ST018A

Test schedule for "How to play the Classical Guitar"

Week 11    Sight reading

Week 12    Sight reading

Week 13    Major & minor scales

Week 14    Major & minor scales

Week 15    Set piece 1

Week 16    Set piece 1

Week 17    Set piece 2

Week 18    Set piece 2

Continue to blog your learning journal.

Test is a necessary evil

Like it or not, test is our teacher. It forces you to learn something. If you did practice, I don't see why you will fail. Don't worry, I will be very reasonable, if you did put in effort, you should be able to pass. But if you don't know anything, how can I help?

I took my performance cert exam in 1995, when I was working full-time, and the job was not related to music.

Now this is a GEM, which is one of your modules and you are full-time students!

Talking about practice, I realise many of you did not practice, or pracice very little. You can't cheat your teacher. I knew when you played in class...

BTW, the apostrophe (') problem has been solved. You can now blog with apostrophe (')!

It's Test time

It is coming to an end - the test will start on 4 Jan 08 with the Friday class. Any regrets of coming to the guitar class? I see some of you start to worry about not passing the test. As long as you do due diligence, I don't see why you should be worry. I am not expecting you to become a performer. As long as you play decently well, that should be OK. Please continue to blog.. I hope to hear from you so the next run I might change the approach. Has the GEM been too tough?

practice, practice, practice

This is an interview extract from Christopher Parkening - one of my favourite classical players, who was also a pupil of Segovia. "I would have to say that learning how to practice properly is basic to playing any instrument well. I was blessed with a father that taught me hard work and discipline, and I used to get up at 5 a.m. in the morning before school to practice the guitar, and then again after school. He also sat with me at an early age to teach me how to properly practice. I still remember him saying these famous statements to me, 'Slow it down, until you can play it right!'. He would also say, 'Unless you can play it seven times in a row, in your practice room, perfectly, that section of the piece, then you are not going to be able to play it on the concert stage accurately." Simpe advice indeed? If only we can do it!

Arranging for Guitar

After learning to play the guitar, naturally you will want to arrange some pieces for the instrument; especially music that moves you, or your favourite song pieces. Obviously some knowledge of music theory helps. It is also possible to do that by ears. But when you have to notate, that is where music literacy comes in..so you need to learn to read notes, and be able to write them. Here is a piece called 天水流长。I like it because it is like music that comes from heaven..Click here for the arrangement.

The 7th International Guitar Festival

It is always a great pleasure to see a live guitar recital. Check out the programme from www.sistic.com.sg. The programme flyer can be downloaded from http://www.tomas-music.com/eventimages/flyer07.pdf. Enjoy!

Performance Anxiety

OK. Enough of fundamentals. I am going to talk about overcoming performance anxiety. Like it or not, we all have to go through this. Even Segovia, the Maestro has once said, before the concert he was somewhat fearful, and reluctant to play, but by the time he was ending the concert, he enjoyed playing so much he refused to come down from the stage! It is a long discourse to talk about this. But to sum it up, 1. You need to practise as near perfection as it is possible; 2. Employ visualisation technique, mentally rehearse what you will be going through in the actual concert; 3. practise meditation to improve concentration 4. do as many live performances as it is possible so you get used to playing for people, may be start with friends.

The lesson of a martial art expert

This is a real story. A boy went to learn martial art from a Master. He taught him basic stunts 站桩, a kind of 气功 (breathing technique) if you like. The Master taught other disciples all types of weapons and strokes, which he never taught the boy.
(Many years later) One day, while the Master was away, somebody came to pick a fight. All his seniors were no match to the opponent. But to everybody s surprise, the boy (teenager now) has such immense power or inner strength 内劲 to defeat the enemy. The moral of the story? Fundamentals are important. I might have simplified the story. But I have not told you how hard it was to master the fundamentals. (Of course the method must be correct, the disciple must be diligent and persevere, he must also constantly reflect on his technique and seek improvements, etc...)
I have the names of that boy and the Master if you must know...
王芗斋 and 郭云深. But really, a simple relook at the fundamentals and it is not difficult to understand why they are important.

Learn it whole-heartedly

I know some of you think it is just a gem, it is free; already it is stressful enough to learn the core modules, can we be more relax?
Yes, relax if you must. But playing the classical guitar requires discipline. Initially there will be a steep learning curve. But more difficult is to overcome the mental resistance. Once you overcome that mental block, you will have a life-long of enjoyment.
In fact you are doing yourself a great disservice: by adopting a lax attitude, you are not spending less effort and time.
I know this endless repetition of i m fingering and strict practice do not go too well for you.
There again, if something is so easy or anyhow also can, then it is probably not worth learning, and you do not need me to teach you!

Alternating i m

I cannot stress enough the importance of anticipation - deliberately moving i and m fingers down to anticipate the next stroke. Done properly, it will benefit you for a long time - in your learning journey.