Xavier Jara: Reconsidering Technique on the Modern Guitar (Dec 11) Questions / Suggestions
All right, I got great news, everybody! 
The phenomenal young American guitarist and professor (!) Xavier Jara is going to come on board for a livestream this coming Friday!
He will be spending some time talking about learning new music from page to performance, the role of instrumental technique for the modern guitar, and more!
Find the start time in your time zone by clicking the photo or following this event link:
https://app.tonebase.co/guitar/live/player/xavier-jara-workshop
We are going to be using this thread to gather suggestions about things he might want to touch on, and offer you a chance to ask him your own questions!
- What questions do you have for him?
- Any particular area you would like him to focus on?
Forum questions will be answered first!
Young American guitar sensation Xavier Jara will be joining us on tonebase for the first time ever in this livestream. We will be discussing the process of learning new music from page to performance, while reconsidering the role of instrumental technique for the modern guitar and what it teaches us about ourselves along the way. Before winning the Guitar Foundation of America competition, Xavier spent a long time living in Paris, studying with preeminent French maestro Judicael Perroy, who was recently also a guest on tonebase live. Catch this live to ask him your own questions!
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Quick update, everyone: the title and description of this event have been updated per Xavier's request. We will be talking about how to efficiently learn music all the from the page to the performance, and about the role of guitar technique in general. The time and date of the event remain unchanged!
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I usually look at the notes for a long time before I start playing (except for the Landslag challenge) It allows me to see it, but sometimes I can hear the music before I learn it - what do you think about this approach?
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Marek Tabisz thank you for your question, Marek! Hope you liked Xavier's answer!
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Mircea Yes, I am satisfied. Very usefull thoughts
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Marek Tabisz very happy to hear
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Very interesting Xavier's lesson on breathing, for me it's a big problem,Thanks
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Giuseppe Gasparini Yes, I found it very interesting too.
I remember Marco Tamayo talking about breathing being important, but I got the impression he wanted it to be planned perfectly.
Xavier's ideas for me were clearer and seemed more practical and not too strict. To summarise my understanding:
- It's good to find a few key places where you might want to take a breath or breathe out, for example:
- musically:
- where some tension builds (in)
- after a climactic point (out)
- technically:
- where you need to make sure your body is getting enough oxygen (in)
- where you need to relax after a place where you get tense (out)
- musically:
- The body dictates how much oxygen it needs (and knows better than we do!), so it's important not decide too much where and how we breath, to give the body a chance to do it by itself, i.e. be flexible with it and give yourself "room to breathe"!
- The in-breath and out-breath relax different parts of the body, so it's probably good to get a sense of what happens with each, rather than using them as prescriptively I've described above.
I hope that helps a bit!
- It's good to find a few key places where you might want to take a breath or breathe out, for example:
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Roni Glaser Hi Roni thanks, yes yes you are very helpful, I play pieces that are too difficult for me and I always end up breathless
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Roni Glaser wow, wonderful summary of Xavier's ideas - thank you so much for taking the time to type that out, Roni!
Giuseppe Gasparini glad to hear you've enjoyed this live stream!
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