Group 2
Embark on a transformative musical journey with our exclusive two-week intensive online course designed for guitar enthusiasts eager to elevate their playing skills. Delve into the intricate world of guitar technique, with a primary focus on refining the right-hand technique and addressing various technical challenges.
- Right Hand Mastery: Uncover the secrets to developing a flawless right-hand technique that enhances precision, speed, and control. Our expert instructors will guide you through a comprehensive exploration of techniques tailored to elevate your playing to new heights.
- Villa-Lobos Study Nr. 1: Immerse yourself in the timeless beauty of Heitor Villa-Lobos' Study Nr. 1. Unpack the nuances of this iconic piece and receive personalized feedback from our instructors to perfect your interpretation.
- Tackling Tremolo: Demystify the complexities of tremolo, a technique that adds a mesmerizing layer of expressiveness to your playing. Learn strategies to build speed, clarity, and endurance in your tremolo execution.
- Arpeggio Artistry: Explore the world of arpeggios with a focus on diverse patterns. From classical to contemporary, our course provides a comprehensive understanding of arpeggio techniques, enabling you to incorporate a rich variety of patterns into your repertoire.
Timeline:
- Sign-Up : until Sunday, Jan 21th
- Course Period: Jan 22nd - Feb 2nd
- Optional check-In via Zoom: Jan 30, 11am PST
Assignments Week 1
Week 2 Assignments
Zoom Check-In:
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The two introductory videos got the RH Intensive off to a good start. Thank you Sanel.
I’ve been playing for quite a number of years, though I had multi-year periods when I did not touch the instrument in a serious way.
Now retired from salaried employment, I study and practise every day. I’ve just recently joined tonebase.
One of my goals for the two weeks, and for guitar playing generally, is to make my playing more fluid and legato.
Listening to any developed player, I hear a smooth flow of music, produced with no apparent effort.
My playing can sound plodding and laboured. I want to move away from that.
Specific problems: Maybe my a is not as agile as my i and m
I want to avoid scraping sounds when i, m or a plays on a wound string.
I’d like to eliminate all sorts of noises from my performance really, Even releasing a string with a LH finger and can generate an unwanted and unpleasant noise.
Looking forward to more sessions.-
Great Neil Macmillan , welcome! Let’s work on this!
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I posted 2 more videos, Video 5-6 will be posted next week!
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Here’s my attempt
pretty tricky when trying to time with the metronome
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Andrew Hodgkins Good work. I agree that the metronome adds an extra dimension of needed concentration. I'll work on my own attempt.
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Andrew Hodgkins It seems logical to want to play the 4th string (D bass) with each arpeggio repeat; however, Sanel is looking for something different when you watch his video. With each sequence, you should alternate from the 6th to 5th to 4th bass strings and back down. He is also requesting we try something a bit tricky; that is , before changing to the next bass string, immediately mute the previous one. Take a look again and give it a try -- very slowly. Hope this helps!
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Hey hey Andrew Hodgkins , so nice to see you here as well! Welcome!
You should maybe try it first without a metronome and check that you play different bases, not only 4th string. It is not that easy to play with metronome, it should be also practiced. You are unfortunately not together with the metronome.
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Hi group 2. I'm in group 1 and notated the C major & A minor Scale that Sanel uses in video #4. Thought I would share it here too. Let me know if there are any typos. String numbers are notated within a circle. Happy practicing!
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Rick Lord Thank you Rick. The written version is very helpful. Do you know if the fingerings based on Sevovia Scales or Carlevaro (I think that the C major is the same as the Segovia, but the A melodic minor differs from Segovia and looks like it is the Carlevaro pattern)? I have been trying to find out why one left-hand fingering of scales, such as the Segovia scales, are preferred over another version, such as a simpler three-note-per string version? Is it pedagogically motivated (learning shifting, fretboard knowledge in higher positions, etc)? It would be great to start a discussion or have a lesson on explaining the rationale behind scale (and left-hand arpeggio) fingering on guitar. Getting to really know and understand and apply fretboard knowledge remains a significant source of confusion to me after over a year of focussing on guitar. Perhaps Martin might be able to point me towards an existing discussion/lesson/livestream, or maybe I can request this as a future focus of some presentation on ToneBaseGuitar in the near future?
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David to be honest I have tried both versions but I ended up on a version suggested by Hubert Käppel in his Guitar Bible ;-)
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SANEL REDŽIĆ Thank you for the reference to Käppel's book (I recently purchased a copy).
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David Here's a large print version of the scales from Käppel/Rick that I am using to do the exercise, posted here in the same spirit as Rick's original contribution.
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Rick Lord Thanks Rick - that's very useful!
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In the Carlevaro arpeggio exercise of video 3, am I correct in my observation that the ringing of a bass note is stopped by tapping on the string before playing the next string while both ascending and descending the strings. In another ToneBase lesson, I also found the instruction to stop the lower bass using the back of the first phalange of the thumb by bending at the distal joint. In another video, a tap back after the next string is played is also presented. Sorting out what is best in the context of a passage is tricky for me and I am wondering if there is a general set of principles, or whether it is a matter of gaining intuition and experimentation in each case?
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David it is at the end the personal thing. You can do it on two, three ways and the question is which works the best for you in a fast tempo?
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SANEL REDŽIĆ I like the logic of determining what will work at different tempos, especially at the fast end of things. That will be a helpful rubric for guiding my practice. Thank you for the help!
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David I think you are right on the pattern of the two scales, though the A minor fingering is a bit different as Sanel plays it - one of the reason I chose to notate it so I could remember it from the video. Yes, it would be good to have a discussion on various scale patterns and the benefits one might have over another.
As for the bass damping in the arpeggio exercise, I am doing it with my thumb on the third 16th note when simultaneously as the "I" finger strikes the third string. Not sure if that is exactly what Sanel is doing, but we can ask him! Here's a pic:
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Rick Lord Thank you for the great image. I am practicing with the 16th (or even shorter) p-stopping as you demonstrate in the example.
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My best version today of the arpeggio study is at 52 BPM. It's a little uneven and ragged, especially at the higher registers. I'll work on improving legato and getting up to 60 BPM.
Video:
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Neil Macmillan sir, you have a very good control over your right hand, without some unnecessary movements but you are not together with the metronome and that is what we also have to learn/improve.
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SANEL REDŽIĆ Thank you. Will try to become better friends with the metronome.
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Great Neil Macmillan , let me know if it works better. :-)
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Scales in C Maj/A min (melodic). My eighth-note version at 82 bpm. I'll work on a sixteenth-note version and extending to three octaves in both keys. I have a 20th fret.
https://youtu.be/IAEFQFbBrNM?si=faLCCQGfFG1dxvt4-
Hi Neil Macmillan , are playing everything only with your i finger? I would try to change it and work on i m instead.
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SANEL REDŽIĆ Now that I Iook again at the video, it does indeed look as if I'm using only i. But I am indeed using alternating i and m. I will not have the camera so "square on" another time.
Thanks for the comment.
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