Phrasing on the classical guitar
A phrase is a line of music that presents a complete idea. It is quite an ambiguous term, and there are many variations possible, however phrasing is crucial to making music as it tells us how notes [...]
Classical Guitar Interpretation Guide : 5 Concepts
Interpretation of classical guitar music is what makes the difference between a mechanical rendition vs. a musical one. But what does that mean, Musical? Musicality is largely an understanding of musical syntax. It allows us [...]
How to play “loud” on classical guitar?
Let's get one thing straight... the classical guitar is not a loud instrument. A trumpet is loud, a taiko drum is loud, the crosstown bus outside my window is loud, but the elegant classical guitar [...]
Vocal influences in classical guitar
If you are familiar with my teaching style, you might know that I often resort to singing lines to understand how we might play them. We can learn a lot about phrasing, melodic contour, and [...]
L312 Phrasing 3: Thinking Horizontally
Thinking horizontally is something that doesn’t come very naturally to guitarists. But working on horizontal phrasing is the key to playing long beautiful melodies. First let me clarify what I mean by the term ‘horizontal’. [...]
L217 Phrasing – The Sentence Structure
In some recent guitar classes I gave in Australian universities I found myself talking about phrase structure quite a lot. Phrasing in music is incredibly important, but it is also important to recognize the smaller [...]