Classical guitar technique

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the Contemporary classical guitar technique

In classical guitar, the right hand is developed in such a way that it can sustain two, three, and four voice harmonies while also paying special attention to tone production. The index (i), middle (m), and ring (a) fingers are generally used to play the melody, while the thumb (p) accompanies in the bass register adding harmony and produces a comparable texture and effect to that of the piano. The classical guitar is a solo polyphonic instrument, and it is difficult to master. Classical guitar techniques can be organized broadly into subsections for the right hand, the left hand, and miscellaneous techniques. In guitar, performance elements such as musical dynamics (loudness or softness) and tonal/timbral variation are mostly determined by the hand that physically produces the sound. In other words, the hand that plucks the strings defines the musical expression. Historically, this role has been assigned to the dominant hand which, for the majority of players, is the right hand. Similar reasoning is behind string players using the right hand for controlling the bow. In the following article the role of the hands should be reversed when considering left handed players. An introductory overview of classical guitar technique is given in the article Classical guitar.

This is the traditional position and still the most common. The player sits on the front of the chair and the left foot is supported by a foot stool or some other device. The right elbow is placed on the box of the guitar so that the hand falls over the strings, with the fingers at an angle to the strings. The right foot tucks underneath the player to make room for the guitar, while the guitar is turned to the player's right so as to rest against the ribs on the player's right side.

A number of guitar supports have been designed to allow the guitarist to sit in a posture recommended by the Alexander Technique: with a straight, untwisted spine, even shoulders, horizontal upper legs and both feet flat on the floor. The idea is to use the support to place the guitar in the correct position above the legs rather than conform the body to the guitar.

The tripod used by Dionisio Aguado y Garcia is shown here.

Straps are used for acoustic and electric guitars, and some argue for their use in classical guitars (particularly early guitars).

Paul Galbraith uses a cello like endpin arrangement.

Over the history of the guitar, there have been many schools of technique, often associated with the current popular virtuoso of the time. For example, Mauro Giuliani (1781 1829) is associated with arpeggio playing and his compositions are largely based on their use. Giuliani's solution to achieving independence between the fingers (evening out constraints or differences between the fingers) in the right hand was playing his 120 Right Hand Studies. By contrast, Andres Segovia maintained that playing scales two hours a day "will correct faulty hand position" (1953) and for many years, this was the accepted practice. In both schools—one being all free stroke (Giuliani arpeggio practice) and the other rest stroke (Segovia scale practice) the basis for learning the technique is hours of repetition. In 1983, Richard Provost outlined principles of scale and arpeggio technique based on his study of anatomy to make the 'inherent kinesthetic tendencies' ("our limitations") of the human body work for the player. Rather than working around them, the intention being production of "a musical, articulated sound within our physical limitations". The basis of this technique is referred to by Charles Duncan as "the awareness of the release of tension".

The traditional names of the right hand fingers are pulgar, índice, medio, and anular, derived from Spanish. They are generally called p, i, m, and a, "p" being the thumb and "a" being the ring finger. (c = little finger or "chiquito"). The four fingers of the left hand (which stop the strings) are designated 1 = index, 2 = middle, 3 = ring finger, 4 = little finger The number 0 designates an open string, one not stopped by a finger of the left hand. On the classical guitar the thumb of the left hand is rarely used to stop strings from above (as may be done on other guitars): the neck of a classical guitar is too wide and the normal position of the thumb used in classical guitar technique do not make that possible. Scores (in contrast with tablature) do not systematically indicate which string is to be plucked (although in most cases the choice is obvious). When indication of the string is required, the strings are designated 1 to 6 (1 for the high E, to 6 the low E) with the string number inside a circle. The fret/position where the first finger of the left hand is placed on the fingerboard is usually not systematically indicated, but when necessary (mostly in the case of the execution of barrés) indicated with Roman numerals corresponding to the fret number from the string nut (which has no numeral) towards the bridge.

"Preparation" is the placing of the finger on the string such that the flesh — as well as part of the nail — touches the string, before a plucking motion is made, producing an articulated sound, found in other instruments.

Modern practice generally makes use of the nails of the right hand in combination with the flesh of the fingertips in order to pluck the strings. During the 19th century many influential guitarists such as Fernando Sor, Francisco Tárrega and his pupil Emilio Pujol played using the flesh of the fingertip, in common with lute technique. This was more easily done with gut strings due to the surface texture, but became more difficult with the introduction of nylon strings where the surface was smooth. Plucking the strings usually involves making contact first with the fleshy part of the fingertip, the tip of the nail and then letting the string glide smoothly along the curvature of the fingernail until the string is released at the fingernail's tip.

Rasgueado Rasgueado or rasgueo is a Spanish term for different forms of strumming the strings on the flamenco and classical guitar that include the use of the back of the fingernails. More commonly, the term refers to using the backs of the nail in sequence to give the impression of a very rapid strum. There are several types of rasgueado that employ differing combinations of fingers and thumb allowing for a variety of rhythmical accentuations and subdivisions of the beat. Use the palm side of the thumb joint to lightly strum strings, producing a soft, low sound. Use the thumb nail to produce a bright sound. Use the thumb nail to strum from lowest string to highest, followed by a stroke by the thumb nail from highest string to lowest, and finally by the middle finger coming from highest string to lowest. This pattern is most commonly used in the form of triplets for a 4/4 measure, or used four times in a 12/8 measure. A simple combination of both fingers and thumb, the thumb striking the lowest strings and fingers picking the upper notes of the chord from lowest to highest strings in rapid succession.

Slurs, trills and other ornaments are often played entirely with the left hand. For example; in a simple case of an ascending semitone slur (Hammer on), a note stopped by the first finger of the left hand at the fifth fret is first played in normal manner, then, without the right hand doing anything further, the second finger of the left hand is placed straight down at the sixth fret on the same string, using its momentum to raise the tone of the still ringing string by a semitone. A descending slur (Pull off) is simply the opposite of the above, the slur begins on the higher note, and it is common that the finger pressing the higher note actively plucks the string as it lifts, causing the string to vibrate from the fret that the lower finger is depressing. The lower finger is usually in position and pressing before the procedure begins. Three specific descending slurs exist, (1) the active finger lifts directly up and off the string, (2) the active finger rests against the adjacent string immediately after, and (3) a hybrid of these two in which the finger bumps the adjacent string before lifting off. If these procedures are repeated a few times the result is known as a trill. Because the note is being plucked repeatedly it is possible to continue a trill indefinitely. Occasionally, the upper note in such a trill is played by alternating fingers thus: 2 1 3 1 , etc.

The classical guitar vibrato is executed by rocking the tip of the left hand finger(s) back and forth horizontally within the same fret space (i. e. along the string axis, and not across it as for a vertical "bend" in rock or blues music) producing a subtle variation in pitch, both sharper and flatter than the starting note, without noticeably altering the fundamental tonal focus of the note being played.

Natural harmonics can be played by touching a left hand finger upon specific points along an open string without pressing it down, then playing the note with the right hand. The positions of both the left and right hand are important. The left hand must be placed at a nodal point along the string. Nodal points are found at integral divisions of the string length. The simplest example would be when the left hand finger divides the string in two and is placed at the twelfth fret. The note then played is one octave higher than the open string. If the string is divided in three (left hand finger near the seventh fret) the note played is one octave and one fifth above the open string. Artificial harmonics are played by stopping the string as usual with the left hand then resting (not pressing) the index finger of the right hand on the string at a nodal position (commonly 5, 7, 9, or 12 frets above the left hand finger) and plucking the string with the ring finger or thumb of the right hand.

In the left hand, each finger is responsible for exactly one fret. For each hand position of four frets, the left hand is stationary while its fingers move. Consequently, three hand positions (of frets 1 4, 5 8, and 9 12) cover the 12 fret octave of each string. In common with other classical stringed instruments, classical guitar playing and notation use formal positions of the left hand. The 'nth position' means that the hand is positioned with the first finger over the nth fret.