First an Ad...
Improving
Comprehension and Accuracy in Converting Printed
Music Into Left Hand Form and Motion
by
Harry George Pellegrin
A few months back, I was watching
a student guitarist sightread a piece of
music. He was playing the piece at a tempo
appreciably slower than the composer had
intended, and yet he had problems in sections
that were neither harder to read, nor technically
harder than the sections of the piece that had
offered him no problems. This intrigued me.
Later, I sightread through the piece,
taking note of the students trouble spots.
These sections tended to be either a chromatic
scale passage, a melodic leap of a dissonant
interval, or a chromatically altered chord. What
makes example la easier to play than lb? Why is
example 2b more difficult than 2a? (See examples)
These problem areas
shouldnt be difficult, but many students do
find them so. Of course, a student who is
unfamiliar with the fingerboard will find
chromaticisms uncomfortable, but this is an
easily remedied situation. Problems not stemming
from reading inadequacy are usually a result of
the way the student has learned the Instrument,
and in his or her practice habits.
Many of todays students
learned their first few chords from those little
block diagrams included over the piano part in
popular sheet music. After they have learned to
read music In the traditional sense, they will
search through a piece they are about to learn,
looking for these familiar chords. As they learn
more pieces, they recognize more chords and
inversions easily. The student begins to build a
vocabulary of chords.
When we read a magazine article
or some other printed word source, our eyes
travel across the page not letter by letter, but
by phrases. Recognition is Instantaneous. We do
not see the phrase in the yard as
nine separate letters, but as a single unit. This
is not how we saw words when we were first
learning to read. The beginning student
doesnt see the music in phrases and chords
either. The musician must learn to see music not
as individual notes, but as complete units of
thought (chords, phrases, etc.) that I will call
contours.
A contour is the movement and
shape the hand forms when playing a certain chord
or melodic passage. All chords and scales have
their own individual contours. These contours are
useful when learning a piece only if our
vocabulary is large enough. Many
students make errors in unfamiliar pieces simply
because they mistake an unusual contour with one
they have learned previously. Studio musicians
and those who must sightread an unfamiliar
piece at the time of performance search the music
for familiar contours. At the same time, they
take note of variations in the contours.
Therefore, the student must work to build up his
or her ability to quickly and accurately
recognize as many different contours as
possible, and to spot those contours that are new
to him and to master them for those times in the
future when they are encountered again.
Id like to make a statement
about left hand strength before I begin the
exercises. Many guitarists that I know, some of
them professionals, dont play with as much
reserve energy as they might. This is because
they dont realize where the strength of the
left hand lies. These guitarists press the neck
of the guitar into their left hand fingers with
their thumbs. The thumb only has a small muscle
to push with. These guitarists continually strain
this poor little muscle until it can usually
bulge its way through a recital, suffering an
ache between the thumb and first finger if called
upon to play longer or a more difficult passage
than usual. The fingers of the left hand have all
the long muscles of the forearm to press
the neck back towards the thumb, plus the muscles
of the upper arm to pull the hand back towards
the players body. Why not use these
strong muscles and the mass of the arm to do all
the heavy work? I cant stress this enough!
All pressure must come from the fingers as moved
by the arm. The thumb is only a backstop. To
break this habit, one must first gain the
experience of how the fingers feel when doing
their fair share of the work. Place the first
finger across the neck in a barré. Release the
thumb from the back of the neck. You should feel
the muscles of the upper arm tense. This is the
arm replacing the tension lost when the thumb was
removed. Isnt it more sensible to use the
large muscles rather than the thumb? An added
benefit of breaking the stranglehold on
the sensitive instrument is ease of
position shift. Remember, the arm pulls the
fingers into the guitar instead of the thumb
pushing the guitar out to the fingers. The
guitarist should practice playing scales with the
thumb floating above the back of the neck at
least once or twice daily. The fingers should be
observed in motion, paying attention to the
tensions and releases in the forearm and
the tightening of the upper arm. After the scales
have been practiced and the correct muscles seen
and felt in motion, the player will incorporate
this technique into his playing. The benefits are
more stamina and a more relaxed feeling while
playing. When the player isnt in pain and
struggling simply to maintain the technique
required to play a certain passage, he then has
the freedom to play musically.
It is important that the guitar
student play as much music from different
stylistic periods and composers as possible so
that he will not become too overly familiar with
one set of musical clichés. Reading through
modern music is a great way for the student to
expose himself to many unusual contours.
It is also very Important for the
guitarist to play as many different contours as
possible since very few composers have written
any really worthwhile music for the guitar that
is easy to play or falls under the hand in easy
contours. A notable exception to the rule is
Heitor VillaLobos, who wrote beautiful
music, fully utilizing the guitars tone
palette, and falling relatively easily under the
hand. Example 3 is from VillaLobos
Etude I, in which over one third of the piece is
played using the same left hand contour, moved
down one halfstep per measure, each measure
repeated. (Measures 12 22)
The first and most Important step
to attaining facility in new and unusual contours
is to gain fluidity and freedom in the motion of
the left hand. Each finger should be independent
from the rest and none should be weaker or
stronger than the others. Therefore, I have
arranged these exercises into two groups. The
first group deals with finger strength and
independence of motion, the second group with
unusual contours.
Needless to say, these exercises
work best when practiced slowly and with high
articulation. Produce den, clear tones. Slow,
sustained notes will work like isometric
exercises. Notice all tensions and releases.
Exercise One: This
exercise is good for finger limbering before
practicing the rest of these exercises and your
daily scale studies. Play the exercise until you
reach the twelfth fret, then reverse the pattern
and descend.
Exercise Two: This
exercise deals with position shifts. Play it
until you reach the thirteenth fret, first
string, with your fourth finger. Slide the fourth
finger down to the twelfth fret, and reverse the
exercise. Try playing the exercise skipping a
finger in each of the four note patterns.
(1,2,4.,1,3,4.,1,4.)
Exercise Three:
This exercise begins to teach the fingers
independence of motion. This is a silent
exercise; the right hand need not even touch the
instrument. The first, second, third and fourth
fingers are placed on the first, second, third
and fourth frets on the first string. Without
moving the first and third fingers, slowly pick
up the second and fourth fingers simultaneously
and place them on the second and fourth frets on
the second string. Without moving the second and
fourth fingers Slowly raise the first and third
fingers from the first string and place them on
the third string, first and third frets. Repeat
this procedure until your second and fourth
fingers are on the sixth string, second and
fourth frets. Place your first and third fingers
on the sixth string, first and third frets and
repeat the entire exercise back to the first
string.
Exercise Four: Basically
the same as exercise three, the difference being
that it is played. You should only move one
finger at a time, leaving the others on their
last played notes. (4a)
This exercise can and should be
played along the entire fingerboard. Another
variation of the exercise simply uses a different
fingering pattern. (4b)
Exercise Five: Place your
first finger on the first string, first fret.
Then with your first finger remaining on that
note, play the following exercise. (5a) Place your second finger on the
second fret, first string. Then with your finger
remaining on that note, play the following
exercise. (5b)
Place your third finger on the
first string, third fret. Then with that finger
remaining on that note, play the following
exercise. (5c)
If your third finger
collapses on exercise five c, it is due to the
fact that your fourth finger is weak and
dependent upon your third finger. Your hand wants
to move both fingers together to make up for
the weakness of the fourth finger.
Place your fourth finger on the
first string, fourth fret. Then with your finger
remaining on that note, play the following
exercise. (5d)
Exercise Six:
Place your first finger in a barré across the
fifth fret. Now put the second finger on the
first string, sixth fret, the third finger on the
first string, seventh fret, and the fourth finger
on the first string, eighth fret. Without
removing the barré, pick up the second finger and
place it on the second string, sixth fret, then
the third finger from the first string to the
second string, seventh fret, with all fingers In
the same position, remove the fourth finger from
the first string and place it on the second
string, eighth fret. Repeat this until the sixth
string has been completed in this manner. When
this can be done with some degree of accuracy,
move the exercise down to the first fret! The key
to doing this exercise correctly is to play It
slowly and produce clean pitches of equal volume
and tone.
When these exercises are
mastered, the guitarist will be able to use each
finger independently and with equal strength.
This next group of exercises is geared towards
making the hand comfortable with different and
unusual contours.
All Classical guitar students
learn the diatonic major and minor scales, using
these usually exclusively as a warmup and a
speed/dexterity exercise. These scales should be
memorized and practiced, but not to the exclusion
of other equally useful exercises.
Play the diatonic c major scale
in example four. It falls very nicely under the
hand, however, if these contours are practiced
over and over, the student will be uncomfortable
when confronted with a wholestep between
two consecutive fingers. (Example four)
The Whole tone scale is very
useful as a practice tool in that it forces the
guitarist to stop anticipating the two half steps
encountered in the diatonic major scale. (Example
five) The Whole-tone scale is the result of
splitting the octave into six equal intervals.
(Example Six) The Wholetone scale
eliminates three Intervals of
traditional music, the perfect fourth
(c to f), the perfect fifth (c to g), and the
leading tone tonic relationship (c to b, b
to c).
The scale is played utilizing a
five fret spread on each string, until the octave
has been reached. Actually, the scale should be
played in two octaves since the exercise would be
too short in the single octave form. Watch the
fingering carefully. The scale is fingered so
that a stretch of a wholetone falls
between the third and fourth fingers ascending,
and between the first and second finger
descending. (Exercise Seven)
The
student can make his own exercises by playing
scales consisting of stacked intervals. Using the
perfect fourth as an example, try this scale: c,
f, b flat, e flat, a flat, d flat e, a, d, g, c.
The student can make as many exercises as there
are keys and intervals.
The
Chromatic scale is a good exercise for shifting
the left hand In seemingly contrary motion to
that of the scale. Notice the way I have fingered
this scale. This fingering is movable In
that this scale can be played beginning on
different sixth string notes along the neck.
(Exercise Eight.)
I
have found these exercises useful for my
students and for my own technique as well. I
sincerely hope that you, the reader and student
of the guitar will find them helpful towards
fulfilling your goals in music. I would like to
thank my classmates at The Mannes College of
Music in New York (19761980) who
contributed exercises and helped by letting me
observe their arms and hands during performances.
Sheet music download. In Acrobat format
(.pdf), Harry Pellegrin's arrangement of "El
Noi de la Mare" a traditional Catalan folk
melody. Miguel Llobet's setting of this melody
was performed by both John Williams as well as
Andres Segovia, among others. A popular legend
reports that when Segovia passed away, this piece
of music was open upon his music stand. Some say
this was probably the last piece Segovia played
before his death.
Regardless of the
veracity of the tale, this is a very beautiful
melody, one which evokes a deeply emotional
response in the listener--when it is performed
correctly. Simple melody notwithstanding, there
are some difficult measures in this piece. Either
view with Acrobat Reader online or right mouse
click 'save target as' and ENJOY!
EL NOI
AVAILABLE NOW !
The Classic Guitar Method: Now in one volume, much
of what the novice classical guitarist will need to
know to lead him or her to the recital stage. From
proper instrument care and maintenance to the
necessary technical skills, musical mind-set, and
the standard repertoire—all exposed and explored
with enough detail and insight that the student will
wish to keep this book handy years to come as a
ready reference source.
With the aid of a good teacher, the student will
rapidly progress through The Classic Guitar Method
attaining technical proficiency and musical
eloquence.
This method stems from the need to incorporate a
number of schools into a single cohesive curriculum.
Years of honing a logical approach to the guitar and
the creation of music culminate in this volume. As a
self-proclaimed Disciple of Valdés-Blain , much of
that famed teacher's focus can be found in Mr.
Pellegrin's method.
ISBN: 978-1-4116-9442-2
Published by PAB Entertainment Group, P.O. Box 2369
Scotia, New York 12302
Please go to
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LOW END
By Harry George Pellegrin. The first in
the Gary Morrissey series of mysteries. Dealing with modern subject
matter in the classic style of the 1940's Mystery Noire masters--think
Raymond Chandler in New York in the 1980's... LOW END is the story of a
drug addict who is murdered after he believes he has found evidence of a
major government conspiracy. Is it only drug-induced paranoia? Might
be, except his paranoia could be considered justified: he was murdered,
after all. Friend Gary Morrissey takes it upon himself to find out just
what happened and lands himself in the crosshairs.
See more info... |
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Classic Guitar Method
Composed,
written, transcribed, edited and arranged by Harry G. Pellegrin:
Now in one volume, much of what the novice classical guitarist will need
to know to lead him or her to the recital stage. From proper instrument
care and maintenance to the necessary technical skills, musical
mind-set, and the standard repertoire—all exposed and explored with
enough detail and insight that the student will wish to keep this book
handy years to come as a ready reference source.
See more info... |
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DEEP END: The Wreck of the Eddie Fitz
By Harry George Pellegrin. A
mystery novel. Involving a semi-professional musician and a Kreyol death
cult, DEEP END takes the reader from the bottom of Long Island Sound to
the steamy streets and Blues clubs of New Orleans. Alternative
spirituality does battle with the common working man. Published by PAB
Entertainment Group in association with LULU.com.
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LOW END Copyright 2003-2016 Harry G.
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In God We Trust
Introspect (Book + Online Audio)
by Harry George Pellegrin
Introspect is a collection of solo classic guitar pieces including a series of ten short waltzes and six longer compositions of intermediate difficulty. Although written in the 21st century, they encompass styles from Romantic to avant-garde. Written by guitarist Harry George Pellegrin, the pieces are crafted to exploit the sonic and emotional capabilities of the instrument while remaining idiomatic to the guitar. Includes access to online audio.
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PRODUCT ID: 30602M
FORMAT : Book + Online Audio
Price:
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