Miguel de Maria -> RE: Kitharologus (Dec. 14 2004 16:03:20)
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Anthony, good to hear from you. It sounds like in a year or two, you will get some time to practice guitar again. But then in another year, you will have to start teaching el hijo how to play guitar! At least you will have a year... I went through Kitharalogus religiously for several months. It is a technical routine designed to drill and automate all the main motions involved in playing classical guitar. It starts with a basic routine and builds on it gradually. As Anthony alluded to, it has a lot of right hand exercises, what we guitarists would probably call arpeggios. Many of these are incredibly complicated. There are lots of scales of many different keys and awkward fingerings and switches. Lots of left hand work, too, scales involving two notes at a time. I think Kitharalogus is great, but my concern is that it is not really the best use of my time. I don't think any harm would come of followings its program, but there may well be better ways to learn technique. Something about a hundred exercises repeated methodically numbs the brain, and above all you need attention to detail and to think. Was it Carlevaro who said, "think, think, think, then play." That is a very powerful piece of advice. Anthony didn't like the beginning exercises, but those were my very favorites. I believe that the most complex guitar is really the stringing together of the most simple motions, and the early work is the perfection of these simple motions. I doubt many guitarists could do those first exercises very well. They are so bare, so stark, and so exposed, almost Zen-like in their execution. I suppose it's no different than the idea that playing a simple scale can be more difficult than playing a tune, because the scale's structure is transparent--there is nowhere to hide. The beginning exercises focus on the right hand strokes and hand position. I can think of nothing more important to know, and nothing more rare, than excellent right hand strokes and position. If you can play simple right hand strokes with efficiency and sureness you are well on your way in the guitar playing business. I progressed along the routines in the book but the daily workout took me about two hours. That's a problem, because sometimes I don't even get two hours, let alone three or four. When I work on technique that much, I don't have time to add songs to my repertoire, polish the many imperfect songs I already know, practice improvising, work on my recording, and work on my singing! Let alone chores. Although I may go back to grab selected exercises, I can't countenance going through the routine again. I am at the point of looking very carefully at my technique, thinking about it, pondering, watching others play, and only then working. A two hour routine doesn't give you that kind of time to use your intellect. If you are young, driven person with at least four hours a day of practice time, this book may be for you. If not, it is a fine reference and compendium of techniques, but the schedule of exercises will most likely be too much.
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