TPGC Blogs

Find a partner and try ensemble playing. As well as being a pleasant way of passing time, ensemble playing is a sure way of improving one’s general standard of performance. For the uninitiated, here are some suggestions which should help to avoid the most common problems faced by novice duettist. 

Seating arrangements.
You will need to sit so that you can see and hear each other easily, don’t forget the audience deserves the same consideration. 

Tuning. 
There are no hard and fast rules. One person can tune first and then play a string at a time for the other player to tune to. 

Togetherness.
Unless you are telepathic there will need to be some form of visual signal in order to start and end together. There may also be other points in the music where it will be necessary to provide a cue. The most common way of doing this is by a discreet nod of the head. Its good if the one designated to nod sits on the left so that the partner looks down the neck of his guitar to the player giving the signal. This is especially helpful when there are position shifts in the piece as the player giving the signal need not look at the other player. The partner on the right can see his guitar neck at the same time as the cue. Beginnings and endings are very important and will need much practice to make sure both are precise. 

Critical analysis.
It’s very satisfying to start and finish together, but more is required. Is the tempo right and the phrasing clear? Should there be more tonal contrast? etc, etc. A cassette recorder will often reveal what we failed to notice while actually involved in playing. 

If both players can cope technically with the music selection, this sort of preparation will ensure that no matter how simple the music, the guitarists and the audience will enjoy the performance.

- by Ernest Kwok

Technique is the most important factor in playing the guitar. It overrides everything else–musical ability and musical knowledge. Its importance can never be over emphasised because in it are all the abilities required to produce music. Without technique, the greatest musical gifts are unable to find expression. However, once technique has been acquired, it is no longer important– as long as it is there!

The problem with technique is

1. to acquire it
2. to maintain it.

Acquiring good technique means long hours on the guitar but it must be intelligent parties. Constant repetition of a piece of music complete with mistakes merely ensures these mistakes are there for good! So, a sensible guitarist notes the difficulties and devices a means of overcoming them. Tunes with difficult scalic passages can often be improved by practicing scales, scales that has no relation to that particular piece. This sort of practice is usually more effective because if a piece is technically demanding, by the time it is learnt, the player will be so sick of it!

The trouble with most of us is that we spend all our lives trying to improve technique. These efforts are reflected in our playing of pieces both for ourselves and others. So all playing becomes practice. It explains why I say that once technique has been acquired, it is no longer important. Our problem is to be able to divide our playing into practice and playing and not to mix the two because it will make no sense to wait until a good technique is acquired before playing a piece musically(as against technically). I suggest that if a piece is technically possible, it should be practiced carefully to ensure a clear presentation. Then, when that happens ,it should be played with attention solely on the music to enable you to put your whole heart in it and forget the technique!

The better the technique, the better can music be played. Time spent on improving technique is time well spent!

Happy Guitaring.

by Ernest Kwok

The actual process of learning a piece is something I have thought about for many years. Don’t know whether this will work for you but I’ve arrived at the following format by experimenting and discussing with other guitarists and musicians. 

Read through the score without your instrument. This way, the technical problems will not get in the way. Try to hear the music in your mind. Study the rhythm, phrases, harmonic progressions, etc. 

Play the piece through very slowly. You should now take note of the difficult passages. Try to devise some technical exercises based on the specific problems and worked at them slowly. Remember, you cannot play something fast if you can’t play it slowly. 

Put some landmarks throughout the piece. Memory lapses happen even to the best musicians! When i first saw Segovia played in 1981,he was pretty old then and there were memory lapses in most pieces but through his vast experience ,he just skipped the bars, moved on to the next section and finished the piece! 

Practice the piece in sections. Do not be too ambitious. A bit at a time is better than playing to whole piece aimlessly. 

To check whether you really know each section, either play for someone or write out the section from memory. With much practice, it is possible to not only see the printed page in your mind, but also hear every minute detail of the score. 

Finally, do not keep playing the piece. If you had practiced correctly, a lot of work would have been done in that time for the subconscious to take over. Play something else. It will be beneficial to have a rest from a piece and when you come back to it, you will be fresh and ready to bring that piece to greater heights.

by Ernest Kwok

The correct use and care of the right hand nails is one very important factor in determining tone quality. Isn’t this what playing the classical guitar is about? Producing the most beautiful tone!

Long before our time, guitarists only played in court yards, small theatres, chapels, etc., the lower volume they produced did not really mattered. So, many players did not keep nails. Today the concert guitarist must produce a sound loud enough to project to the back row of a large concert hall(1000 to 2000 people) without the aid of amplification.

In the 19th century, the dimensions of the guitars were smaller thus not as powerful as the modern guitar. Majority of the leading players used the flesh technique but D Aquado, the Spanish guitarist/composer, used his nails .The theory was that if nails were used, the tone quality could never be as pure and sweet as that produced with just the finger tips. Nail playing became established in the beginning of the 20th century through the efforts of Segovia. It is now the generally accepted way of sounding the strings. When done correctly, it produces a balanced, clear tone with a wider range of tone colors and dynamic level.

What you hear at the onset of the note is an image in sound of physical contact. A flesh contact will produce a “fleshy” tone, which certainly has it’s use as an expressive device but lacks clarity enough to be the norm of good tone. A fashionably pointed nail will produce a hard, sharp sound. Thick and thin nails tend to produce tones which are, other considerations aside, “thicker” or “thinner”, while a rough nail surface will produce a scratchy tone.

The shape and finish of the fingernails largely determine tone quality. What we frequently mean by good tone is in fact the variety of nuance made possible by different angles of nail presentation. The attack should be slightly angled to enable a smooth transition as the string moves from the finger tip on to the nail. There is a sweet spot in which the nail will produce a good clear attack, and you need to achieve this by experimentation. There are no hard and fast rules governing the length of nails and is a matter of trial and error. With the palm facing you, it should be possible to see the nails protruding over the ends of the fingers. The length of the visible part of the nails vary from each individual(1mm to 3mm).Try different length to see how they work. In general, the thumb nail should be about twice the average length of the fingernails.

Once you have the correct nail shape, the edges must be smoothened and polished with fine grade wet and dry paper(1200 to 2000).Remember to polish the inside of the tip of the nail too.

Badly maintained nails will result in a thin and scratchy tone. Make polishing your nails a daily routine and you’ll enjoy your guitar even more!

by Ernest Kwok

The best guitars come from small workshops. Sometimes a principal will oversee the work of several experienced craftsmen, occasionally there will be a collaboration and division of labor often, though, the guitar will be made by one man working alone. This pattern of craftsmanship is the key to both the individuality and quality of the handmade instrument. Two men can sit at adjoining workbenches, working on the same design, with the same timbers and following the same procedures–but the guitars they produce will sound different. 

Every maker builds something of himself - his ideas and his personality into what he makes, and every handmade guitar has a distinctive character that derives ultimately from the individuality of the man who made it. In a factory-built guitar, assembled by different workers from mass-produced pre-prepared parts, such character is impossible. 

The luthier’s traditional methods has other plus points. In developing his conception of the guitar, he can draw on his past experience and results. He is free to experiment, making slight changes from guitar to guitar in search for his ideal sound. He can tailor a guitar to the requirements of a particular customer. He has the opportunity to discuss his work with outstanding guitarists who judge his success or failure. Above all he can select, cut and season timber to his exact requirements, and control quality at all stages of development. 

These advantages have to be paid for. The best materials are costly; Hand construction is slow and laborious; and a luthier’s production is not large - about 20 to 30 guitars a year, sometimes less. Finally, the demand for good guitars has outstripped the supply and they have become subjects of investment. The price has risen accordingly.

by Ernest Kwok