Why do you teachTechnical Exercises.

     While the title may seem pretty straight forward, most teachers do not place emphasis on this subject.  We have our students play these exercises over and over... but why?  What is the point of these exercises and how will they benefit the student must first be asked.
     I do a few exercises as warm-ups with my students.  You wouldn't play football or run track without warming up, so then why would you play your guitar without a short intro.  Studies have proven that getting the fingers loose before playing can help efficiency and precision.  But how do you choose the approach?
     I remember one teacher who would say, "Play all the major and minor scales as fast as you can, and see if you can beat your previous time."  WHY, I want to ask him.  What is the point of this?  Choose exercises for specific reasons, not just internal bragging rights that lead to poor technique.
     So, I would like to talk about a few of the many exercises I focus on with my students.  For the right hand we have speed bursts, taken from Scott Tennant's book.  This exercise increases speed and technical precision.  But more importantly, we change the fingers we work with.  So many students do well when they are working with only the I and M fingers, and fall apart when the A finger is included.  This little exercise forces the student to make all fingers competent, and to be able to access them when needed.
    For the left hand, we have "contrary motion," from John Petrucci's book.  This exercise forces the left hand fingers to work independently of each other, in arrangements that are pretty common but rarely practiced.
    These are only two of the many exercises that come up during my lessons, and new ones are constantly being integrated as faults are identified.  In addition, make sure to express to students the point of these exercises.   This will help them grow as both a student and eventually as a teacher.

Thank you to the UTPB and PBG ensembles

     On July 2nd, the UTPB guitar ensemble, and the PBG guitar students paired up to perform the National Anthem and God Bless America for the Midland Rock-hounds.  These guitarists took time out of their personal lives to both practice new music, and meet at the music building to work with the ensemble.  So this post is dedicated to them.
     So, to my students:
Isaac- is my longest active student.  Been with me for more than a year, and I have seen tremendous improvements in his playing.
Jackson- We have had several talks over the past couple of months.  Has a lot of drive and determination to help spread the Classical Guitar. 
Philip- Parents once gave me a compliment on how much improvement they have seen since he started studying with me.  Had to partially disagree... I just gave him the tools, he is the artist.  So much potential.
Charles- Reminds me a little of myself.  Loves playing instruments, and wants to play every instrument in front of him.  He is one of my newest students, and has already been invited to play because of his dedication to learning the classical guitar technique.
Angel-  Yes, Really (lol).
George-  Turning into my sidekick... my right hand man.  Comes from the electric guitar world and did not realize what he was getting into.  Amazing that in a few months, has been able to pick up level 1 pieces.  Did an amazing job harmonizing the chords for God Bless America.
   If it wasn't for these students... my friends, then this show would not have been possible.  To take time out of their personal lives to help spread the Classical Guitar...
THANK YOU!!!

It never happened (The limited range of the Classical Guitar)

     A lot of times, a student will finish playing a piece for me, and we will start to analyze the music.  One of the most common things I bring up is the dynamics.  What does the P mean?  Piano or soft.  What does the F mean?  Forte or loud.  So I ask, why didn't you play that, and they will usually respond with "I thought I did."
     The Classical guitar is unlike most of the other instruments in their dynamic range.  Talking with a trumpet player, I asked him if he could play real soft.  Yes.  Can you play so loud you can make my ears hurt?  Yes (with a chuckle).  We don't have that advantage on our guitar.  Our instrument has a very (comparatively) narrow range from soft to loud with out destroying our tone.  So we have to adjust for this when we play.
     Therefore, exaggerate the dynamics and work on the balance from a relative, not decibel standpoint.  Leave no doubt to the listeners about the crescendos and decrescendos, and emphasize all the dynamics   After all, no matter how well you did the dynamics, if the audience did not hear them, then it never happened.

Community Guitar Performance

     I would like to take this time to congratulate some of my students.  They signed up for the group lessons a few months ago, and have been working like crazy to get some music prepared.  On June 12, they were able to put together all the music and do a performance at the local church.  I'm not going to post their names, but I will describe the concert.
     We first started with Baby Bumblebee.  This piece worked out perfectly because each guitarist was able to a capella the "cute" parts at the end... three verses, three students.  All of the students really amazed me at how much they worked on their music at home.  I had given them shortcuts to help them out, and to my surprise, they all went home and learned the chords properly.
     Next, we broke off into solos and duets.  The girl in pink played her acoustic guitar and sang "Mary had a Little Lamb."  Anyone who has ever played the guitar knows how hard it is to sing and play at the same time, and she did amazing.
     This was followed by a classical guitar duet between myself and the girl in the purple.  We played the traditional song, "El noi de la Mare."  The skill we worked on here was how to play with your fingers and without a pick.
     The last duet was between myself and the boy.  He played a swinging I IV blues progression, while I played a solo based off of the minor pentatonics... a skill that he will be learning soon.
     The final piece was another group song, "Jesus Loves Me."  However, we learned some power chords and were able to add a little twist of rock into this normally traditional song.  All three of students amazed me so much, and I am so proud to be teaching them how to play the guitar, and for welcoming them as part of my family.

Playing the Wrong Note the Right Way

     This post is not specific to the guitar, and originates back in my saxophone/band days.  When beginner musicians learn new songs, they have a tendency to play real soft or quiet, rather than with full tone.  Maybe because they are not confident in there reading abilities, or because they are scared of hitting the wrong note.
     I tell my students, "would you rather hear the wrong note played with a weak tone, or a wrong note played with a full tone?"  The point is that a wrong note is a wrong note, and they happen.  However, if you play the wrong note with a full tone, at least the note will sound full, wrong pitch but full.  And in the music world of complex chords, sometimes the wrong notes can be hidden within complex chords.  No one would have even noticed if you acted like you meant to play that note.  
     So, would you rather hear a wrong note played weak or full?

The Recorder, a gateway instrument?

     Remember during your elementary years, and you had to learn that ridiculous instrument called a recorder?  I do.  This small piece of plastic that looked like a toy.  Having to sanitize it in that bucket after we used the mouthpiece.  Placing my fingers over the small little holes.  Can anyone even name a professional recorder player (I know there are some out there)?
     So why am I bringing up this random instrument.  Simple, because of the number of guitar students I have that when I interview them, they say they have no musical background.  All of a sudden, I put some music theory reference charts in front of them, and they are sightreading accurately on there first lesson.  I could go on and on about the importance of music in the public school system, but that is a can of worms that I don't want to deal with.  However, this little instrument helps to provide the basic music fundamentals needed in order to play more advanced and complex instruments.
    So this makes me wonder, how many professional musicians, had it not been for this "elementary" instrument, would not have gone off to play and create some absolutely amazing music... even on recorders.

Sitting in the "Other" Chair

     I was working with a student on a Villa-Lobos' Prelude #1, a piece that I had learned years ago when I was an undergraduate.  We were at one of the measures and she looks at me and says that I played that wrong.  I looked at the music and sure enough, she was correct.  I felt a little embarrassed at first, worked out the new fingerings, and finished out the piece.  This really bothered me at first, and the thought ran through my head for days. 

     What I finally came to realize is the reason why I had learned this measure wrong was because when I first learned the piece, I was in the "other" chair... the student chair. As a student, you are trying to learn so many pieces each semester, and our teachers are trying to fix as much as they can.  However, they sometimes may not notice a misplayed measure for multiple reasons, especially in a piece as complex and intricate as Prelude #3.  

     So, regardless of where we are at in our professional levels, we need to go back and look at some of the older pieces that have been in our repertoire for years. What we may find is that we may have made mistakes on these pieces, and can fix them.

     Conversely, we might be surprised to see how we analyze the music much different now.  For example, on Villa-Lobo's Prelude #3, I found some areas that I could utilize my increasingly-efficient legato abilities to create some absolutely beautifully flowing melodic lines that I was not capable of years ago, which made me really excited to relearn and play the piece.