5+1 Things That Will Improve Your Classical Guitar Practising

In the first part of Things That Will Improve Your Classical Guitar Practising, I touched upon adopting new habits that can boost your efficiency. The second part elaborates on the importance of being mindful in your routine.

Time is of the essence.

Music is organised sound in time. As audiences, we experience a musical performance as it unfolds linearly; one moment leads to the next. We give meaning to the notes not only by what surrounds them and is heard concurrently but also what precedes and follows.

Listening to music is a highly complicated process. Although we are intuitively tuned to understand shifting emotional states conveyed by pitches and rhythms, a well-defined sense of beat is necessary as it seems to be conformity between musicians and listeners amongst all different cultures. 

In other words, no matter how diligent was the composer when choosing the right notes and rhythms if the performer doesn't support them boldly; in that case, the music suffers.

When it comes to keeping time, the metronome is the best friend you ever had; it will never lie to you and will make sure that you respect time.

Use the metronome in your daily practice. Make sure that you understand the rhythms that the score presents to you. The key word here is understanding; solo performances don't always need to be metronomically precise. Perfect executions, metronomically speaking, depending on the style, can be uninteresting. But, if you don't learn to perceive rhythms accurately your audience will be left confused.

So, remember to keep a balance of practising with and without the metronome. Eventually, you'll need to learn how to let the phrases breath as well.

Stand on the shoulders of giants.

Sir Isaac Newton famously wrote in 1676 "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants". Music might not be astronomy or mathematics, but the tradition is a well established one.

Through the aeons, teachers play the role of passing wisdom from generation to generation. And, in the age of information, books, forums, videos and blogs can give us additional insights into the music we pursue to master.

While we can take advantage of all those options simultaneously, with the danger of being overwhelmed, I would argue that nothing has more value than claiming the information ourselves. A century of recorded music gives us access the judgement, observations and vision of the great masters.

It is imperative to listen to music carefully, lots of it, various performers and interpretations. Analyse and criticise it; ask questions. Try to understand why they make the choices they do; what works, what doesn't and why. Make notes, then try to apply some of your findings to your playing.

Know thyself. Or at least try.

Psychological research suggests that we are not very good at evaluating ourselves accurately; we frequently overestimate our abilities. This is known as the Dunning-Kruger effect. The less we know, the more we think we understand; and musicians are no exception.

No matter how many times your teacher points out that your rhythm is way off, it's extremely hard to evaluate yourself objectively in real-time. Additionally, it is impossible to fix performance issues before you understand what these issues are. It is a process.

Thankfully, in our technological world, it is possible to shorten the gap between how well we think we play and how we do sound. To stare directly in the mirror and observe all our faults. We achieve that by recording our performances regularly and then listening critically. The emotional distance that is granted by becoming the audience allows us to review our playing slightly more objectively. And as we keep exercising this muscle of critical listening, we eventually learn to do it in real-time, at least to some extend.

And no, you don't need to set up a home studio, even a simple audio and video capture with your phone can have a similar effect. Admittingly, investing in some recording gear won't hurt; a pair of decent microphones and a good headphone.

A chat with the composer.

Most of the classical guitar repertoire was composed long before we were born, by composers that are not around anymore. But even for our contemporaries, we rarely have the chance to have a one on one chat about their works and intentions. In either case, they have grand us with something almost as good; the music score.

When you study a new piece of music, don't just read the notes. Study the harmonic implications, the motives, the rhythms. Break down the composition to its elements, see how they connect, ask what their purpose is. Try to understand what is their function in the micro and macro context.

Additionally, read the biography of the composer, learn about major influences, life and period. Be interested and get personal. This in-depth research is utterly inspiring and may lead to musical revelations.

Understand the notes.

"Music is a language", how many times you have heard or repeat that phrase? Well, I believe that most people don't truly understand what it means.

The most common reading of that phrase is that music can affect our feelings universally across all cultures, meaning that we can detect happiness and sadness even in unfamiliar music idioms. While that is not wrong, it doesn't even touch the surface of what makes music a fully grown language.

Pitch, tempo, rhythm, and dynamics convey shifting emotional states. In Western music, harmony gives us information about the hierarchy of pitches, their tendencies and their meanings. Even if we don't formally study music, we learn to intuitively understand these nuances by an early age with nursery rhymes, cartoon music, songs in family gatherings, etc. But, every culture has its music, and each has a language.

Study common practice harmony, study contemporary composition techniques, learn the peculiarities of different periods, learn the specifics of the culture that you come from, be interested in other traditions, and diverse musical genres. After you learn the basics, dive deep into things that got your attention, then study wide and repeat. 

Be interested in the tradition; in consequence, your playing will become more engaging and individual.

Destination.

Guitar playing is one of those things that you cannot stay still; if you stop pushing forward, you roll backwards. It takes a lot of hard work and discipline only to keep one's technique, let alone advance. Although you can set goals for yourself, there is no real destination. The journey is the reward; Music is a lifetime pursuit after all. So, don't be anxious, don't rush, enjoy every step of the way.

6+1 Things That Will Improve Your Classical Guitar Practising

Playing the classical guitar can be utterly gratifying for professionals and amateurs alike; moulding unique sounds with our fingers and expressing our inner selves. Even more so, playing an instrument is a way to escape some of our everyday problems.

On the other hand, practising the classical guitar can often be frustrating; progress sometimes feels impossibly slow, and there are way too many things that need our full attention.

Adopting a new habit, or slightly shifting our mental state, can transform our practice sessions and boost our efficiency. Besides, a more enjoyable time with our instruments could only make us want to play more.

Here are a few of the things you can do to get the most out of your practice session.

Schedule your Practice Sessions

If you often postpone practising, finding yourself not having enough time for a full session. Try to organise your day better, instead of picking up your guitar every time you feel like it. Just like many other activities, set a specific time for practising, and make sure to show up on time. No excuses.

Don't Skip Days

If you can dedicate a couple of hours every day for your passion, it's excellent. But, don't skip practising for a day because you only have half an hour, thinking that it won't be enough. Decide on one thing, be it a difficult phrase or technique, you wish to conquer; gather all your concentration and dedicate your limited time on taming it.

Practice What you Can't Do - but Don't Reach Out for the Stars, yet.

I often see people with very little experience try to tackle a difficult concert piece. Usually, they try on their own for a couple of years, then frustration kicks in because they don't see any improvement, and they either quit or (hopefully) search for a teacher. 

You should always practice material that is on the edge of what you can do, but not totally out of reach. Not too hard, not too easy. By building a well-balanced repertoire when the time is right, even difficult pieces will seem effortless.

Keep an Organised Space

There is no better way to lose time and kill concentration than having to search for that Bach score you wanted to work on, a metronome, a file for your nails, etc. Keep a tight and organised practice space with everything you need for the routine available at hands reach.

Do Not Disturb!

Speaking of concentration, put your phone in silent mode! You can achieve more in 30 minutes of full concentration, than in three hours full of distractions. Unless you are a surgeon, or your wife is pregnant, you can manage to stay off-line for an hour.

Don't Practice Through the Mistakes!

A common mistake that beginner guitarists do is to keep practising the same things, and usually by repeating the same mistakes, over and over again hoping that they might eventually improve. 

What happens is that mistakes are being reinforced through repetition. Our muscles don't care if it sounds correct or not; if you repeat a movement a hundred times, that's what they'll learn. So, every time you make a mistake, stop right there and start again from the top.

If the mistake persists, work out the specific measures that need attention. Find out why your fingers want to play something different, practice slowly and correctly until you have it all down.

Slow. Down.

Playing classical guitar requires fine finger movements and coordination. Guess what, you cannot control those if you play at a relatively fast tempo. Work on your technique at a very slow tempo, one at which you can control all these fine movements to a great degree. Once you have the correct movement down, it's easy to increase speed.

Repeat - repeat - repeat

You managed to play that difficult Villa-Lobos part correct... once. You should celebrate!? Well, not so fast! If you cannot play it correct at least five times in a row, you probably haven't nailed that part yet, and chances are the when you'll have to perform the full score, the "wrong" version will creep into your performance. So, don't be satisfied with one correct repetition, and move on to the next part. Repeat as many times necessary until you can play it correctly every time!

Don't neglect to enjoy your sessions

I hope that some of these ideas will help you play this difficult piece you have been trying for some months, and hopefully make your practice a touch more satisfying. 

Don't forget, no matter your level or your goals, be thankful for what you have achieved so far. Being able to play the classical guitar is a reward in itself.