On Learning a New Piece

I've finished Jeux Interdits (which, btw, I learned was also called Spanish Romance or Romance) a few days ago. The piece needs more polishing, especially part two. Also, not enuf feels yet. But I lala-love the song :)

My next piece is ... Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring. At last, at last! I'm using a cheat sheet though. I really shouldn't because I haven't been practicing reading notes. Part of the consequence is I've forgotten to play Adelita, and I haven't reviewed it yet. If it weren't for muscle memory, I swear I wouldn't budge one finger to review Carulli's Andantino in G and Waltz in Em again, which are the first classical pieces I ever learned to play.

Right now I'm still at the fourth bar of Jesu, and now that I've picked up a new piece after a few months of sabbatical I thought I should write something about how I learn a new piece.

I can't really say that there's a step by step process because at some point my fingers and memory fail me and I have to start over. But here's my best explanation:

1. Get sheet. If I can't find a downloadable copy of the piece I search for tabs in Ultimate Guitar. But I usually go straight to UG if I'm too lazy to read sheet music (which is most of the time). There are a few advantages when using sheet music though. Some sheets notate left hand fingering. I also find that when I read tabs I get impatient because the songs seem very long. Since sheet music notates those parts that are just repeated, they read pretty concise.

2. Read sheet. Now, I'm not a savant who can see notes and then automatically translate them to tones in my head. This is for me to get a general idea of the fingering or how many frets I have to traverse. I check if the distance between notes is sane and within the reach of my puny fingers. If I find it too difficult for my level, I put it aside and set my sights on other pieces.

3. YouTube. My best friend. I search for other guitarists and take note of their playing speed and how they phrase the song. A note about YT: It was by searching various interpretations that I realized guitarists have the liberty of changing the lengths of a few notes, creating their own... cadence of sorts. Some formalists may frown at how liberal an interpretation may be. But hey, who's playing?

4. Play sheet. This is the hard part. This is the true test of my patience, tolerance and interest in a particular piece. I usually go bar by bar, repeating more than once after I memorize the succession of notes and their corresponding fingering. A tab is more helpful in this case, since all I have to do is to look and then I'd know where I should place my fingers. A bad practice actually, since I am not training myself to read notes and base my fingering on them.

After I memorize a group of bars, I repeat the phrase as often as I could. By "often," I mean until my brain and muscle memory fail me. When I get too distracted, I rest. I found out that resting is a very important ingredient in learning a new piece. It's just as important as the literal rest notes on the staff. I feel that when I take a break, the nerves in my fingers and brain use the opportunity to make new connections, and really stamp the movement of my fingers deep inside my head. Muscle memory.

I realized that I often play with my guts and rely on muscle memory more than brain memory. When I use my brain, I get more distracted. I dunno. Focus is a matter of how people are used to lose themselves on a task. When I play, I literally lose myself. In moments of self-consciousness, I find that my brain has shut down and the lights are off. I don't think about what I play, I don't process what I sense. I feel I am the music that just has to come out of the instrument.

Haha, andami kong nasabi. That's it for now. El Dia's getting cold.

Flux

I haven't been blogging as often as I was supposed to. I planned to post at least once in a week. But I have been playing with El Dia non-stop for the past few days (except yesterday, 'cause I had it in my head to draw this scene that's been on my mind lately... the best place on Earth... the result was one of my spur-of-the-moment "creative" episodes which I plan to continue [because I always wanted to be great at painting and/or other visual arts]). Later, I'll be heading out with a friend to BGC to crash one of Ukulele Manila's Meet Strum Jams. I'm excited to try the uke. I didn't think about the instrument nor even considered wanting to own one, but now I'm soooo planning to get one. I'm setting aside dreams of owning a cajon or a skin djembe for a uke, although everything is still a long way off.

I haven't made any progress with the triplet since the last post, mainly 'cause it's really noisy and I don't wanna muffle it. I'm only waiting for the right opportunity to play it again, without disturbing the rest of the people in the house.

Good news! I've tabbed a new song :) It's Meaghan Smith's A Little Love and no you can't find a good tab anywhere else! I'll be sending it over to Ultimate Guitar when I get around to it. Wait for updates. I'd love to say I did it by ear, but no. I based it on one of their live performances via YT.

PS. I don't really understand why some "guitarists" and YT crawlers demand for tabs from the cover artists when duh they can see the tabs on screen. I mean, is it sooo hard to copy the left hand fingering?

Oh, and I have a violin/guitar duet practice coming up c/o a college friend. National Anthem and The Prayer. Yikes, I dunno how to interpret them yet!

Making Progress III: Flamenco x3 x6

Progress, definitely! Re: flamenco triplet, day 6. I can play successive strokes without feeling any pain on my right hand. Switching down and up strokes isn't so weird now too. The trick: minimize excess movements and to keep the thumb out. I don't get trapped in between strings anymore too. Gaaah I wish I could just record it. I wish I recorded the whole thing. The day before yesterday was breakthrough day because it was the first time I made successive strokes without errors. I think it was also the day when my right hand mid and ring finger finally got the rhythm. Right now, I'm just trying to develop consistency and endurance.

Aaaand switching chords (following the Spanish-y progression E-F-G-Am) with my left hand. Since starting I've used my left hand as an anchor, mostly muffling by the strings. The triplet is crazy, and with a guitar the size of mine its really difficult to stabilize the craziness. But once my forearm became more settled and steady (which happened around breakthrough day, too), I found it easier to switch chords.

Once I get the hang of the x3, I'll try other stroke progressions: vv (downMidRing-downThumb)  and v^ (downT-upT). Then more complicated patterns: vv^ vv^ v^ (x3-x3-downTupT). Then off to accents, then percussive effects, then THE WORLD!

Omigash so excited!

Something New

I did say this won't be a conventional blog on classical guitar. Sooo here is my new to-do:

It's the second day since I started practicing the Flamenco triplet. No I can't do it fast yet, but I feel more comfortable doing the 3-step movement now. Yesterday my hand moved and felt so awkward. But I just did it again and again until I got them right one after the other. I expect to do this again and again and again to get the speed right. Meanwhile Gabriella's version is still a crazy long loooong way to go:

The triplet is quite exhausting to do. I don't know if it's me or the technique, but my wrist tires easily after a few strokes. I rest for a few minutes every after 20 repeats - doesn't help so much in establishing speed but it does aid in muscle memory. Lemme know how you're doing with your exercise.

Before I started with the triplet, I cut my thumb nail quite close. I tried doing the triplet with a long thumb fingernail, but I ended up hurting my thumb and I often got caught between the strings. I chafed the flesh just below the nail too during the upstroke. Prepare for a bit of pain.

If you research a few other Flamenco triplet vids over in YT, you'll notice that quite a number of guitarists have an ugly patch of paper, plastic or whatever on the sounding board, below the 1st E string. If you're wondering why so, it's to protect the sounding board from nail scratches. Beware of that too.

Making Progress: Right Hand Sixteenths

At last, I'm making good progress on this song I've been trying to learn since forever. When I wrote that blog post, I was stuck with the sixteenths. My right hand (P I M) just can't keep up with the movement and speed. Now I'm very proud to say that that part is done! I'm anchoring my ring finger on the sounding board though; I don't know if that's right by classical playing standards (I don't think it is, but it's working for me). I'm hoping that this exercise will help me when I get to tremolo (in 10 years, maybe). I'm moving on to practicing making a smoother transition between the left hand positions. The transitions from 1st to 2nd position, and from 2nd to 3rd position are the most difficult.

But after the sixteenths, everything else seems so much easier to execute. I am anticipating another plateau once I get past left hand transitions and on to the second movement of the song, the part where everything else is played one octave higher. I'm not very good past the 12th fret; I'm having difficulty pressing and sustaining a note. But I'm so glad I'm using a classical guitar now. I would have given up a long time ago if I was still using an acoustic.

As for the other parts, I'm doing fine. Still need more practicing though. With the rhythm, I'm trying to slow down for better expressivo. As for the melody, I'm trying to memorize the notes. My hammer-ons suck, sooo I have a long way to go with Tarrega's Adelita. I'm still using the 2-guitar version, but maybe I'll try melding the two, like in the video. Try searching for Comptine d'un autre ete lapres midi on YouTube and you'll find that almost no 2 guitarist play this song the same way. Not that that helps, but at least it's saying anyone can tab this song. With enough patience, anyway. I remember a period when I did have patience and transcribed this song, both melody and rhythm, based on the 2-guitar version I linked above. But I can't remember if I did write the notes down before my patience finally ran out. Oh well.

Regarding my progress on classical pieces... well, I haven't really made much since I've finished Adelita. I promised I would do Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, but I can't seem to convince myself to write the sheet music down on my notebook.

Homework (credit to)

Gaah! I really hate reading sheet music. But I must if I want to learn this. Just gimme a few more days to sulk then I'll carry my a**, thank you very much.

March 13, 2013. Uploaded video. Trying to play the sixteenths without resting my ring finger on the sounding board. But I just had to in this video. And still sulking through sheet music.

Coffee Break

This exercise isn't exactly what I'd call a coffee break. It's tedious, frustrating, and difficult to master. But once I did... waaaah I couldn't stop playing it! The melody is very chill, relaxed. Perfect for practice and leisure time.

Ok, ok. I know it's corny. Even I could only take so much cheesiness in song lyrics (don't even get me started with this song's official music video! ugh!). But the tabs are crazy! Tabs for Landon Pigg's Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop can be found here.

The most difficult part about the tabs to this song is the heavy bass line. It's like a metronome, so the melody is played together with the bass. If you can switch your thumb to on during the whole song that would super help. The PIMA can be practiced too, so try to stick with it. Use number 4 (pinkie, left hand) to reach the 4th and 5th frets to practice stretching.


Ok, tips:
1. Break it down. Play the melody (the 4th-6th string notes) as is first, put it to heart. Afterwards, play the bass notes (1st string notes) and get the timing right.
2. Slow down!
3. Listen to the song and pay close attention to the timing, especially the bass notes. It's easy to get lost in all the confusion (misplaced thumb, uncooperative fingers!).
4. Don't mind the lyrics. Seriously, sing after mastering the chords.


Right now I'm having difficulty playing the refrain

|-------------------------4-----------4----------------------------------------------------------|
|-2-----------2-----------------------------------4-----------4-----------5-----------5----------|
|-------2-----------2-----------2-----------2-----------2-----------2-----------2-----------2----|
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-0--0-----0--0--0-----0--0--0-----0--0--0-----0--0--0-----0--0--0-----0--0--0-----0--0--0-----0-|
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

because of the bass line switch from the 1st string to the 2nd string. I dunno. I think it's just my thumb. I tend to hit the other strings when I make the switch. Wild thumb playing.


Chords:

If you like this song, but find that you just can't master this notation right now, here's some sort of good news: I've set up a very easy tab over at Ultimate Guitar. I assure you, it's better than the rest of the versions available in the site. Enjoy!

PS: This! I couldn't find the tabs for melody during the chorus (for now). I dislike playing the power chords. It ruins the mood, haha!

The Big G

The first classical guitar piece I learned was Minuet in G by Johann Sebastian Bach.

The sheet I used covered the basic melody of the piece, sans the bass notes (rhythm). I worked from the 5th fret onward. Very easy to memorize and great for practice: the notes span up to 5 frets, so the pinkie and all the left fingers are stretched. All six strings are also covered, so the PIMA right hand can be practiced.

Minuet in G is my stretching slash warm-up piece. I play it every day, every time I pick up my guitar. I like speeding it up for better flexibility and accuracy. I used to play it non-stop, and until now I haven't tired of listening to it.

I moved on to the more complicated melody + rhythm version about a month after burning the first version. I immediately fell in love with the sound of the bass notes along with the melody. This version takes up til the 9th fret, so I can practice moving through the fingerboard. The addition of the bass notes complicates the left hand positions, but they're manageable. The sheet I linked does not have a notation for 1234 and PAMI (except the 0s there), but I use all of them... figure it out :)

My crux is always on the 19th bar. My index finger tends to look sooo out of place and awkwardly apart, and the rest of my fingers (2 and 4 especially) go crazy when I press the strings. I tend to slow down at this portion. I can swing it when I position my left hand closer to the fingerboard, but that index just shoots up sometimes I couldn't control it! Oh well, time and practice.

This piece was also my (re)introduction to sheet reading. The two sheets don't have tabs, so I was really forced to read notes. Both versions are very basic though.

I eat Big G for breakfast, lunch, merienda and dinner. Lemme know how this piece figures in your repertoire. If you use other warm-up pieces, feel free to share.

Mar 11, 2013. Just uploaded this video. Sorry for the poor audio -- I didn't use a mic when I recorded. Didn't have one. Anyway, my messy fingering clearly says this rendition sucks. As usual, I had a difficult time through the crux. My left hand fingers are also still awkwardly apart. Wild vibrato action there too. Hmmm, when in doubt record your practice sessions. Any specific pointers on improvement?