Back to Guitar Basics

Time for another report on my late life crisis and the resulting attempt to learn the basics of the classical guitar. I've been at it for nearly two months now, and I've managed to establish a fairly consistent routine of practice. I love playing the beautiful Jose Ramirez studio guitar I decided on. The sound is excellent, and the guitar is remarkably easy to play. I remain convinced that the key to learning to play a musical instrument is to get a good one.

Most week nights I try to practice at least a few exercises, but on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I get down to business. I'm alternating exercises and short practice pieces now with the slightly more challenging lessons and studies in a book called Fifty Easy Classical Guitar Solos compiled by Jerry Willard. So far I've progressed no further than two very elementary numbers by Fernando Sor, but these have the virtue of being rather attractive melodies that nevertheless reinforce some of the fundamentals I've learned using my two instructional books by Frederick Noad and Christopher Parkening.

I'm resisting the temptation just to play these tunes, which I could easily pick up simply by listening to the CD that accompanies the book and looking at the tablature. Instead, I'm learning to play them by reading the music and practicing the correct fingering. By doing this I hope eventually to recover my ability to read music and improve my playing as well. What I find most remarkable in all of this is that I've stuck with it and seem already to be seeing some good results. I think the key, for me at any rate, is learning some pieces that sound like actual music and not just practice exercises. I continue to work on the exercises, which build basic skills, improve dexterity, and reinforce good habits, but when I become tired or bored, I can turn to something more satisfying.

The other thing to report on this topic is that I've decided I need a proper footstool and metronome, both of which I've now ordered from an online music store. I'm determined to do this the right way, and my counting has always been deficient. Like all amateurs I tend to rush through the parts I know well and then slow down when things get difficult. I've tried to keep time by tapping my foot, but even that doesn't always seem to work. I've opted for a classic German mechanical metronome rather than an electronic one. I may change my mind about this later, but I thought the visual cues would be helpful, and the classic look is attractive.