Mircea Gogoncea - AMA about Left-Hand-Technique
We are kicking off this new Community feature with our own Mircea Gogoncea! All of you know him as an outstanding award-winning guitarist who has performed worldwide and, of course, as Head of Guitar, is responsible for all guitar releases here on tonebase!
Most recently, he released his very own lesson On Stretching, so we’re taking this release as an opportunity for you to ask him all your questions about Left-Hand-Technique!
How to Participate
- Ask your questions right here until July 12th!
- Mircea will answer questions from July 13th-15th!
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Thank you so much for your questions, everyone!
I have a little surprise for you - the answers will come in more than just text form.
Looking forward to getting to them all! Thank you for taking part in this inaugural AMA. I will tag each individual user when I answer your specific question.
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Hi Mircea! My horizontal stretching isn’t too bad but I have more a question about vertical stretching. Example: in mm 17 and following in Leyenda I struggle to keep the 4th finger stable on the 1st string while the other fingers are playing the melody. I practice daily the fixed finger exercises from pumping nylon and can do them ok but nothing seems to address this particular issue. Would love any help you can offer
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Debbie Thank you so much for your question, Debbie! Since you were the first to ask one, yours is the first I'm answering in the response video I made for everyone!
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Mircea hi Mircea! I tried your suggestion of lowering the thumb more and that seems to be working. Specifically your mention of holding the hand like on a keyboard really helped. Thank you!
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Debbie Amazing!!! So happy to hear.
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There are 100's of left hand exercises for strength and accuracy. What three or four would you suggest as a daily warm up. Which ones would you avoid? Which ones are the most beneficial
Thanks
Peter Hancock
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Daily warm up is a great topic to address! I'm voting with peter hancock and Peter !
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peter hancock Hi Peter! Great question - here's my answer to you: the video should start at 8:51
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Mircea Thanks for the info. It was very well presented and will help me a lot.
Peter Hancock
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peter hancock Thank you, Peter! Glad to hear that.
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Hi Mircea
i am interested in physical warm ups before picking up a guitar or in breaks during practice. Do you have any stretches and flexibility exercises you would suggest? With thanks.
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Peter Hi Peter! Here's my answer for you. The video should start at 6:46.
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Mircea thank you very much.
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Peter My pleasure
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Hi my Friends, playing Guitar for a while Barrees are still a problem for me. Is there a special Training Methode, to Build up more strenght and velocity (e.g. Weights, Kind of Workouts) ?
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Gregor Schneider Hi Gregor! Here's my answer - the video should start playing at 2:32. If it doesn't, find 2:32 in the player below:
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Mircea thankyou for the whole Q&a‘s and esp. Your answer for me!!!
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Gregor Schneider My pleasure, Gregor!
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When doing vertical stretch exercises, say with m on the high E and i on the low E, the a finger is making contact with the string almost on the nail yet the i finger makes contact with the A. That 's not right is it?
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Brian Hi Brian, thank you for your question! Here's my answer to you (the video should start at 11:24)
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Brian Sorry, I meant stretches of the left hand. I'll just keep at it, so no need to revise your answer. Another question .... not for here but for some other time I'll ask for a reply. I just decided to switch from predominantly using free to rest stroke ... there's not much guidance out there about the topic and what's there is inconsistent. I'd like to hear your thoughts at some future time.
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Brian Oh, I see! I'm sorry to hear - I've seen people occasionally mix up the names of right-hand fingers (a,m,i) with left-hand fingers (1,2,3,4). It didn't occur to me that you meant 1,2,3, instead of i,m,a.
That being said, I wouldn't worry too much about the nail touching the string on the left hand either - although I'd have to see a demonstration of your issue to understand what you're trying to solve. Looking forward to seeing you in future AMAs, virtual masterclasses, etc.!
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Mircea Thanks! I didn't know about the different finger names.
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Hi Mircea! I am an amateur in classical guitar. How would you advise on the allocation of time if I only have the practice time of about 45-60 mins per day. My present schedure is 5 min on technique, 5 mins on sight-reading, 10 mins on tremolo, about 25-40 mins on repertoire.
Thank you!
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Steven Liu Hi Steven! Great question - here's my answer (video should start at 13:55):
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