Level 1 - List Of Pieces (+ Discussion Space)
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What to expect:
Within level 1 you will find lessons on elementary repertoire and technique. If you've just begun to play the guitar this is a great place to start! Level 1 lessons focus on the very basics of guitar technique and interpretation.
Description:
If you are still working on the very basics of guitar playing and want to find a variety of pieces that will allow you to focus on specific techniques and ideas then this is the place for you. All level 1 pieces are playable entirely within first position, in keys that are idiomatic on the instrument. These pieces feature simple rhythms and basic right hand finger strokes, allowing you to focus on developing strong basics.
Selection of tonebase Level 1 Courses:
- Daniel De Arakal teaches: Beginning Guitar Course
- Mircea Gogoncea teaches: Reading Sheet Music on the Guitar [TABS!]
- Gulli Bjornsson teaches: 11 Progressive "Landslög" (Landscapes) Commissioned by tonebase
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Questions:
↓ Reply below to ask any questions about this level, or to get a second opinion from fellow users! ↓
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Yesterday I watched a ToneBase Piano workshop on Hanon's exercises as a "complete" one-stop technique regimen resource for pianists at intro to advanced level. I have many technique books and know there are Level 1 and 2 intro to Guitar workbooks on ToneBase Guitar. For someone already well-versed in how to read music (at the level of being able to play piano, violin, etc.), what on ToneBase would you recommend for a similar one-book/one-workshop for RH and LH technique? I own Pumping Nylon, The Path to Virtuosity, Berg's Mastering Guitar Technique, The Bible of Classical Guitar Technique by Käpple, Yates's Classical Guitar Technique from Foundation to Virtuosity, and the classics by Sor, Guiliani, Carcassi, among other materials. It is all a bit bewildering, and many of the "intro to guitar" book mix technique with learning how to read music. I just want help from ToneBase on how to navigate technical books/materials on ToneBase to eliminate the basic musicianship from actually learning the specifics of Guitar Playing. Any guide for the musically literate, but newer to Guitar in terms of a simple daily guide to progressing through technique on the RH and LH will be very helpful.
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David Thank you! Very happy to hear you enjoyed those.
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David Bradford Werner (https://www.thisisclassicalguitar.com/) has a series of method books and a extensive technique book, all of which are supported by many videos. All videos are free. Best of all, he's Canadian.
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Brian maybe one approach would be to follow through his materials and supplement those with the workshops/tutorials here on ToneBase?
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David Yes, that's what I do, but don't let that discourage you
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Brian I am past the level of his basic book, in some ways, but perhaps it’s a good idea for me to revisit the material and make sure I can really master the concepts and improve my control and sound.
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David He has a series of repertoire books that progress to advanced levels along with lessons for each piece. I'm working through the first book (grades 1 and 2): https://www.thisisclassicalguitar.com/classical-guitar-repertoire-lessons-grade-1/. The repertoire books are what might otherwise be called method books I think.
I am very pleased with the system as there is lots of material at each level and the material is very well suited for a solid progression. There are also other books (~$20 US) with more material. Seems like other books have too little material or progress too fast for me.
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Brian great suggestion and motivation to me . I have picked up the volumes and will work on them.
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David Thanks. I hope it goes well
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Brian How do you work in materials on ToneBase, or how do you use TB to supplement your work through the lesson plans provided by B. Werner?
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David I don't have any organized plan. I poke around TB looking for things that are interesting or helpful at the time. The benefit of TB is not as immediate as Werner's lessons as a lot of the benefit is from exposure to a wide variety of brilliant classical guitarists. The live streams with Steve Goss and Martin Z are my favorite.
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Brian Just a quick note to say thank you for posting here about Bradford Werner's course. I classify myself as a beginner as I only started studying classical guitar since December 2022. I have started going through Werner's course yesterday and must say that I am impressed with his style of teaching. While TB has a lot of great material, and I did find that the TB beginner course very useful, I have the feeling that Werner's courses will fill in some of the missing pieces for a beginner. Just on the first day of the Werner courses I already picked up a couple of points to improve upon.
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Jim King thank you very much for the posting! Nice to meet other novices here in TB working through the Werner materials alongside TB.
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I am working on being able to play comfortably in higher positions. I wanted to ask to see if there are recommended ways about reading and playing in, say, IV, V, VII, positions? I have been thinking about scales starting with root in difficulty positions, or playing simple Sor etudes in higher positions. One of the challenges I have is decreasing when to reach back for a note with the index finger below the position or when to teach up with the fourth. Is there a method for gaining more mastery over this aspect of the left hand?
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David You asked this some time ago, so maybe by now you've found an answer, but I'll respond in case you haven't. For position playing, you might look at the material in part II of Carcassi's 'Methode Complete'. Starting on p.46, Carcassi introduces (one by one) the 4th, 5th, 7th and 9th positions. Note that some of the exercises can also be played in the first position - I would recommend doing so (in addition to playing them in the designated position) because this will help develop your understanding of the fretboard.) A second way of learning the fretboard is to take a simple melody that can be played in the first position (say, for starters, something like 'Mary had a little lamb' in C) and then try to play the same melody (i.e. in the same octave) on different strings, in a higher position. As you will soon discover, there are in most cases a large number of possibilities available. This is an exercise that might be attempted daily as part of a warm-up routine. (It does involve playing 'by ear' - itself a skill worth developing, if you haven't done so already.) Another exercise, a little more difficult, is to take a simple piece that is intended to played in the first position, and see whether it can be played (either in part or in its entirety) in a higher position.
https://boijefiles.musikverket.se/Boije_1129.pdf
As for your question about reaching out of position, this is in my opinion a fairly individual matter that depends in part on the size and flexibility of one's hand. Personally, I prefer to shift the whole hand whenever possible, but this is not always the best solution. I'm not aware of any simple rule for this sort of thing. Some useful exercises for extensions of this kind can be found in William Leavitt's 'A Modern Method for Guitar' which is not intended for classical players but is useful nonetheless. (I think the exercises I'm referring to are in vol.2, but my memory might be faulty here.)
https://online.berklee.edu/store/product?product%5Fid=11250&usca%5Fp=t
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David Krupka Thank you very much for the great suggestions. I've already started with the Carcassi and Leavitt material you recommended and am trying out the other suggested exercises. Time spent on this should prove to be very helpful!
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"All level 1 pieces are playable entirely within first position"
Landslög no.1 has some parts in 2nd position, so I think it doesn't suit a beginner.
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The newer level filter for repertoire did not work when I tried it today. I checked the filters for levels 1-3 and advanced works appeared in the results. The data for the levels or the search seems to be returning a default and allowing advanced works to slip through the filter sieve. Perhaps at this point of development, it might be helpful to also have static (“traditional”) lists of recommendations and charts of lessons and levels and skills that allow the student to select more manually. I appreciate the effort put into automation, but feel personally that the lists and charts will be helpful to until automated results are better developed. Reading other users’ responses at various beginning levels, when level and instructional guidance would seem to be most relevant, leads me to believe that the supplemental curated printable lists and charts would be a good idea until the automated system is more polished. Thank you for your efforts and hopefully feedback is helpful.
