthrough in an hour or a week are remote :( Even the week-long camps, where you take an hour or hour and a half group lesson with the same instructor each day,  it can only scratch the surface of a new skill.  However what it can do is expose you to new ways of thinking, new methods you may wish to develop over time, new types of music you might want to play, new resources you haven't heard about.  I personally found that I would really like to add some Bossa Nova to my repertoire once I get the hang of those jazz chords - added bonus - usually played on a nylon string guitar :) I certainly got a new appreciation for jazz and blues guitarists! I discovered that old-time music, although not to my personal taste, is a great way to practice listening to chord changes (there are usually not too many options) and celtic music is a good way to listen to modal playing. As for bluegrass - let's just say that watching the incredible speed of play makes a good spectator sport.

The camps often offer music theory classes, too and they can add insight or suggest ways to practice some aspect of theory you may be working on.  I have been to a couple of camps this summer and found many things taught that were directly applicable to classical guitar.  A class on flat picking (not so easy on a nylon string, but possible) used scales and scale patterns to practice basic picking - got to work on that  - a class on Indian Classical Music introduced complex rhythms, with lots of in-class practice - not so easy!.  There was a whole series on modes,  and the jazz instructor went to great lengths to discuss how to pick which inversion to use when selecting jazz chords... and those are just the classes I went to. Other opportunities have included how to record yourself, performance practice (guess who's too cowardly to take that one), composition, harmony...  A word of warning - in the week long camps it's tempting to fill up the day with classes - it's so hard not to take every opportunity.  However I have found it best to leave at least one session free so you can go over/practice the new things that were introduced in class because classes often move fairly fast and cover a lot of ground in one week.

Folk camps also offer the chance to try other musical instruments - ever wanted to try a banjo? violin? ukulele? tin whistle? native american flute? bodhran?  Many offer the opportunity to spend an hour trying one, or beginner classes to get you started.  Personally I only have time for one
instrument with a long learning curve.  On the other hand I found the tin whistle is easy to pick up and play simple tunes on if you have had experience with another wind instrument.

Combined camps (such as the Traditions camps offered by CommonGroundOnTheHill) also offer

my flute

varied crafting opportunities and lectures on topics ranging from philosophy to social activism.  There tend to be more couples at these camps because there is something offered to interest almost everyone.  I gravitate towards those relating to music - I actually made my own Native American flute at Traditions camp.  Sounds pretty good too even if I say so myself, and I'm tempted to challenge myself with the bodhran next time.

Let's not forget the concerts.  There are usually concerts with the guest artist-teachers every night included in the cost of the camp - what a treat!  And the opportunity to jam into the wee hours with professionals if you have the stamina and can pick up and play with others.

And back to my original thought - these camps are a great opportunity to meet a wide variety of people, meet new friends and maybe even find someone to play along with.  Happy camping!


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