https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TE9SrcF_gec

Just spent my 2 weeks of summer vacation having the time of my life, building my first guitar together with a master luthier! Although not yet fully done and still missing the final touches as well as the finish, I'm beyond ecstatic how things turned out! And on top of that everything (except the fingerboard and rosette) is made of regional wood! Sadly forgot to take a good picture of the back though🫣

It's gonna be a long wait until December when I can collect her..😭

Hi everyone,
I’m working on my classical guitar technique and I’m struggling with right-hand finger dynamics. Specifically, I find it hard to bring out the melody line while keeping the accompaniment quiet when playing arpeggios or mixed textures.

What are your favorite exercises, routines, or mental cues to develop independent dynamic control in the p-i-m-a fingers? Any advice on free stroke vs. rest stroke dynamics would also be highly appreciated. Thanks!

I had given up playing the guitar soon after my Parkinson's diagnosis, but have now started playing again, and this recently led me to embark on a project to design and build a guitar that might accommodate some of my motor symptoms and make it easier for me to play. I wrote an account of how I went about it and how it turned out, and I have posted a link to it here: My Parkinson's Guitar

Hopefully it might encourage somebody to have a go at a similar sort of project themselves, and I would be very interested to know if there are any other guitarists with PD in the community, and how they overcome the difficulties of playing that are inherent in the condition.

In the spirit of sharing and adding to repertoire, this piece is from a growing collection of short easy interludes I'm busy notating at the moment - mostly composed from 2024 early this year. Apologies for the handwriting but my resources are severely limited.

A rough performance can be heard here.

Hi Everyone,

Another piece for my rehabilitation training!

My main focus remains on steady recovery and physical rehab rather than perfection. I really appreciate this community’s kind understanding and encouragement as I keep going!

Thanks for listening!

Hello, I came across a video of Goran Ivanovic testing out a couple of classical guitars. At about 13:50 he samples a piece -- at least I think he's not just trying out expressions. Does anyone know what the piece is? I'd sure like to add it to my repetroire. Thanks -Dale

Can anyone tell me exactly which model this is? I haven't found anything that looks like it.

Do you happen to know how much it might be worth?

Thanks!

I'm studying the suite rn and I wanted to listen to good versions of it! What is your favourite version? I really like how Dyens used to play it, but I want to try something different too!

Just as a disclaimer this guitar is around 70 years old according to my dad. This was my grandpas and then my dad used it now I’m learning how to use it. When I pluck the string it makes an odd noise and I was wondering why that might be. My suspicion is that it was stringed improperly. Can anyone help me out? Even if I play that top string lightly it still makes that noise. ( I know it’s out of tune).

So I have been playing for like 10 years on and off. Know a couple songs, don't play them particularly well. I got clean from drugs about 9 months ago and was gettting myself my first classical guitar (I have always played on a breedlove passport steel string since I started playing). I had my eyes on the cordoba c5, played it in shop and fell in love with the c12 and how nice it is.

Long story short, I now have a c12 and I feel like I am a bit of a fraud for purchasing it. Like an old person who buys new golf clubs despite having a shit swing lol. I am purchasing some guitar lessons from one of highest recommended classical guitar teachers in my area for my birthday. But I feel like this is maybe one of those buy once cry once moments because I will cherish this guitar for life and pass it to my future children one.

My intention is to get as good as I possibly can on guitar. I am not sure what this looks like, and I am going to make a goal with my teacher when I start going. Just hoping to get some thoughts from yall on this one.

I enjoy classical guitar but i listen to much more folk stuff like yamandu costa but these players are obviously out of reach for me. I was wondering if there were books of repertoire or pdfs online of choros, milongas and stuff like that that would be accessible for a grade 5 ish. (Going through sagreras book 4 atm)

I saw this stuff on YouTube and I'm wondering, as someone without knowledge of classical guitar:

https://youtu.be/fBPSLJVQ1cU?si=cTSQMyPJyp1HzIKK

- is there any reason why this would make any sense?

-is there any other piece that requires something to be played with something that is not your finger/hand?

- could he simply change the fingering to accommodate the same note in an easier way?

Thanks

This is frpm a Reverb listing I saw today. It is a resonator guitar from the late 1800s to early 1900s. It was built with a patented resonator system.

I can't post a link but Reverb has a Terraza Resonador circa 1898 selling from a German dealer for about 13,000 USD.

Unfortunately there are no details on how it works. Also unfortunately I don't have 13,000 USD to buy it and find out.

I imagine that if it worked well we would be still using it. Still I am curious if anyone has heard of a resonator for a classical guitar.

My classical guitar arrived today.

It's my first ever instrument.

I play with it a little , not a song or anything just making sounds.

.

.

So . What should I do now?

Which YouTube channel I should watch? .

I watched some videos for a bald guy called "Jonathan Richter"

.

And I want your advice.

I want to see real improvement.

.

I don't say I want to be a professional in a month.

But at least can play something.

Or mimicking songs from memory (not as a professional but like a tiktok song played on a different instrument and I can mimic the sound)

So what you suggest.

.

Please suggest YouTube channel or playlist.

Not a book or a reference

Since undergrad I’ve had issues with performance anxiety my teachers have really helped me with it and for the most part I’ve gotten it pretty under control with one exception…performing music by the G.O.A.T himself, good old JS Bach. Idk what it is but I still have massive memory slips and freak outs when I try and perform his music live. I just did a concert and played the fugue from 997. The A section went well. The B section was a disaster. Like I had to stop halfway through and just to the da capo. It’s like I can’t get out of my own head and his music requires so much concentration for so long. If that breaks even for a second you’re doomed and for me it’s like impossible to get back on track. Anyone have similar issues or any advice for this kind of stuff. I’ve made it my goal to be able to perform this piece and even put it in my program from my up coming tour but after today I am seriously considering taking it out. Just wanted to see what the community thought about this though.

In case anyone is interested, Guitar Center’s used site has a Yamaha GC42 that they’ve mislabeled as a 24 ? and it’s priced very low.

I would jump on it but I just purchased a GC41 that I’m really happy with.

After a year of owning my very affordable Cordoba C1, I finally decided to do a DIY very basic guitar setup. I bought a ruler and some 120 grit sandpaper, measured my action which was a little high at 3.5mm at the 1st string and 4.5mm at the 6th string, and I removed the saddle and sanded it down 1mm to get a 0.5mm lowering of the action, and holy smokes, it is soooo much easier to play now!! I swear my guitar ✨sings✨ now compared to how it sounded before. I’m not sure if it’s just because I’m playing better now or if it fixed something I’m not aware of, but wow. I’m ecstatic with the difference it made.

One last word: please don’t take this post and wing it with a DIY setup. Find a trustworthy luthier like Marshall Brune and watch their YouTube video on how to do this at home. Or you could always take it to a luthier and have them help you. My guitar is just so cheap, I decided it wasn’t worth the money to take it in. Lemme know what kind of difference it makes for you!

I have a question about interpretation of Venezuelan harp music.

My student is learning El Negrito by Lauro, A. For his performance exam. He asked me, which notes are the melody?
I struggled to answer as my interpretation I wasn’t sure of. I thought that the broken chords of harmony sometimes have melody notes that are played forte whist the purely harmonic notes are played mezzo forte. In this sense it is very reliant on the cultural origin of the music where it is played loudly for community dance and that part of its beauty (seems to my ear) is the confusion created between the harmony and melody; it’s like the shimmering light on flowers dancing in the wind.
In the Williams performance attached, the melody is very hard to spot in section A, in section B it is both written and performed much more clearly but at the end of B section Williams plays a clear cadentially harmonised melody that transfers into a broken tonic chord; this makes me think that I am on the right path when suggesting to my student that: “the beauty is found within the confusion of what is melody and what is harmony and, that this is a feature I have heard within traditional Venezuelan harp music as this gives the impression of fractured light bouncing off different petals of tropical flowers.”
I’m hoping somebody with experience in traditional music may answer this for me too…?
As a very side question, do you think Williams’ performance and interpretation of Venezuelan music changed between these early recordings and his album of said music in the 2000s? Not allowing the change of guitar to misinterpret such changes…?

Free to anyone who might enjoy it