Classical Guitar Exercises

Video Transcript

"Hello! My name is James Manuele. I'm a guitarist and instructor here at Clark College in Vancouver, Washington and I'm here to discuss classical guitar exercises. I like to address the right hand and speak a little bit about the free stroke and rest stroke, exercises with open strings. Like any classical guitarist who is beginning the classical guitar will need to address both strokes. We usually play most of the time with free stroke so a good way to practice the free stroke on the right hand exercise is to take one string at a time and to alternate the index and the middle finger on each string. I'm going to start with the index on the first string of the guitar and strike it openly in the palm of my hand then right when I strike the index, the middle finger will take its place and strike the same string again. So, I have two strikes on one string, index and middle. As I continue up the strings I will approach the B string strike it twice. Practicing my free stroke. Notice by the time I get to the sixth string, my thumb is usually always behind my fingers resting on one of the adjacent strings giving myself a little leverage. I'm usually at a 40 or 45 degree angle and I'm slicing that string on that angle using a combination of some nail and flesh, giving a little bit of pressure on the string, I'm not pushing down on the string, I'm giving a little pressure and releasing it. Having a great follow through as you have a follow through on the first joint here into the palm of my hand. Now, when we address rest stroke, rest stroke is a little bit of a different approach, we strike the string resting the string on the adjacent string. If I strike the first string, my finger, my index finger will rest on the adjacent string, needing my hand to go up a little bit but not much to elongate my finger for the rest stroke. Now, after I strike this first string, again, my middle finger will take its place and strike it again. Notice my hand need to go up a little bit to elongate my finger to make it a rest stroke. The rest stroke is very commonly used in both flamenco and classical guitar. It's a very powerful stroke to use. After you practice the index and middle you can alternate within fingerings using another combination of fingerings, maybe the I and the A or the M and the A and giving yourself a different tone and feel using the other strings of the guitar. The other exercise that we can do for the left hand that most classical players who are just starting out would need to work on is slur studies. Slur studies is a very, a very good technique to learn and builds up dexterity in the left hand and for many passages and pieces they will have slurs written in. A very typical study or exercise we can do is in first position and striking the first string, pressing on the first string, first fret with your first finger and hammering it down with your second finger then you continue the process with the second to third finger, repeating the exercise. Change and go on the second string doing the same thing. So, what this will do with practicing either or open string arpeggios or alternating fingerings to practice to rest stroke or free stroke or slur studies will help you keep your technique up to par and good warm up before accomplishing your pieces."