How to Play Allegro 1 on Classical Guitar

Mauro Giuliani, born in 1780 in Italy, was a well-known guitar virtuoso and composer by the time he was 20 years old. Students of the classical guitar become acquainted with Giuliani early in their education because he composed a set of 120 etudes that virtually all guitarists study. The etudes focus on arpeggio exercises for the right hand and are a good foundation for playing the Allegro 1.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Study the key and time signatures for this piece. The key is A minor and it is in 4/4 time.

2. Warm up by playing scales first and then some arpeggio exercises. Allegro 1 is primarily a study in arpeggios, or broken chords, so warm up the right hand by playing arpeggios first slowly and then at an increasing tempo.

3. Play the short piece slowly a couple of times to familiarize yourself with how it goes.

4. Keep your right hand relaxed. The fingers must be supple enough to produce clear tones, but release all tension from the fingers. Maintain a steady position with the right hand, moving only the fingers. This will allow you to pluck the strings quickly and smoothly.

5. Maintain stability in the left hand by pivoting on the fingers from one string to the next. The second finger can stay on the third string A note for the entire piece. Keep movements as small and relaxed as possible.

6. Practice the piece slowly a number of times before increasing the tempo. Speed it up only when you can keep your hand relaxed and the arpeggios flow smoothly and evenly.

7. Add dynamics, patterns of softer and louder playing, to the piece to make it more expressive. If your sheet music has dynamics written in then follow those. If not, experiment with building to a crescendo and then dropping back to a softer tone to build again. Make the dynamic patterns follow the phrasing of the music.

[ACORN12]

on 1/31/2009 Thanks for the tips. I really want to spend more time going back to Giuliani and Sor.