Good lesson, I will definitely practise these techniques. Thanks indeed. I also play bass guitar, where damping the strings is also of vital importance. The difference with classical guitar is that you mostly use the point and middle fingers to pluck the strings and the thumb to mute them.
Thanks for the class! I heard other violonists talk sometihing about dumping but never really carred about that im my studies. Now I will pay more attention in the baselines of my repertoire to see how big is the mess haha. Your classes are really great!
In English for everybody’s benefit. Since you mentioned Giuliani’s work is a very good example where this technique is useful I’m wondering if his 120 right hand arpeggios are supposed to be practiced like this. Since most of them are triplets, should the bass be damped each time? What would be your thoughts?
Greetings, dear Merce!! Many thanks 🙏🏻 for this wonderful (and with some humor) video/ lesson. Greatly enjoyed watching it and noting the points. Didn’t know about damping on classical guitar, but might have muted the strings using right hand - so it’s kind of new concept here for me , and have to put a conscious extra effort. Will attempt to practice 👍🏻. Thank you 🙏🏻 so much for the new insights. As always, much appreciated, and Best Wishes always. Have a wonderful weekend and week ahead!!
@@MerceFont Absolutely you are such a great player. Who did you study with? Where? I myself studied with Dr. Micheal Quantz from The University of Texas
@@MerceFont wow!!! I know Goran, I doubt he knows me. He actually came to my University to Perform and I played a Theme and Variations piece for him in a Master class. Great player!! You are well set!!! Wow amazing
hahaha well, no worries, the videos will stay here for you, they are not going anywhere! :D I'm trying to bring some useful content for the classical guitar community here so feel free to share it with other players who might enjoy it, that will help my work so so much! 🙏🏻😊
Oh cool! I can imagine he included that, is a pretty essential concept to know :) I'll look it up and see if I can find any digital version of William Kanengiser videos, I love his work!
Hi Arthur! nice question here! Well you can certainly use apoyando for the situation you describe, but in fast pieces (or in situations like you have some arpeggios going on, on the top voices, just to name one hypothetical situation) it is not really possible to play apoyando (or very difficult/uncomfortable), so you'd better think of the movement as if you were going to play the string in free stroke but then you just touch it and go away immediately. Like this your thumb doesn't get blocked by the apoyando action, nor your hand compromised with the position because of a rest stroke style. Hope this description is clear enough :) Thank you for joining the premiere and I wish you a beautiful weekend!
Hi merce, thanks for all the free tips and lessons. Could you help me out with this issue. I've heard that for a fuller, warmer sound for the thumb, we need to play on top of the string, especially on the lower strings. However, when I try this, especially on fast pieces like tremolo, I have to change the angles of fingers, which compromise with speed and precision. How do I resolve this? Any tip would be greatly appreciated.
I'm sure you can do it! It might feel odd at first but once you have tried it several times you'll see how is not so hard to do. It becomes quite tricky when the piece you are playing is rather fast and involves complex damping combinations. Next video I'll show many other variations that you might encounter and solutions you might need to use :)
Thanks again for another great technique video Merce (also thanks for responding to my comment on an earlier one). As usual, very useful (and timely) practice techniques, which will certainly come in handy for some of the Guiliani studies I'm working on. Lots of rests in the bass voicing, so this is perfect. You could say he wrote some very restful pieces :). (sorry, couldn't help it)
Nice... Michael Lorimer was all about string dampening. I took a master class with him in '78. Also - you're using thumb-rest-stroke for moving across the strings (consecutive) right? I don't remember him talking about your technique#2 tho.
There are many damping techniques so I believe the best is to have all the different possibilities in your musical 'tool box' and use the one that fits best for every situation :)
Hey Merce! Another rather awesome vídeo. ¡Gracias a lot! There's a question I've had for some time now and I thought this is a great opportunity to ask about it. When you play with your thumb on the 4th string and then you play the 5th, do you use rest stroke in order to damp the 4th string?... Or you simply do the tirando movement with the pulgar on the 5th string and then just rotate it back to the 4th in order to damp this "higher" string?
Hola Juan! Gracias por el comentario, te contesto en ingles asi todos lo pueden leer si les interesa :) You can use the rest stroke if the musical situation allows it (eg, within a ritardando, when there are no arpeggios on top, or when the voicing is clear enough that you have ample space and time to do such action without breaking your phrasing). In other situations where the music is either faster, or the note is a resolution and you don't want to accidentally play an accent (we know thumb is always a rather heavy-sounding finger), or any other situation, you might be better off going back for a second to touch the string that you want to damp. On the other hand, you can also make a technique that is a 'hybrid' within rest and free stroke. You just plug the 5th in free stroke but measure the movement so that the landing is directed to the 4th to stop it immediately without having to make a rest stroke hand adjustment. So similar to what you wrote ' simply do the tirando movement with the pulgar on the 5th string and then just rotate it back to the 4th in order to damp this "higher" string' but without the part of 'rotating the finger back'. The difference is very subtle, but it can also be of help in tricky situations when the extra movement is too much and the rest stroke isn't helping your musical direction).
@@MerceFont Thank you so much for the detailed response, Merce. Now I'm heading back to the practice room and get x1000 times better at dampening strings.
I have a question, please. If we pluck on A then D, so we should get back quickly to stop A. But if we have a note on low E right after D what to do? We can't go quickly 3 times before demand note
Dear Ramy, yes, sometimes the thumb will have to jump more than one or two strings to damp one string. Depending on the musical situation that can easily be done with the right hand and some others, where the music happens really fast (see part 2 of the tutorial, it will clarify some things on that) is preferable to use the left hand instead. Hope I could clarify your doubt! Keep practicing and I wish you a great holiday time!
@@MerceFont You are a great teacher and a great humble person. Thanks for replying to every comment of every audience and thanks for the great videos. We will always wait for your videos. Greetings from sunny Egypt. Have a nice holiday too
Hey Merce! One Question: How to know if a piece is technically to hard for me as a beginner. Sometimes I'm not sure if it's to hard or if I just practiced it wrong when I can not play it 100% clear after few weeks.
Hola Jose, ya me gustaría poder hacer contenido en los dos idiomas pero no tengo tiempo material para hacerlo todo doble. Quizás algún día hago algún que otro en español, pero en general lo hago todo en inglés ya que gente de una gran variedad países lo puede más o menos entender, aun que no sea su lengua materna :) Un saludo y feliz Navidad!
Very good. Also damping with the left hand. (Ironically your video would much better if you had dampened the background piano music that was irrelevant, and which contributed nothing except for making listening to you and your playing more difficult.)
Hi Merce. Now, your English is excellent but I think that you have made an error here. The English word that is used, for this technique, is DAMPING, not DUMPING. Just a thought!
Good lesson, I will definitely practise these techniques. Thanks indeed.
I also play bass guitar, where damping the strings is also of vital importance. The difference with classical guitar is that you mostly use the point and middle fingers to pluck the strings and the thumb to mute them.
I just watched the beginning of this video 10 times in a row, she is so funny, it so true! I couldn't stop laughing.
THANK YOU, BEEN HAVING A HARD TIME BUT YOUR TEACHING I CAN FOLLOW AND UNDERSTAND AND LEARN FROM. THANK YOU!!!
Thanks for the class! I heard other violonists talk sometihing about dumping but never really carred about that im my studies. Now I will pay more attention in the baselines of my repertoire to see how big is the mess haha.
Your classes are really great!
Wonderful! Wish you lots of fun with this practice! crossing fingers you dont have to deal with a too big mes... hahahah🤗
interesting topic!
And very important to control at a certain level!!! :D
Thanks!
thank you so much for your kindness and generosity!!!
I am watching many of your videos and am learning so much!!
Thank you for taking the time to do this.
So Helpful!!!!!!!
Just the tutorial required, spot on!
Great!
09/13/2022 actual understand and practiced with sound musicality- great for first chair guitar early learning study.Thank You Maestro
Very good, Merce!
Thank you so so so so so so much
Happy to help!
In English for everybody’s benefit. Since you mentioned Giuliani’s work is a very good example where this technique is useful I’m wondering if his 120 right hand arpeggios are supposed to be practiced like this. Since most of them are triplets, should the bass be damped each time? What would be your thoughts?
I was always wondering what makes your playing so clear and the legato parts are beautiful as well. This video explains it well! 😇
Thanks a lot Pukka! That's so nice of you! :)
Very good lesson.
Thanks! 😃
Greetings, dear Merce!! Many thanks 🙏🏻 for this wonderful (and with some humor) video/ lesson. Greatly enjoyed watching it and noting the points. Didn’t know about damping on classical guitar, but might have muted the strings using right hand - so it’s kind of new concept here for me , and have to put a conscious extra effort. Will attempt to practice 👍🏻. Thank you 🙏🏻 so much for the new insights. As always, much appreciated, and Best Wishes always. Have a wonderful weekend and week ahead!!
Great video. Your channel is amazing. Subscribed for sure. Great playing
Thanks for the sub!
@@MerceFont Absolutely you are such a great player. Who did you study with? Where? I myself studied with Dr. Micheal Quantz from The University of Texas
@@TruthGuitar aw thanks a lot for your kind words! I studied with Carlo Marchione and Goran Krivokapic :) Do you know them?
@@MerceFont wow!!! I know Goran, I doubt he knows me. He actually came to my University to Perform and I played a Theme and Variations piece for him in a Master class. Great player!! You are well set!!! Wow amazing
Nice video
You're putting these out faster than I can learn, I'm still practicing slurs :D
hahaha well, no worries, the videos will stay here for you, they are not going anywhere! :D I'm trying to bring some useful content for the classical guitar community here so feel free to share it with other players who might enjoy it, that will help my work so so much! 🙏🏻😊
Nice video. I believe William Kanengiser had a similar segment on a DVD (possibly even VHS) 😊
Oh cool! I can imagine he included that, is a pretty essential concept to know :) I'll look it up and see if I can find any digital version of William Kanengiser videos, I love his work!
Great video again! Is tip #1 like applying an apoyando style with the thumb when moving from D to A to E?
Hi Arthur! nice question here! Well you can certainly use apoyando for the situation you describe, but in fast pieces (or in situations like you have some arpeggios going on, on the top voices, just to name one hypothetical situation) it is not really possible to play apoyando (or very difficult/uncomfortable), so you'd better think of the movement as if you were going to play the string in free stroke but then you just touch it and go away immediately. Like this your thumb doesn't get blocked by the apoyando action, nor your hand compromised with the position because of a rest stroke style. Hope this description is clear enough :) Thank you for joining the premiere and I wish you a beautiful weekend!
@@MerceFont crystal clear! Thanks for the answer!
another great tutorial video, they are very helpful and you make them entertaining :)
Glad you like them!
I love your job!!
Thanks a lot! really appreciate you do! :)
Se aprende mucho con Merce, Gracias!
Muchas gracias Gary!!!! Me alegra poder ayudaros! 😊
Your videos are very helpful, thank you!
Glad to hear that!
Buenísimo MERCE!! me pasa bastante,LO INTENTARÉ!! 😅😅👏👏👏👍💯
😊✌🏻
Hi merce, thanks for all the free tips and lessons. Could you help me out with this issue. I've heard that for a fuller, warmer sound for the thumb, we need to play on top of the string, especially on the lower strings. However, when I try this, especially on fast pieces like tremolo, I have to change the angles of fingers, which compromise with speed and precision. How do I resolve this? Any tip would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks. That was very helpful. I think it will take me ages to learn this technique.
I'm sure you can do it! It might feel odd at first but once you have tried it several times you'll see how is not so hard to do. It becomes quite tricky when the piece you are playing is rather fast and involves complex damping combinations. Next video I'll show many other variations that you might encounter and solutions you might need to use :)
Grazie! Lezioni meravigliose!
Grazie mille Davide!!! 🙏🏻
@@MerceFont 👍
Thanks again for another great technique video Merce (also thanks for responding to my comment on an earlier one). As usual, very useful (and timely) practice techniques, which will certainly come in handy for some of the Guiliani studies I'm working on. Lots of rests in the bass voicing, so this is perfect. You could say he wrote some very restful pieces :). (sorry, couldn't help it)
hahahhaha nice one Tim! Wish you happy practicing then! Hope this will help you for all the crazy giuliani bass lines! 🤓
Very useful video! And also, what kind of woods is your guitar built from?
Thanks Tudor! Glad it was valuable! :) My guitar is made of spruce (top) and rosewood (sides and back) :)
Nice... Michael Lorimer was all about string dampening. I took a master class with him in '78. Also - you're using thumb-rest-stroke for moving across the strings (consecutive) right? I don't remember him talking about your technique#2 tho.
There are many damping techniques so I believe the best is to have all the different possibilities in your musical 'tool box' and use the one that fits best for every situation :)
Hey Merce! Another rather awesome vídeo. ¡Gracias a lot! There's a question I've had for some time now and I thought this is a great opportunity to ask about it.
When you play with your thumb on the 4th string and then you play the 5th, do you use rest stroke in order to damp the 4th string?...
Or you simply do the tirando movement with the pulgar on the 5th string and then just rotate it back to the 4th in order to damp this "higher" string?
Hola Juan! Gracias por el comentario, te contesto en ingles asi todos lo pueden leer si les interesa :)
You can use the rest stroke if the musical situation allows it (eg, within a ritardando, when there are no arpeggios on top, or when the voicing is clear enough that you have ample space and time to do such action without breaking your phrasing). In other situations where the music is either faster, or the note is a resolution and you don't want to accidentally play an accent (we know thumb is always a rather heavy-sounding finger), or any other situation, you might be better off going back for a second to touch the string that you want to damp.
On the other hand, you can also make a technique that is a 'hybrid' within rest and free stroke. You just plug the 5th in free stroke but measure the movement so that the landing is directed to the 4th to stop it immediately without having to make a rest stroke hand adjustment. So similar to what you wrote ' simply do the tirando movement with the pulgar on the 5th string and then just rotate it back to the 4th in order to damp this "higher" string' but without the part of 'rotating the finger back'.
The difference is very subtle, but it can also be of help in tricky situations when the extra movement is too much and the rest stroke isn't helping your musical direction).
@@MerceFont Thank you so much for the detailed response, Merce. Now I'm heading back to the practice room and get x1000 times better at dampening strings.
Awesome!!!! practice well!! 🙌🏻
I have a question, please. If we pluck on A then D, so we should get back quickly to stop A. But if we have a note on low E right after D what to do? We can't go quickly 3 times before demand note
Dear Ramy, yes, sometimes the thumb will have to jump more than one or two strings to damp one string. Depending on the musical situation that can easily be done with the right hand and some others, where the music happens really fast (see part 2 of the tutorial, it will clarify some things on that) is preferable to use the left hand instead.
Hope I could clarify your doubt! Keep practicing and I wish you a great holiday time!
@@MerceFont You are a great teacher and a great humble person. Thanks for replying to every comment of every audience and thanks for the great videos. We will always wait for your videos. Greetings from sunny Egypt. Have a nice holiday too
2:23 what is name etude?
Hey Merce! One Question: How to know if a piece is technically to hard for me as a beginner. Sometimes I'm not sure if it's to hard or if I just practiced it wrong when I can not play it 100% clear after few weeks.
5:43
I believe a thumbs independence would be great for this exercice.
Working on damping techniques certainly will develop good thumb action independence :)
Por favor en español??
Hola Jose, ya me gustaría poder hacer contenido en los dos idiomas pero no tengo tiempo material para hacerlo todo doble. Quizás algún día hago algún que otro en español, pero en general lo hago todo en inglés ya que gente de una gran variedad países lo puede más o menos entender, aun que no sea su lengua materna :) Un saludo y feliz Navidad!
Very good. Also damping with the left hand.
(Ironically your video would much better if you had dampened the background piano music that was irrelevant, and which contributed nothing except for making listening to you and your playing more difficult.)
thanks for the feedback! its always useful to know what you guys prefer to keep improving the videos! :)
Hi Merce. Now, your English is excellent but I think that you have made an error here. The English word that is used, for this technique, is DAMPING, not DUMPING. Just a thought!
😂it's damping Merce not dumping
hahahah thanks for writing that because I always keep mixing them up... LOL
is it just me or is the audio fucked
Yea phase seems to be out of order but it kinda sounds cool lol