D01 Classical guitar lesson 3

[Steven Lee Thornhill]

Here is my attempt. I am not sure if the videos are posted right.

[media]https://youtu.be/rX4T3O8Qmac[/media]

[media]https://youtu.be/KNOQSR59qP0[/media]

[media]https://youtu.be/Iex0A_4plEU[/media]

[media]https://youtu.be/SPb0LjhUBpA[/media]

[Chris NewVillage]

Steve,

Sounds and looks great! Not sure if you should be on this level. Have you tried the pieces on levels 2 or 3?

[Steven Lee Thornhill]

Thanks Chris. I am a lead guitar instructor and have been playing electric guitar for 30 years but classical is a different story. I am mainly an ear player so my sight reading is slow and my right hand fingers are slow compared to me using a pick, so I thought I should start at the beginning.
I will try looking at level 2.
Thanks agian, Steve

[Jean-François Delcamp]

D01 Classical guitar lesson 4

[RossStep]

Still working on even rest strokes with good tone, proper damping and phrasing.
Ross

[media]https://youtu.be/utuqWTevElA[/media]

[Robert Goodwin]

@Ross,
That was excellent. I wish I could play that cleanly but I keep trying. Maybe someday.

Here is my first entry for lesson D01-3; La Cucaracha

My fret work is still inaccurate. Also my '4' finger is weak and difficult to stretch but I keep trying.

While practicing I noticed that placing my left hand thumb position just past the first fret gives me the best accuracy. I started out with it lined up with the '3' finger as I had read somewhere. I am curious what others are experiencing with thumb placement.

[media]https://youtu.be/xwMm6kFzGoI[/media]

[LindaWoodford]

Hi Bob, you do a great job of keeping the tempo and melody going throughout the piece and not getting put off by the odd string buzz. I think it sounds good. As far as left thumb position goes, I think the general advice for the first position is to keep it behind the second fret and in line with the second string. In theory, it shouldn't need to change much as you reach for the notes. I can't see what is going on with your thumb, but it does look as though your left hand moves a lot from playing the 1st/2nd strings with your first finger and reaching for the F on the 4th string. The first position is the most difficult, because the frets are wider, making the stretch bigger than at any other position.
I love the tune - something else that I missed by jumping in at a later lesson...
Linda

[Robert Goodwin]

Thanks Linda. I will try that at my next practice. I haven't really found the 'right thing' for either thumb yet. If you look closely, you can see I'm about to rip the sixth string off the guitar at times with my right thumb. Just tension I think.

[LindaWoodford]

Hi Bob, I struggle myself with getting the right position and being relaxed, and the polyphony exercises really showed up the flaws in my right hand position. Having just watched your video again, I wonder if you are actually resting the weight of your whole right arm on the 6th string? Try lifting and flexing the wrist much higher and away from the strings, so that the fingers are almost straight, and pointing more towards the strings, and also ensuring that the weight of the arm is resting on the guitar body. An old guitar teacher used to make me shake out the right hand until it was floppy, then gently flex it to almost 90 degrees, and gently lay it on the guitar at this angle.
PS I hope that somebody more experienced will correct me if I advise anything incorrect.

[Robert Goodwin]

Thanks to Linda for the suggestion on LH thumb placement.

After two weeks of playing D01-3 I'm tired of playing Cucaracha so here is my final video. The things I still need to work on I can work on in D01-4 as well as try out some new music. Comments and suggestions are welcome.
[media]https://youtu.be/M8D5vuEuJGU[/media]

[Scott_NyLonChaney]

Hi Bob:
Excellent improvement on the La Cucaracha. Much cleaner. I've been fighting LH thumb issues as well. Another of those bad habits I mentioned I was unlearning. Still, sometimes when the passage gets tough, I "run home to mama" and start curling that thumb around the neck. The notes on all your attempts sound better, looks like you're overcoming the fret buzz. Depress the note as close to the fretwire as you can, should prevent that and allow you to use less pressure to get the note to ring true. Keep it up! Maybe you can look back on me and critique my D01-3?

[LindaWoodford]

Yes, I second that. Really nice and relaxed playing Bob.
I am particularly impressed at the way you can run through each piece sequentially. I need an embarrassing number of takes.

[James Williams]

Here's my lesson 3. Still having a bit of trouble with the fourth finger stretches, but it's getting better. I'm also getting more familiar with the lower notes - something that was troublesome until recently. On to lesson 4!

Jim

[MikeJay]

Here are my belated recordings. The tempo is still a bit ragged particularly for the cockroach. Work in progress...

[LindaWoodford]

Nice recordings, Mike and James!
Lovely to hear such round and full notes, particularly in the first 3 pieces. I think that La Cucaracha has such a catchy tune that there is a tendency to get carried away with the speed and clip a couple of notes in the process. Very hard to resist, I'm sure, and it still sounds good
I've got a feeling of going backwards at the moment - I found some excellent videos on RH technique, which I was trying to follow... but then read a whole discussion about bent vs. straight wrist, and am now not so sure where anything should be. I might just record some options and put them out for a vote