Hello Merce. Hope you’re well. Just found your channel. I’m a total beginner at 61 but enjoying it immensely. Lessons such as this are invaluable in teaching correct techniques. I find your lessons so easy to follow. So well articulated. Thanks so much
Good on both you gentlemen for deciding to get into guitar, it's never too late to learn. If you would like any good classical guitar song recommendations to learn I'd be happy to show you some that help you learn to play yet sound great.
@@chrisbeaumont4630 very kind of you. I’m always interested in ideas for pieces of music to learn. But I’m really not very good at playing them! Thank you
Hi Merce, I'm 68, and picking up the clssical lessons lately. I bought a Yamaha GC 3D 1971 and its quality really pushes me to continue. I played the guitar when I was still young but only had time since my retirement to concentrate playing classical. Your lessons are not only extremely helpfu--it goes into the most basic techniques that others do not cover. Besides, your sincerity is infectious. Thank you !!!
Jazz guitarist here who has played with a pick or hybrid (pick + fingers) his whole life and is now starting to dive into the classical world for fun ☺️ greats tips. It’s actually quite interesting how different the electric and the classical guitar are as instruments… for me, electric bass is a much closer instrument to electric guitar than classical guitar is.
Thanks for this great video, Merce. I have a remark and a question. The remark: I always find hard to understand my right hand position by comparing it to a video where an instructor shows theirs from the front. You said that we could use a mirror and while that's a great help, I'd also like to see an instructor's right hand from his own eyes' point of view, maybe with a camera behind their left shoulder (in addition to front and lower view) The question is: do you think finger picking on a folk/acoustic guitar (steel strings) in country / pop / rock style should be any different, as far as right hand techniques are concerned, from classical guitar? It's my current situation, where I seem to be unable to find a balance between the two guitars or to change technique when switching from one to another. Best wishes from Italy
Hi! I will keep a note on that thing of the camera. For me it's a bit difficult logistically but I'm sure I can find a way to make it someday :) About your question: I totally understand it's hard to change from one to another. I myself had this experience in the begining and I felt my technique/knowledge was not solid enough in any style yet so too much variety was preventing for faster progress so I decided put one aside to focus on classical guitar. I think everybody is different but indeed, for country/pop/rock you might need different technique approach in several topics and you have to see how it interferes with your goal and dreams as a guitar player :)
I get the basic concept here, but I'm having a hard time integrating the "bounce back" technique into actual playing. It feels like when there is alternation, the finger that just played needs to stay in the palm until the next finger executes its stroke. And of course timing of the next stroke depends on the music, so it stays under tension until it can alternate. Maybe the idea is just to get in the habit of returning the fingers as a relaxation, rather than an additional exertion? Thank you for making all of your videos. They're very helpful to someone who learned his technique from some very outdated books years ago.
Totally disagree with the wrong way to pluck. Claw playing can give the guitar a slap/pop quality to the sound which can be really cool. It can even be implemented into classical music and sound awesome. While not feasible for many pieces and may not be the sound you want for everything, it is a nice tool to have in your back pocket. Edit: Don't think this works with long nails as you are right about the nails getting caught. Many classical musicians throughout the history of guitar have thought the sound of flesh is better than the sound of the nail, but I don't have nails because I can't stop biting them. lolz
Most guitar players are not aware that you can 100% transfer most classical guitar techniques to other guitar styles. A great example is what you teach in this video which has won you a subscriber. Not following your advise can lead to so much injury. This is the first time I have seen this concept explained so well. I had read about it but you made it crystal clear. Thank you so much
Thank you Merce for making this video. I really like your style of instruction. It's clear and concise. Right hand technique is so fundamental and something I've been struggling with. Please continue making more instructional videos. Thank you again!
same position for everybody. In fact, players who are naturally left handed tend to have more dexterity with the hand on the fretboard (despite many thinking they need to play the other way around). Always the neck on the left and the right hand is the strumming one. Might be tradition or whatever but if you do it the other way around it becomes problematic at some point to find great sounding guitars made the opposite way. So if you want to avoid headaches and unnecessary trouble, just go the normal way :)
I'm a Jazz guitarist newly obsessed with trying to learn classical guitar. It's a frustrating and humbling experience. Thank you so much for these extremely valuable guidelines which are fundamental to proficiency in technique and good sound.
Hi there! How’s it going with the transition so far? I play mostly jazz chord melody stuff and consider playing a nylon string as well as learning and applying some right hand technique to have some of this unique sound and feel under my fingers
You're a great teacher - you keep it very simple and slow, focusing on the basic fundamentals. You also play with elegance and fluidity, which shows your excellent technique. Excited to follow your channel!
Hello Thank you for this vidéo. I'm a beginner on classical guitar and these exercises will help me a lot. How to practice the rest stroke ? Best regards from France.
Hi, nice video. This will help me improve. Just a suggestion: the background music - though it would be nice on its own, here I find it rather disturbing. It makes the whole video sound nervous. I think without the background music the video would be calmer, more focused.
Hi, so grateful. I subscribed to your channel. Can you point me towards a lesson that you might've posted on right hand finger indepence, especially between m and a fingers? Thanks
Thank you for your great tips for the right hand. While I don't find myself making the mistakes mentioned in the video, I still pluck the wrong string (usually adjacent string to the one that I want to pluck) from time to time, especially Bach pieces where it gets quite complicated on the right hand. What can I do to fix that?
Dear Dat, indeed with pieces that aren't composed with the guitar in mind such things get a lot trickier. Without really knowing how you play is difficult to be very specific on what you might need the most right now. Yet, Im confident that doing some practicing with preparation (or also called planting), might help you a lot go gain awareness and orientation on the strings for such passages. If you can, talk about this with your teacher so he/she can show you how to really work it. Thanks for your comment and i wish you success with your practicing!
ا Please. Is it possible to write down the most important tips that the musician mentioned so that I can translate them into Arabic? Thank you very much
Hello. Firstly, thank you for sharing with us this important content for the guitarist base. I would like to know if you would be able to share some content focused on sound, as I have a lot of difficulty finding this sound. If you could share any references, I would really appreciate it!
this video is interesting and thoughtful but that music chattering away in the background while you are trying to explain yourself is so distracting I cant even watch this - maybe I'm just that way but I can't take the confusion
Hi, first of all thank you for all the important pointers for classical guitar beginners like myself. I can't help it but have to say that its easier to learn from a good-looking teacher. Having said that I fell your earnestness in wanting to share and teach. You're someone with passion for the art that you do and for teaching. I want to say that I really do appreciate that. Thank you for all the help because my fellow students and I need all the help we can get. Merci !
That was my first ever tutorial, after that, there is no more background music. Unfortunately I can' remove it once published. Hope you enjoyed the tips anyways ;)
As someone that was classically trained and because life happens and ended up in electrical for years (not that there’s anything bad in that) this little things are the crux of my existence when I come back to it. Thanks for the video:)
Actually you might have to very very sligthly direct the relaxed moove a bit higher, it s very subtle but almost no one talks about it because it usually comes naturally in the learning process but it s needed in my opinion...If you relax 100 per cent and goes exactly same way back u will mostlikely encouner the string on the way back and it makes sense physically...what was on your way is still there on the way back exactly like a traffic light will be at the same spot on the road if you get back on the same road...So you just have to do direct your finger WITHOUT adding tense in it...easy to say, hard to do :) this topic is very common in masterclasses, P Romero talks about it often...He says > " learn how to do nothing"..i think there is videos of it on utube..Anyway good luck ! Once you really relax as Merce says , you will see big improvement !
@@alexandreglize Thanks so there is a slight redirection, it's what I've had to do. I think I just need an instructor to help me get better at my technique. I've only been playing for around 2 months now but just started watching technique videos (hand placement and videos like these) and well have to start over. Better now than later but if I don't have someone looking at it then it's tough for me to determine whether I'm doing it right.
@@falkinable that s all right if you play just 2 months and sort this out now it s great! :) i play for over 15 yrs and i still try to get it right :) instructor is often great help.. If it s the one appropriate for you though! Otherwise it can ve frustrating or useless ....keep on practicing, i know some people who learnt online and play great!..
Welcome to the channel Tudor! enjoy the begining of your guitar journey! now everyday you pick up the guitar the progress will feel huge! hope the videos help you with it :)
Fabulous! This corrective video has done more to help me than any teaching session from any source in years. I also play 12-string guitar (my hero is guitarist/composer Ralph Towner), and as you know the spacing between string pairs on a 12-string is much narrower than between individual strings on a classical guitar. I have struggled for a long time to cleanly play just one pair of strings without hitting an adjacent pair when plucking. That problem immediately went away when I applied the lessons in this video, as did right-hand muscle cramps. I will be applying other video lessons from you, and I am thrilled to subscribe to your channel!
Aww thank you so much!!! I'm so so happy to read you finally found the way! Happy to put such videos out to help you :) Wish you lots of progress with them!
Which right hand position should I use when playing tremolo? Keep the same position as normal play and try to straighten the index finger to reach the 1st string or twist the wrist or lower the right hand so index finger can play 1st string in a usual "curved" position? When trying to speed up in tremolo practice, I have a bad habit of rotate the entire ring finger toward the soundboard in upward direction (kind of eliptical orbit), which exercises could help me fix that?
Hi Ernie! It really depends, every player needs different approaches to develop it. To tell you a more precise answer we should work together to see which kind of difficulties and strenghts you've got in this matter. Try around different exercises of printed methods and see what works best for you :)
I have a question for you. I played classical guitar decades ago, and just decided to get back into it, bought a Cordoba C12, and am watching your lessons. Before taking the classical lessons I was self taught on steel string guitars, I used the thumb for the bottom 2 strings and the fingers each got a remaining string. Should I re-learn the fingering so I don't use the smallest finger for picking?
Good question Mike! In fact, using or not using the little right hand finger for picking you shouldn't use a single finger for the same string all the time. I think soon enough you come across with the fact that when you need to play a stream of notes on the same string, using the same finger repeatedly will slow you down and build far too much tension. A good right hand technique should aim for freedom of movement and combinations, using alternate fingers for monodic lines (usually i-m is the fastest/easiest and most efficient) across all strings (from bass to trebles) as well as movable arpeggio configurations (eg. p-i-m-a-(e)) with any variation that you might need for any given musical situation. Eg. p-i-m or p-m, or a-m-i-m-a, etc... So, be careful training & approaching your right hand in a far too simplistic and unrealistic way... 🙃
Thank you! Alleviating stress on the body while playing is the most critical thing in my opinion if you plan to play for years on end. If you spend too much time in a bad position or with bad movement you can actually injure yourself and limit your playing greatly. 1 year of proper positioning will take you farther than 10 years with bad technique. I'd like to add: NAILS, you can't do this without nails, period. I mean, it's possible, but not really. You need well shaped nails otherwise you can't spring the hand properly. The other thing is angle of attack, you want "A" finger in a 90d angle to the string, "I & M" somewhere around 75 to 85d on the string and the "P" at a sharp 15 to 30d angle. Try to not move your hand much, your aiming to keep it as still as possible and sustained as close to correct position as you can.
Guitarist here! I want to learn to play the classical guitar. I'm not so worried about my left hand because I'm used to stretches, pull offs etc. but the right hand movements are foreign to me. I never plugged with my fingers.
Yeah, that's quite a change! Start with easy finger patterns and arpeggios and slowly build you right hand dexterity to a similar level of your left hand. Way to go chris! :D
This is very helpful and useful. Just wish the guitar music in the background would go away. I found it distracting and made it hard to hear the subtle differences in the tones you were demonstrating.
Thanks Katie! Indeed that was my very first tutorial and I kinda missed that... its indeed better without any background music for such videos, Thanks for the feedback anyways 🤗 wish you a nice day!
Thank you very much. Been looking for a good video like this one for a while. Trying to get back into classical guitar and couldn’t figure out why I kept missing strings with my right has I played. If you don’t use it, you lose it I guess!!! But It all makes sense now. Just have to rewire my brain again. Gotta go practice now! Thanks again!
Hi Andreas! I know, I don't use background music anymore, that was my very first tutorial and I was king of figuring everything out. Unfortunately I can't remove it anymore once the video is posted 🙃
Is bending the tip of the fingers really ok?? I tried to incorporate that into my playing & it messed everything up. especially when playing arpeggios.
It depends on each moment, melodic conduction can benefit a lot from bending the tip, but sometimes for arpeggios you might not want to have it extremely lose, at least not at the begining because indeed you lose control. Try to progressively adopt a plucking action where the tip of the finger is not in tension and, one bit at a time, allow it to bend it just as much as you can without messing up. Even if its just a little. If you do too much at once you might add tension elsewhere because its still too unnatural for you the approach. Small steps and always aiming for control and relaxation :)
Thank you for this video! Could you share what your guitar is? It looks smaller than mine, which is standard size and a bit hard for me to reach my right arm over. Thanks!
yep, my guitar is smaller, i made custom sized for exactly what I wanted. standard size is 65 but nowadays 64 guitars are very common and easy to find as well. Maybe also try to look for guitar makers that don't make huge body guitars, that might make things easier in your case. Good luck with the search! :)
Hi, do i need to growup my nail Mike tours?i am a man i font like long nauls Mike yours becouse i work manualy with differants type of tools i can't have long nails Luke girls what to do ?
You can plays also with no nails. If you like the sound and control of nails, then you can buy artificial nails special for classical guitarists to use during practice only. Look to Guitar Nails kit for instance :)
I'm confused. Is it necessary to always let the fingers bounce back. Other videos I see online the right hand is holding the tension and being slowly released.
I do like to do it as I gain more right hand relaxation and less 'forced' movement. If the finger bounces fast back, in fast passages it gets much easier to coordinate and remain flexible musically. Just my personal experience :)
are we supposed to listen to you and to the tones that you produce? If so then why your video contains this permanent annoying background music? That's a strange method of teaching,
That was my first ever tutorial, after that, there is no more background music in the tutorials. Unfortunately I can' remove it once published. Hope you enjoyed the tips anyways ;)
Mine are natural, I have quite good nails, hard but not rock hard and I rarely break them. Not everybody has this luck so finding a good natural nail replacement can be a huge deal for many players. I see pros and cons on both sides. I'll try to go to the point: - Natural Nails: Pros, tend to feel the nicest to play, you get better feeling and grip on the strings and the tone might have a particular richness that many people like over the natural nails. You don't lose them (that would be funny) and you don't have to pay for them XD). With a bit of care its really easy, comfortable, sounding great and fast to work with. Cons: if you practice too much you run out of them (so you have to use scotch or something to protect them which makes the sound much worse for practicing). If you break them you must get quickly used to whatever artificial nail you can get on the moment (which feels quite odd when you never use them) and they are never the same exact length all the time. Sometimes you get the perfect nail shape, many times you don't and you learn to deal with different variations and you have to keep them always nice and polished to avoid breaks or damage. - Fake nails: Cons, they are one more step before playing and sometimes can be time consuming. Some people find annoying to have to make the nails every time as its time consuming (well that depends on what you use) some others are fine with it. Some fake nails are really damaging the natural nail as it doesn't let it breathe, turning your natural nail gradually thinner and making you fully dependent on fake nails. To ever switch back to playing with natural nails can be a long painful process (years, until the natural nail regains strength and thickness). Many players struggle finding fake nails that sound well and not too plasticky. It requires a longer learning/discovery curve until you find what works for you and how to set them so that they feel almost like natural nails. They might be pricey if you need new materials much too often. Pros: once you've found your perfect fake nails, you can always have the nails on the perfect shape and lenght. If you break them you dont need to worry, you just take it off and replace it for a new one. If you have a set of fake nails well shaped ready to use (like reeds for wind players) it's a big burden out of your mind. You have freedom to choose harder nails or a bit thiner/softer to fully adapt to your playing style and right hand grip and even to the repertoire (eg. if you play turina with pieces that contain many rasgueados/struming you might want a bit harder thicker ones for the tone an strenght). Well those were just ideas that came out as I was typing, but surely there are other ones as well. Hope this info helps if you are thinking to go for one or the other :) Stay well and have an awesome week!
Thanks very much for the video. Can you tell me what the piece of music is that is playing at the start of your video? I know ive heard it before but i cant remember what it is.
Thank you Keith for your feedback! Probably you've heard it because is a song form UA-cam audio library and I'm sure many other creators used it as well, I don't quite remember how it is called... 😂😃
hmmmm i do not agree about the relaxation thing, i mean it is right but once you speed up the mechanic change and it is a preparation problem because you don't have time to relax each finger and play fast scales or fast arpeggios. Plus, with time i ve learn whatever it work because we all have different hands. When i was in conservatory i had a teacher (Bruno Battisti D'Amario) who used "the wrong" stroke (the bad pluck) but his sound was very full and he was an extreme virtuoso. Following master classes i've seen great guitarist pushing the string down and obtaining a very clear sound, this happen a lot with flamenco players. Anyway, you are right about relaxing, only it is just the beginning of the technique. My comment is not a criticism, you did a marvelous video and it can help many players, i just wanted to clarify some things.
Hi Notorious! very insightful comment! Indeed there are many great players with different technique. Some players can do incredible things with maybe an anatomically 'less efficient technique', but these are special situations and when one has to teach the basics you can't start with the exceptions. I believe that even with a very efficient technique, we all have our own way to move, so results might very in the long term. Yet when learning is important to get the essentials well and then your hands might slightly execute in a different way than another person. Getting to your relaxation remark: This tutorial of the RH relaxation is aimed at people who need to lower tension from the hand as it is an extremely common problem. The whole point is not having to move twice the fingers (to pluck and to go back into position) and as you well say, in speed one can't be thinking about such little elements, hence the practice of such a simple exercise is important in order to automate the process and avoid that the fingers to remain closed (as a fist) after plucking a string. The chain of movement gets blocked that way. After automating the practice of 1 action (pluck) = 2 outcomes (pluck+relax) can then be further extended to multiple strokes to enhance speed, relaxation and fluidity of motion for better musical connection.
@@MerceFont You have 100% right about what you said and i teach the same to my students, mine was a comment between advanced guitarists. When you achieve a point where it seems you are not reaching new goal it's time to think different and use whatever technique it takes and the solution can be different from person to person. Example, Lorenzo Micheli use a sort of lute right hand positioning, the thumb goes inside the other fingers, that would be wrong but it works for him and he is an incredible player. If you don't know him i suggest you to check him out, he is a mervelous guitarist.
Muchas gracias por sus videos, me ayudan mucho. Mi profesor de guitara me recomienda mejorar mis técnicas para tocar con mi mano derecha y mi mano izquierda. Jiji, siento que no tengo nada de economía de movimiento cuando toco, pero bueno, ¡a trabajar! :)
Hola Jordan! Claro, al principio todos tenemos que ir puliendo y educando las manos para funcionar como deberían! Nadie nace aprendido, asi que sigue estudiando y ya veras como poco a poco ves mejoras! me alegro que mis tutoriales te ayuden en tu camino! 😊
Your videos are so helpful!! I just got into playing classical guitar and there hasn’t been much information about it but I’m glad I found your channel!!
I'm so glad I can help you then! Indeed there are not many classical guitar dedicated channels with tutorials, I'll do my best to bring lots of topics to get you covered! 😊 keep on practicing!!!
This is so perfect and exactly what I was looking for/ I've been trying to learn and struggling with tension and pain on my wrist and tendons. You are a life saver!
The comment you made in regards to the thumb position being unnatural has freed me from months and months of torture. I can continue my journey without the worry now. Thank you kindly. 🙏
Thank you, Merce. Are you Catalonian? I am 39, I have lived in Cubellas for 5 months in 2008. I know to play guitar from age 13. But now I am learning classical guitar. I use the mothod book of Julio Sagreras - Las Primeras Lecciones de Guitarra. I needed some advice for the right hand and I dropped on your tutorail. You are a very good teacher. I also needed advice for the nails. Good luck
Hello Merce. Hope you’re well. Just found your channel. I’m a total beginner at 61 but enjoying it immensely. Lessons such as this are invaluable in teaching correct techniques. I find your lessons so easy to follow. So well articulated. Thanks so much
Thanks a lot Ian! I'm happy its useful for you! Keep up the good practice! 🙌🏻
Also a 60's absolute beginner friend. Perfect practice makes perfect work is my Grandfathers skill lesson.Merce also I think!
Good on both you gentlemen for deciding to get into guitar, it's never too late to learn. If you would like any good classical guitar song recommendations to learn I'd be happy to show you some that help you learn to play yet sound great.
@@chrisbeaumont4630 very kind of you. I’m always interested in ideas for pieces of music to learn. But I’m really not very good at playing them! Thank you
I'm 60 and going little by little very hard for me but looking forward not to the back
I really benefit from your instruction but the music in the background is distracting. Thank you and I love your playing.
Hi Merce, I'm 68, and picking up the clssical lessons lately. I bought a Yamaha GC 3D 1971 and its quality really pushes me to continue. I played the guitar when I was still young but only had time since my retirement to concentrate playing classical. Your lessons are not only extremely helpfu--it goes into the most basic techniques that others do not cover. Besides, your sincerity is infectious. Thank you !!!
Jazz guitarist here who has played with a pick or hybrid (pick + fingers) his whole life and is now starting to dive into the classical world for fun ☺️ greats tips. It’s actually quite interesting how different the electric and the classical guitar are as instruments… for me, electric bass is a much closer instrument to electric guitar than classical guitar is.
very true!
These tips are so precious, thank you so much, master Merce !!
My pleasure! wish you a great day! :)
Thanks for this great video, Merce. I have a remark and a question.
The remark: I always find hard to understand my right hand position by comparing it to a video where an instructor shows theirs from the front. You said that we could use a mirror and while that's a great help, I'd also like to see an instructor's right hand from his own eyes' point of view, maybe with a camera behind their left shoulder (in addition to front and lower view)
The question is: do you think finger picking on a folk/acoustic guitar (steel strings) in country / pop / rock style should be any different, as far as right hand techniques are concerned, from classical guitar? It's my current situation, where I seem to be unable to find a balance between the two guitars or to change technique when switching from one to another.
Best wishes from Italy
Hi! I will keep a note on that thing of the camera. For me it's a bit difficult logistically but I'm sure I can find a way to make it someday :) About your question: I totally understand it's hard to change from one to another. I myself had this experience in the begining and I felt my technique/knowledge was not solid enough in any style yet so too much variety was preventing for faster progress so I decided put one aside to focus on classical guitar. I think everybody is different but indeed, for country/pop/rock you might need different technique approach in several topics and you have to see how it interferes with your goal and dreams as a guitar player :)
I get the basic concept here, but I'm having a hard time integrating the "bounce back" technique into actual playing. It feels like when there is alternation, the finger that just played needs to stay in the palm until the next finger executes its stroke. And of course timing of the next stroke depends on the music, so it stays under tension until it can alternate. Maybe the idea is just to get in the habit of returning the fingers as a relaxation, rather than an additional exertion?
Thank you for making all of your videos. They're very helpful to someone who learned his technique from some very outdated books years ago.
Totally disagree with the wrong way to pluck. Claw playing can give the guitar a slap/pop quality to the sound which can be really cool. It can even be implemented into classical music and sound awesome. While not feasible for many pieces and may not be the sound you want for everything, it is a nice tool to have in your back pocket.
Edit: Don't think this works with long nails as you are right about the nails getting caught. Many classical musicians throughout the history of guitar have thought the sound of flesh is better than the sound of the nail, but I don't have nails because I can't stop biting them. lolz
Most guitar players are not aware that you can 100% transfer most classical guitar techniques to other guitar styles. A great example is what you teach in this video which has won you a subscriber. Not following your advise can lead to so much injury. This is the first time I have seen this concept explained so well. I had read about it but you made it crystal clear. Thank you so much
Absolutely. Any good classical guitar players can do shredding on electric guitar effortlessly.
This is great, thx! It would be even better with the constant background music off or at least at lower volume, it's a bit distracting tbh.
Thank you Merce for making this video. I really like your style of instruction. It's clear and concise.
Right hand technique is so fundamental and something I've been struggling with. Please continue making more instructional videos. Thank you again!
I'll do my best to bring more tutorials very soon, for sure! Glad it helped you! Stay well and keep practicing! :)
Total agreement, her teaching style is so easy to watch and learn from.
If you are right handed do you put ur guitar strings over your right arm or left?
same position for everybody. In fact, players who are naturally left handed tend to have more dexterity with the hand on the fretboard (despite many thinking they need to play the other way around). Always the neck on the left and the right hand is the strumming one. Might be tradition or whatever but if you do it the other way around it becomes problematic at some point to find great sounding guitars made the opposite way. So if you want to avoid headaches and unnecessary trouble, just go the normal way :)
I'm a Jazz guitarist newly obsessed with trying to learn classical guitar.
It's a frustrating and humbling experience. Thank you so much for these extremely valuable guidelines which are fundamental to proficiency in technique and good sound.
Nice, hope it helps and brings you a bit of joy during your practice sessions :)
Hi there! How’s it going with the transition so far? I play mostly jazz chord melody stuff and consider playing a nylon string as well as learning and applying some right hand technique to have some of this unique sound and feel under my fingers
Why not have your thumb on the two lowest strings, pointer on the middle strings, and middle finger on the 2 highest strings?
You're a great teacher - you keep it very simple and slow, focusing on the basic fundamentals. You also play with elegance and fluidity, which shows your excellent technique. Excited to follow your channel!
I do play w/ a Pick so it's easier to make a good sound by simply striking the strings.
It’s very interesting. I guess I have to do this since I am playing incorrectly.. gracias..
Hello
Thank you for this vidéo.
I'm a beginner on classical guitar and these exercises will help me a lot.
How to practice the rest stroke ?
Best regards from France.
Thank you so much for this. This is a valuable knowledge for people like me whose just starting to play classical guitar. Cheers.
Thank you Allan!!! Very happy to read that!
Hi, nice video. This will help me improve.
Just a suggestion: the background music - though it would be nice on its own, here I find it rather disturbing. It makes the whole video sound nervous. I think without the background music the video would be calmer, more focused.
Hi, so grateful. I subscribed to your channel. Can you point me towards a lesson that you might've posted on right hand finger indepence, especially between m and a fingers? Thanks
Thank you for your great tips for the right hand. While I don't find myself making the mistakes mentioned in the video, I still pluck the wrong string (usually adjacent string to the one that I want to pluck) from time to time, especially Bach pieces where it gets quite complicated on the right hand. What can I do to fix that?
Dear Dat, indeed with pieces that aren't composed with the guitar in mind such things get a lot trickier. Without really knowing how you play is difficult to be very specific on what you might need the most right now. Yet, Im confident that doing some practicing with preparation (or also called planting), might help you a lot go gain awareness and orientation on the strings for such passages. If you can, talk about this with your teacher so he/she can show you how to really work it. Thanks for your comment and i wish you success with your practicing!
The constant unnecessary background music is very irritating. You need to take it off we are trying to listen to you!!
yeah that was my very first tutorial and it wasn't the best idea to keep the music throughout, now they don't have music anymore 😁✌🏻
@@MerceFont :) thank goodness
On the right hand should i start using a pick or the fingers.
Which one should I start with
Nice presentation style and good production values but background music very distracting.
Hi Merce, your teaching is fantastic but don't you think the underground music is distracting from the relevant?
Thank you for your time. I appreciate your dedication. May I please ask ,do you have a video on nail shaping?
ا
Please. Is it possible to write down the most important tips that the musician mentioned so that I can translate them into Arabic? Thank you very much
You re amazing teacher.When ı hear your accent ı trust you with all my heart because you are spanish xdxd
Hello. Firstly, thank you for sharing with us this important content for the guitarist base. I would like to know if you would be able to share some content focused on sound, as I have a lot of difficulty finding this sound. If you could share any references, I would really appreciate it!
This is really helpful. I found the background music really distracting, it's hard to focus on what you are showing and saying.
this video is interesting and thoughtful but that music chattering away in the background while you are trying to explain yourself is so distracting I cant even watch this - maybe I'm just that way but I can't take the confusion
Your comment always great, the music in the background bothers
Great teaching video but the background music is off putting when I try to listen. Just a thought
how can these tips be applied to tremolo? Could you please do a video about tremolo technique?
Wow this is gonna completely fix my technique if been putting a ton of stress on my shoulder
It was impossible to listen to the information with a guitar playing in the background so I gave up
Hi, first of all thank you for all the important pointers for classical guitar beginners like myself. I can't help it but have to say that its easier to learn from a good-looking teacher. Having said that I fell your earnestness in wanting to share and teach. You're someone with passion for the art that you do and for teaching. I want to say that I really do appreciate that. Thank you for all the help because my fellow students and I need all the help we can get. Merci !
Thank you! Thats so sweet of you to write this:) really appreciate the kind message 🥹
Thank a lot it is very precise !
I still wonder what to do with the 5th finger... a clue ?
Can i use 3 fingers with every piece
would it be good for fast playing?
I’m new to the classical guitar world, coming from playing blues and Rock. I love your tutorial videos. Thank you for making them
Hola merce ! Por favor una duda entonces tengo que centrarme en mi antebrazo gracias merce
What size guitar are you playing. I like a small body guitar.
Thank you! This was very helpful 😁
👍👍👍
Nice video, but you could consider lowering the volume of background music and muting it when you give sound samples ;)
Agree. It's very distracting and unnecessary. But thanks for the excellent tutorial.
That was my first ever tutorial, after that, there is no more background music. Unfortunately I can' remove it once published. Hope you enjoyed the tips anyways ;)
@@MerceFont Sure I did! Thanks for uploading :)
What size guitar are you playing. I like a small body size
Get's more interesting when playing legato right : )
Nice lesson but what about the length of the nails
How to pluck string with using nail or finger? Plz reply
Very good video...thanks
As someone that was classically trained and because life happens and ended up in electrical for years (not that there’s anything bad in that) this little things are the crux of my existence when I come back to it. Thanks for the video:)
🙏🏻
The only VDO that explained RF importantes. Very useful 🎉🎉🎉 enjoyed alot
Glad to hear that!
Thanks I'm just starting today✅
when i'm relaxing my fingers, I tend to touch the string again.. any idea on how to mitigate this?
Actually you might have to very very sligthly direct the relaxed moove a bit higher, it s very subtle but almost no one talks about it because it usually comes naturally in the learning process but it s needed in my opinion...If you relax 100 per cent and goes exactly same way back u will mostlikely encouner the string on the way back and it makes sense physically...what was on your way is still there on the way back exactly like a traffic light will be at the same spot on the road if you get back on the same road...So you just have to do direct your finger WITHOUT adding tense in it...easy to say, hard to do :) this topic is very common in masterclasses, P Romero talks about it often...He says > " learn how to do nothing"..i think there is videos of it on utube..Anyway good luck ! Once you really relax as Merce says , you will see big improvement !
@@alexandreglize Thanks so there is a slight redirection, it's what I've had to do. I think I just need an instructor to help me get better at my technique. I've only been playing for around 2 months now but just started watching technique videos (hand placement and videos like these) and well have to start over. Better now than later but if I don't have someone looking at it then it's tough for me to determine whether I'm doing it right.
@@falkinable that s all right if you play just 2 months and sort this out now it s great! :) i play for over 15 yrs and i still try to get it right :) instructor is often great help.. If it s the one appropriate for you though! Otherwise it can ve frustrating or useless ....keep on practicing, i know some people who learnt online and play great!..
I'm a brand new subscriber watching from London UK 🇬🇧 Plus I'm a brand new acoustic guitar player. 🎸🎶
Welcome to the channel Tudor! enjoy the begining of your guitar journey! now everyday you pick up the guitar the progress will feel huge! hope the videos help you with it :)
Fabulous! This corrective video has done more to help me than any teaching session from any source in years. I also play 12-string guitar (my hero is guitarist/composer Ralph Towner), and as you know the spacing between string pairs on a 12-string is much narrower than between individual strings on a classical guitar. I have struggled for a long time to cleanly play just one pair of strings without hitting an adjacent pair when plucking. That problem immediately went away when I applied the lessons in this video, as did right-hand muscle cramps. I will be applying other video lessons from you, and I am thrilled to subscribe to your channel!
Aww thank you so much!!! I'm so so happy to read you finally found the way! Happy to put such videos out to help you :) Wish you lots of progress with them!
Para sentir que lo hago bien gracias
Which right hand position should I use when playing tremolo? Keep the same position as normal play and try to straighten the index finger to reach the 1st string or twist the wrist or lower the right hand so index finger can play 1st string in a usual "curved" position?
When trying to speed up in tremolo practice, I have a bad habit of rotate the entire ring finger toward the soundboard in upward direction (kind of eliptical orbit), which exercises could help me fix that?
Gonna make a video answer for you on that, will be the best way to help you out with this :)
@@MerceFont thank you very much ☺
Awesome ! Thanks for the great video :)
Thank you so much
aww thank you! happy to read it helped you! 😊
Hola, what is the fastest exercise to have thumb independence? How long should it take to start making progress? Thanks again for your help.
Hi Ernie! It really depends, every player needs different approaches to develop it. To tell you a more precise answer we should work together to see which kind of difficulties and strenghts you've got in this matter. Try around different exercises of printed methods and see what works best for you :)
I have a question for you. I played classical guitar decades ago, and just decided to get back into it, bought a Cordoba C12, and am watching your lessons. Before taking the classical lessons I was self taught on steel string guitars, I used the thumb for the bottom 2 strings and the fingers each got a remaining string. Should I re-learn the fingering so I don't use the smallest finger for picking?
Good question Mike! In fact, using or not using the little right hand finger for picking you shouldn't use a single finger for the same string all the time. I think soon enough you come across with the fact that when you need to play a stream of notes on the same string, using the same finger repeatedly will slow you down and build far too much tension. A good right hand technique should aim for freedom of movement and combinations, using alternate fingers for monodic lines (usually i-m is the fastest/easiest and most efficient) across all strings (from bass to trebles) as well as movable arpeggio configurations (eg. p-i-m-a-(e)) with any variation that you might need for any given musical situation. Eg. p-i-m or p-m, or a-m-i-m-a, etc... So, be careful training & approaching your right hand in a far too simplistic and unrealistic way... 🙃
Thank you! Alleviating stress on the body while playing is the most critical thing in my opinion if you plan to play for years on end. If you spend too much time in a bad position or with bad movement you can actually injure yourself and limit your playing greatly. 1 year of proper positioning will take you farther than 10 years with bad technique.
I'd like to add: NAILS, you can't do this without nails, period. I mean, it's possible, but not really. You need well shaped nails otherwise you can't spring the hand properly. The other thing is angle of attack, you want "A" finger in a 90d angle to the string, "I & M" somewhere around 75 to 85d on the string and the "P" at a sharp 15 to 30d angle. Try to not move your hand much, your aiming to keep it as still as possible and sustained as close to correct position as you can.
Absolutely, preventing tension build up in the body is a must for any musician!
Guitarist here! I want to learn to play the classical guitar. I'm not so worried about my left hand because I'm used to stretches, pull offs etc. but the right hand movements are foreign to me. I never plugged with my fingers.
Yeah, that's quite a change! Start with easy finger patterns and arpeggios and slowly build you right hand dexterity to a similar level of your left hand. Way to go chris! :D
Can you do Un amor by gypsy king. ?
This is very helpful and useful. Just wish the guitar music in the background would go away. I found it distracting and made it hard to hear the subtle differences in the tones you were demonstrating.
Thanks Katie! Indeed that was my very first tutorial and I kinda missed that... its indeed better without any background music for such videos, Thanks for the feedback anyways 🤗 wish you a nice day!
Thank you very much. Been looking for a good video like this one for a while. Trying to get back into classical guitar and couldn’t figure out why I kept missing strings with my right has I played. If you don’t use it, you lose it I guess!!! But It all makes sense now. Just have to rewire my brain again. Gotta go practice now! Thanks again!
Glad it was helpful! Wish you success in your rewiring!! 🙌🏻😃
Very good advice for a beginner like me ! Only one minor problem: I found the background music distracting.
Hi Andreas! I know, I don't use background music anymore, that was my very first tutorial and I was king of figuring everything out. Unfortunately I can't remove it anymore once the video is posted 🙃
Is bending the tip of the fingers really ok?? I tried to incorporate that into my playing & it messed everything up. especially when playing arpeggios.
It depends on each moment, melodic conduction can benefit a lot from bending the tip, but sometimes for arpeggios you might not want to have it extremely lose, at least not at the begining because indeed you lose control. Try to progressively adopt a plucking action where the tip of the finger is not in tension and, one bit at a time, allow it to bend it just as much as you can without messing up. Even if its just a little. If you do too much at once you might add tension elsewhere because its still too unnatural for you the approach. Small steps and always aiming for control and relaxation :)
Thank you for this video! Could you share what your guitar is? It looks smaller than mine, which is standard size and a bit hard for me to reach my right arm over. Thanks!
yep, my guitar is smaller, i made custom sized for exactly what I wanted. standard size is 65 but nowadays 64 guitars are very common and easy to find as well. Maybe also try to look for guitar makers that don't make huge body guitars, that might make things easier in your case. Good luck with the search! :)
Hi, do i need to growup my nail Mike tours?i am a man i font like long nauls Mike yours becouse i work manualy with differants type of tools i can't have long nails Luke girls what to do ?
You can plays also with no nails. If you like the sound and control of nails, then you can buy artificial nails special for classical guitarists to use during practice only. Look to Guitar Nails kit for instance :)
Thank you! It is a very helpful and useful video. I am a beginner guitar student. I am going to use it.
Awesome! Wish you lots of progress!☺️
Thank you for this video, this answered a ton of questions for me what exactly should I practice!
Awesome! glad to help :)
I'm confused. Is it necessary to always let the fingers bounce back. Other videos I see online the right hand is holding the tension and being slowly released.
I do like to do it as I gain more right hand relaxation and less 'forced' movement. If the finger bounces fast back, in fast passages it gets much easier to coordinate and remain flexible musically. Just my personal experience :)
are we supposed to listen to you and to the tones that you produce? If so then why your video contains this permanent annoying background music? That's a strange method of teaching,
That was my first ever tutorial, after that, there is no more background music in the tutorials. Unfortunately I can' remove it once published. Hope you enjoyed the tips anyways ;)
A sincere Musician sincere with Her Music
Thank you 🙏🏻 Merce Font. Valuable insights and tips. Greetings from Texas.
Thanks you Pavan for watching! Best wishes to you and practice well!
Very useful! Thanks for your teaching.
Quickquestion about nails, Merce. Are yours natural or artificial? What are your thoughts on this issue, please?
Mine are natural, I have quite good nails, hard but not rock hard and I rarely break them. Not everybody has this luck so finding a good natural nail replacement can be a huge deal for many players. I see pros and cons on both sides. I'll try to go to the point:
- Natural Nails: Pros, tend to feel the nicest to play, you get better feeling and grip on the strings and the tone might have a particular richness that many people like over the natural nails. You don't lose them (that would be funny) and you don't have to pay for them XD). With a bit of care its really easy, comfortable, sounding great and fast to work with.
Cons: if you practice too much you run out of them (so you have to use scotch or something to protect them which makes the sound much worse for practicing). If you break them you must get quickly used to whatever artificial nail you can get on the moment (which feels quite odd when you never use them) and they are never the same exact length all the time. Sometimes you get the perfect nail shape, many times you don't and you learn to deal with different variations and you have to keep them always nice and polished to avoid breaks or damage.
- Fake nails: Cons, they are one more step before playing and sometimes can be time consuming. Some people find annoying to have to make the nails every time as its time consuming (well that depends on what you use) some others are fine with it. Some fake nails are really damaging the natural nail as it doesn't let it breathe, turning your natural nail gradually thinner and making you fully dependent on fake nails. To ever switch back to playing with natural nails can be a long painful process (years, until the natural nail regains strength and thickness). Many players struggle finding fake nails that sound well and not too plasticky. It requires a longer learning/discovery curve until you find what works for you and how to set them so that they feel almost like natural nails. They might be pricey if you need new materials much too often.
Pros: once you've found your perfect fake nails, you can always have the nails on the perfect shape and lenght. If you break them you dont need to worry, you just take it off and replace it for a new one. If you have a set of fake nails well shaped ready to use (like reeds for wind players) it's a big burden out of your mind. You have freedom to choose harder nails or a bit thiner/softer to fully adapt to your playing style and right hand grip and even to the repertoire (eg. if you play turina with pieces that contain many rasgueados/struming you might want a bit harder thicker ones for the tone an strenght).
Well those were just ideas that came out as I was typing, but surely there are other ones as well. Hope this info helps if you are thinking to go for one or the other :) Stay well and have an awesome week!
Great lesson, thank you.
Thanks very much for the video. Can you tell me what the piece of music is that is playing at the start of your video? I know ive heard it before but i cant remember what it is.
Thank you Keith for your feedback! Probably you've heard it because is a song form UA-cam audio library and I'm sure many other creators used it as well, I don't quite remember how it is called... 😂😃
Can u teach me
Thanks. This helped a lot. I really needed it as im grade 8 and i found a problem in my
right hand
Glad it helped!
Gratidao , simple & direct
hmmmm i do not agree about the relaxation thing, i mean it is right but once you speed up the mechanic change and it is a preparation problem because you don't have time to relax each finger and play fast scales or fast arpeggios. Plus, with time i ve learn whatever it work because we all have different hands. When i was in conservatory i had a teacher (Bruno Battisti D'Amario) who used "the wrong" stroke (the bad pluck) but his sound was very full and he was an extreme virtuoso. Following master classes i've seen great guitarist pushing the string down and obtaining a very clear sound, this happen a lot with flamenco players. Anyway, you are right about relaxing, only it is just the beginning of the technique. My comment is not a criticism, you did a marvelous video and it can help many players, i just wanted to clarify some things.
Hi Notorious! very insightful comment! Indeed there are many great players with different technique. Some players can do incredible things with maybe an anatomically 'less efficient technique', but these are special situations and when one has to teach the basics you can't start with the exceptions. I believe that even with a very efficient technique, we all have our own way to move, so results might very in the long term. Yet when learning is important to get the essentials well and then your hands might slightly execute in a different way than another person.
Getting to your relaxation remark: This tutorial of the RH relaxation is aimed at people who need to lower tension from the hand as it is an extremely common problem. The whole point is not having to move twice the fingers (to pluck and to go back into position) and as you well say, in speed one can't be thinking about such little elements, hence the practice of such a simple exercise is important in order to automate the process and avoid that the fingers to remain closed (as a fist) after plucking a string. The chain of movement gets blocked that way.
After automating the practice of 1 action (pluck) = 2 outcomes (pluck+relax) can then be further extended to multiple strokes to enhance speed, relaxation and fluidity of motion for better musical connection.
@@MerceFont You have 100% right about what you said and i teach the same to my students, mine was a comment between advanced guitarists. When you achieve a point where it seems you are not reaching new goal it's time to think different and use whatever technique it takes and the solution can be different from person to person. Example, Lorenzo Micheli use a sort of lute right hand positioning, the thumb goes inside the other fingers, that would be wrong but it works for him and he is an incredible player. If you don't know him i suggest you to check him out, he is a mervelous guitarist.
Thanks.
Muchas gracias por sus videos, me ayudan mucho. Mi profesor de guitara me recomienda mejorar mis técnicas para tocar con mi mano derecha y mi mano izquierda. Jiji, siento que no tengo nada de economía de movimiento cuando toco, pero bueno, ¡a trabajar! :)
Hola Jordan! Claro, al principio todos tenemos que ir puliendo y educando las manos para funcionar como deberían! Nadie nace aprendido, asi que sigue estudiando y ya veras como poco a poco ves mejoras! me alegro que mis tutoriales te ayuden en tu camino! 😊
Thank you
Thank you
Your videos are so helpful!! I just got into playing classical guitar and there hasn’t been much information about it but I’m glad I found your channel!!
I'm so glad I can help you then! Indeed there are not many classical guitar dedicated channels with tutorials, I'll do my best to bring lots of topics to get you covered! 😊 keep on practicing!!!
This is so perfect and exactly what I was looking for/ I've been trying to learn and struggling with tension and pain on my wrist and tendons. You are a life saver!
I'm so glad!
Hello Merce
I just found you
Great lesson,i so preciate it
Thank you! 😃
Thank you so much for this video! I was looking for a video on this topic and yours was very helpful!
Thank you Elvira! Glad it was helpful! :) I wish you a great practice!
The comment you made in regards to the thumb position being unnatural has freed me from months and months of torture. I can continue my journey without the worry now. Thank you kindly. 🙏
That's great! happy that was useful :)
Thank u
thanks alot
Thanks
Thank you, Merce. Are you Catalonian? I am 39, I have lived in Cubellas for 5 months in 2008. I know to play guitar from age 13. But now I am learning classical guitar. I use the mothod book of Julio Sagreras - Las Primeras Lecciones de Guitarra. I needed some advice for the right hand and I dropped on your tutorail. You are a very good teacher. I also needed advice for the nails. Good luck
nice