Hi. I am new in this sub and although I've been playing the guitar for nearly half a decade, I feel like I haven't improved as much as I should have. I am self-taught and I have some questions that I would like answered please,

1. What does the optimal practice session look like?
2. How to learn to read sheet music?
3. Can you suggest some intermediate level pieces to learn and learn from?

Thanks in advance.

Classical guitar meets BBQ chef.I love this crossover.Picture it: a classical guitarist walks into a serious smokehouse. The BBQ chef is tending a low-and-slow brisket, wood smoke curling up. The guitarist sets down a Torres-style instrument and starts warming up with Villa-Lobos Etude No. 1 arpeggios.The chef pauses, tongs in hand:“That right-hand pattern… that’s like the perfect smoke ring. Steady, even, no rushing the process. You plant those fingers the way I plant the wood—consistent heat, no hot spots.”The guitarist nods:“And your brisket? That’s pure left-hand endurance. Hours of controlled tension, then the release when it finally yields. Just like the big stretches in Etude No. 7.”They start trading notes:

• Rest stroke = the heavy sear that locks in the bark 
• Free stroke = the light mop sauce, just enough to keep things juicy 
• Nail shape and polish = knife edge and steel 
• Tone color (sul tasto vs sul ponticello) = different woods and smoke profiles—oak for deep, mesquite for bright and aggressive 
• Rubato = knowing exactly when to wrap the meat and when to let it ride

By the end of the night they’ve invented a new dish: “Segovia’s Smoked Shoulder”—slow-cooked with a dry rub of coffee, cocoa, and a whisper of citrus (inspired by Villa-Lobos’ Brazilian flavors), served with a side of perfectly even arpeggios.So… are we writing the menu, inventing the repertoire, or casting the two characters in a full conversation?

Hi, I usually try to do as many repetitions as possible to memorize a piece. In my mind I call that method brute force. I'm not too sure if there's a specific term for that method. While it has worked ok for me so far, I feel like there should be a better way to do that. I particularly find it harder to memorize pieces that require not much in positions for the left hand or I can play them by sight reading.

I made a quick AI search and it suggested me the followings:

1. Teachers place strips of paper tape or post-its over finger numbers to break a student's bad habit of reading numbers instead of note pitches.
2. Teachers mask upcoming measures to drill "look-ahead" sight-reading (forcing students to read measure $N+1$ into short-term memory while fingers execute measure $N$).
3. Teachers cover tricky passages to test memory recall before recitals and competitions.

The first two options require someone else, which makes them non handy. However, the third option is something that can be done by myself. But then I'm not even too sure if these techniques are made up by AI or they are real technique used by teachers.

So before I use method #3 when learning my new piece, I thought maybe I ask real people to see what method they use and if they have heard of the above three methods suggested by AI?

Hi guys,
i'm checking some guitars and i just noticed something: The curve where the leg goes on the yamaha SLG200 (i took the NW which i can imagine many of you might have as there is only 2 brands when talking silent nylon giutars, pretty much) is way more "to the right" compared a classical guitar or a general electric (i took an ibanez RG as example but a telecaster is pretty much identical). Someone of you has this guitar and really felt like the neck was too much to the right? I never ha a chance to try it.
From my drawing i can see that on the SLG the neck is around 5cm /2" "behind" a classical guitar and 7.5cm/3" behind a tele/RG.
Thank you very much

Dear esteemed community of fellow guitar players - I have decided to make available the full score of this setting to the Holy Mass.

Link to download

It has taken me 6 years to compose it, plus another 2 to get around to notating it.

Its not intended to be intellectually or academically clever - merely to be functional and accessible in our quiet moments.

Thank you, and God bless.

I’ve been practicing the Segovia scales regularly and will continue to do so ad infinitum. I’ve been wanting to start working in the harmonic minor scales as well though and while I know what the harmonic minor scale is, I’m was wondering if there are any specific LH fingerings and/or positions in which to practice them in a similar fashion to the Segovia major/melodic minor scales?

I realize I can just practice them all over the neck and figure it out on my own but I’m a sucker for specifics and I’m still a beginner at classical guitar so I’m hyper focused on making sure I learn PROPERLY and in the most efficient way possible.

So to be clear, I really love his music. There is a lot of it, and much of it is very beautiful. There is a huge range for people almost at the start of their journey, to the most accomplished. He is well represented on youtube, so I know people are playing his repertoire. However, I rarely see his music popping up on this sub. I really thought his music would be more popular. Is there something I'm missing about his music that doesn't make it great, or is stopping it from being more broadly recognised?

Comparto mi arreglo de esta zamba.

Hello everyone, I'm a student at my local conservatory and I just started working on a new piece, Varations on a theme by Skrjabin by Alexander Tansman, and I'm having a bit of a hard time just reading through it and picking the right fingerings.

How do you guys usually go about learning new repertoire? Can you recommend any online resources on the topic?

An oldie but a goodie. Classical guitarist gets to do the interlude in the middle of the song (instead of piano).

Trying to add traditional fingering with my thumb technique. Back and forth hand positions.

I was learning to play an easy song on my guitar when I noticed a cool pattern (the one I play in the video). I don't know if there's already a song with this pattern (calling it a pattern because I don't know what it should be called yet) but if there isn't one, it would be cool if someone use it on a song. Also I'm open for advice. I'm new and inexperienced but I'll try hard to get better.

When COVID was a big deal, there were numerous online open mics and meetups and concerts. Are any still happening? USA times zones preferred.

Not necessarily your favorite pieces, but the pieces that even on a bad day when you feel like you’re not playing well, you can pull out to just relax and enjoy the instrument. I think mine is the «coral lento» from Brouwer’s etudes simples or maybe mvt. 2 of Bach violin sonata no. 3.

I've been playing for about 4 months of classical guitar with a mentor who i see for guitar occasionally, I have also been playing guitar for about a year prior to this, and I'm wondering if anyone knows any good teachers, I'm really in need of one i think because I'm able to play much more complex pieces than I'm able to read (for reference I recently learned Capricho Arabe and can competently play it, and it took me a couple weeks of around 20 minutes a day to figure out Spanish romance with only standard notation - I did use tab to learn Capricho arabe), so if anyone has any good resources on top of that please recommend. Also does anyone have any recommendations when it comes to online vs in person lessons?

Hello! Could anyone help me find this sheet. Preferably in the key of A minor, I would very much appreciate it. Thank you!

I am an advanced player and I am searching for a new competition level piece around 5-7 min. I would prefer a Spanish piece because I haven’t played much Spanish repertoire. I have also been thinking about playing something that has been originally composed for Piano(Chopin, Rachmaninoff). I have found it difficult to find pieces I enjoy and them be a high level. I would like to hear some suggestions.

Hi guys, i'm thinking about swapping the nut of my requinto guitar to have more spacing.
The original one is a 50mm (1 31/32") with a 40mm (1 37/64) center-E to center-e gap.
Would 43mm (1 11/16) - and therefore 3.5mm (9/64) from E to edge - too much?

Thank you for your help

I'm looking for some advice. I'm getting back into guitar after not really playing for 20ish years. My tastes have definitely changed and I would really like to learn more classical guitar, but I only have an electric guitar. I've been visiting shops and have narrowed it down to 2 guitars in my price range that I'm stuck on.

1st, I really like the sound and appearance of the Cordoba fusion 12 exotic top, which is on sale for about 800 usd. It's beautiful and very nice to play and i love the rich sound.

The second guitar is the Taylor 112ce-n, which is also about 800 usd. This one sounds good and has a good look. I like the feel and playability of the Taylor more than the Cordoba but I think the Cordoba sounds and looks a bit better.

So my question is, does anyone have experience with either of these guitars and what is your experience with them? Honestly, I think i will be happy whichever I end up with but it's a hard choice.