Tenor and Classical Guitars

[Down Up Dick]

Wow, clear, lotta help — Thanks. your paragraph beginning with “Besides encouragements,” mebbe has some truths in it. I do have the Hal Leonard CG book and the Hal Leonard Fingerstyle book and the Dummies CG book. However, lack of information is not my problem. My problem is mostly picking the correct string and, sometimes, fretting the correct fret. I seem kinda confused a lot, but not on my other string instruments. Sometimes I play better by ear (watching my fingers).

However, I‘ll consider what you wrote.

 

[clear]

. However, lack of information is not my problem. My problem is mostly picking the correct string and, sometimes, fretting the correct fret. I seem kinda confused a lot, but not on my other string instruments. Sometimes I play better by ear (watching my fingers).

There're tricks to fixing your problems that I've found useful (BTW, they are very common problems).

For fretting the right fret, when playing in first position, you can maintain your thumb (on the back of the neck) behind the same finger (the thumb can move sideways on the back of the neck but doesn't need to move up/down the neck too much). This thumb is your base and point of reference to place the fingers. Another useful thing I'd like to do is to spread out my fingers on the first 4 frets on one of the strings to get a mental image of their widths (I also play on travel guitar that is much smaller) before I start.

If you look at my videos, you can see that my thumb always stayed under nearly the same finger (in my case, it's about finger 2; middle finger) even when my hand moves up/down the neck a little bit to help my fingers reach the frets, the thumb doesn't move (because I'm always in first position).

For plucking the right strings, I use anchor my thumb on a string (or the guitar body when I need my fingers for the lowest of the strings). This allows me to know the distance I need to move my hand to cover the right strings (my hand always stay above my fingers so I don't "move" my fingers to the strings; this is a way to help with consistent tone). I do move my hand around sometimes (for tonal variations on repeats), but that was very difficult initially (over time, it became easier as I gain more experience at different distances from the bridge).

If you look closely at my videos (esp. the 2nd one where I'm a little bit more comfortable with the piece), you'll see that my thumbs is almost always anchored on a string.

I gathered those above tips from in-person and online lessons since I started classical guitar 1.5 years ago. I don't think they are talked about much in books (but I have to admit that I don't read any guitar books besides my lessons and song books).

 

[Rllink]

Perhaps not categorizing the things you can't do as failures would help keep your spirits up. Just not being able to do something on a guitar is not a failure. Just saying Dick, sometimes you are too hard on yourself.

 

[Down Up Dick]

Well, thanks, clear, as l said before, I’ll consider what you’ve been posting. But I’m gonna take a few days break, and ring the ol’ banjos. I wanna play somethin’ fun for a change.

I’ve had enough frustration for a bit. Onward and upward!

 

[Down Up Dick]

Perhaps not categorizing the things you can't do as failures would help keep your spirits up. Just not being able to do something on a guitar is not a failure. Just saying Dick, sometimes you are too hard on yourself.

Well, not being able to do what I want to do is a failure to me, and I’ve had very few musical ones. I usually battle a subject until I see I’m not gonna succeed, and then I give up and move on. So far it’s been the piano (It was either chords or melody - not both.) the French Horn (bad ear) and the Euphonium (My lip got too old for the high notes.)

Yes, I am hard on myself, but I’m usually successful at what I do, and whacking away at my instruments is what keeps me going. It’s really all I got.

 

[ploverwing]

Well, thanks, clear, as l said before, I’ll consider what you’ve been posting. But I’m gonna take a few days break, and ring the ol’ banjos. I wanna play somethin’ fun for a change.

I’ve had enough frustration for a bit. Onward and upward!

I really find it necessary to have something joyful to play, that I don't have to overanalyze, and while it might not be amazing, it still is satisfying to me to play it. I can't keep my self in the right mind set if I only work hard at the hard stuff, I need a little bit of fun, too.

@clear Thank you so much for posting your work in progress. That's very encouraging. I had recorded some stuff early on but haven't continued that; I think it might be worth doing a little more, to remind myself that I am actually progressing (baby steps, slightly fewer faceplants) and am tackling slightly more difficult stuff than when I first started.

 

[Down Up Dick]

I played my Baritone Uke the past coupla days, and I seemed to have come to terms with Position fretting. My fretting “claw” has improved too. I may not be dead in the water after all.

I really don’t care for DGBE tuning. I much prefer fifths tuning. Strange though, I play gDGBD all the time on my banjos.

 

[ploverwing]

I played my Baritone Uke the past coupla days, and I seemed to have come to terms with Position fretting. My fretting “claw” has improved too. I may not be dead in the water after all.

I really don’t care for DGBE tuning. I much prefer fifths tuning. Strange though, I play gDGBD all the time on my banjos.

What is position fretting?

 

[Down Up Dick]

Playing in position means one plays in a fixed, four finger position on the strings. The fretting hand stays in the position, and the index finger plays the notes on the first fret, the middle the second, the ring the third and the pinkie the fourth. The positions move up and down the strings. It’s more involved then that, but I don’t feel competent to explain it all. It’s used a lot in guitar music and exercises and in guitar generally. I learned it in my Classical Guitar agony.

My fretting was sorta fret as you please before I changed my ways. Anyway, I finally seemed to get it after a long ordeal. Now, on to the next battle . . .

 

[ploverwing]

Playing in position means one plays in a fixed, four finger position on the strings. The fretting hand stays in the position, and the index finger plays the notes on the first fret, the middle the second, the ring the third and the pinkie the fourth. The positions move up and down the strings. It’s more involved then that, but I don’t feel competent to explain it all. It’s used a lot in guitar music and exercises and in guitar generally. I learned it in my Classical Guitar agony.

My fretting was sorta fret as you please before I changed my ways. Anyway, I finally seemed to get it after a long ordeal. Now, on to the next battle . . .

Oh thanks! Yeah, that makes sense, and I think I just naturally fell into that (from violin) without thinking about it, but probably not as rigorously as I should if I wish to embrace proper classical guitar at some point.

 

[Down Up Dick]

Oh thanks! Yeah, that makes sense, and I think I just naturally fell into that (from violin) without thinking about it, but probably not as rigorously as I should if I wish to embrace proper classical guitar at some point.

What instruments do you regularly play?

 

[ploverwing]

What instruments do you regularly play?

Just ukulele now, oh and I'm also trying guitar. I played violin when I was younger, but I haven't really played in a long time. Tried mando because tuned the same as a violin and didn't have to learn new way to make notes, but the fretting was so hard and, at the time, I just couldn't wrap my brain (or fingers) around chords. We have a piano and I play on that sometimes. I've also taken djembe and played that for a few years but my teacher is no longer teaching (plus it's very injurious to my already injured thumb tendon, ouch).

I have no incredible proficiency on any instrument, but am working harder on ukulele than I have on any other instrument.

 

[Down Up Dick]

Oh, I just wondered. You seemed to be searching.

 

[clear]

Just ukulele now, oh and I'm also trying guitar.

These are good choices as the skills transfer easily between them. It's like the learning time gets doubly rewarded.

Have a look at
https://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/index.php?threads/free-online-classical-guitar-class.152562/

It's really an excellent resource for the self-teaching learner. I can't recommend it enough.

 

[ploverwing]

These are good choices as the skills transfer easily between them. It's like the learning time gets doubly rewarded.

Have a look at
https://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/index.php?threads/free-online-classical-guitar-class.152562/

It's really an excellent resource for the self-teaching learner. I can't recommend it enough.

Thanks very much!

 

[Down Up Dick]

I’ve been workin’ on my CG C a lot, and now it sounds better - some of the time. I play it a coupla times when ever I walk by the darned thing.

 

[barnstorm]

Thought some of the tenor players might be interested to see this – one of Tiny Grimes' old guitars.

https://entertainment.ha.com/itm/vi...c-tenor-guitar-serial-2997/a/7282-85098.s?ic4

A wreck, but a cool thing to have if it can be made to play.

 

[Down Up Dick]

Well, barnsrorm, thanks for the pics. My two Tenor Guitars are acoustic.

 

[Down Up Dick]

I’ve been doing an exercise to increase my left hand flexibility. Up to now I’ve been havin’ trouble reaching and holding some chords. It’s keeping me from playing Finger Style and forcing me to try and try and try to pick the C chord. I haven’t had time for Classical Guitar because I’m busy whackin’ away at the fretboard. Bah!

 

[ploverwing]

I’ve been doing an exercise to increase my left hand flexibility. Up to now I’ve been havin’ trouble reaching and holding some chords. It’s keeping me from playing Finger Style and forcing me to try and try and try to pick the C chord. I haven’t had time for Classical Guitar because I’m busy whackin’ away at the fretboard. Bah!

What exercises? Enquiring minds want to know! I do try to do Rob MacKillop's finger independence exercises but that's about it.