Tag: learning

Top Tips for Learning Classical Guitar On Your Own

Nicole Neal4 Comments

Hello dear readers!

I’ve been contacted recently by a reader who’s just started learning in the last three months, but in a position time-wise and financially where taking lessons just isn’t a possibility.  And I would imagine that said reader is not alone in this.

Yes, it’s ideal if you can take lessons on a weekly basis, but just because you’re not able to do this for whatever reason that should absolutely not be any kind of roadblock or reason not to start learning, playing and enjoying the wonderful instrument that is the classical guitar. I’m all about sharing and helping, so here are my thoughts and top tips for kick-starting your classical guitar journey solo-style.

(1) You don’t have to do it on your own!

With the wonders of the internet these days, you don’t actually have to do anything anymore in isolation. Admittedly it’s not quite the same as learning things in a tailored one-on-one environment, but checking out videos online, seeing if there are any quick “pointers” videos out there – or even blogs like this! – makes things a heck of a lot better, easier and far more pleasant than sitting in your lounge room or bedroom wondering if you’re doing something “right”!

In fact above encourage any of you seeking advice or if you have thoughts on a topic you’d like me to cover to get in touch and ask away. I’m always keen to help if and where I can. I might even be able to post up a video or photo to help with a dilemma or an issue.

(2) Keep on practicing, even just a little bit, every day

We are our habits, and the more frequently you do something, the more ingrained the behaviour comes. Get used to practicing, even if it’s just five minutes – even 2 minutes! – every single day or at the very least 5 days out of 7. This is where you’ll find your development sneaks up on you without you noticing!

(3) Immerse yourself in guitar music and its many sounds

Get to know your favourite players and their sounds inside out. Watch them on YouTube – listen and watch how they produce their sounds. Seek out and get to know guitarists you’ve not heard of before and do the same. Listen, listen, listen. Get to know, feel and understand what good sound sounds like to you. It will take a lot of listening over a period of time to appreciate the subtleties in sound quality, like getting to appreciate good wines or whiskies, but overtime your ear will discern finer and finer differences in sound.

Why is this important?

It will impact on your own playing significantly. Not having someone like a teacher to give you feedback on your sound production and sound quality means it may take a little more time (or not!) for you to understand and appreciate (a) what “good” sound could sound like and (b) how you personally can physically produce a “good” sound (which is totally subjective of course).

By effectively training your ear to become more sensitive to variations in sounds (and observing, where possible, how they’re produced) will mean your own sound production will become more sensitive and informed by what you’re hearing.

(4) Use a well-known and recommended method book

There are plenty out there, and most will give you a reasonable start in learning the guitar. A New Tune A Day For Classical Guitar by Michael McCartney is not a bad book to check out and comes with a CD that plays the tunes, and acompaniments. If you feel you’re not moving ahead with the book you’ve chosen feel free to drop me a line and I can help suggest some alternatives. Similarly, if you feel you’ve moved beyond the book you’ve been using and don’t know where to go to next please feel free to drop me a line.

 

Thanks again for the reader (you know who you are) for getting in touch. Just to reiterate, as I said above encourage any of you seeking advice or if you have thoughts on a topic you’d like me to cover to do the same. I’m always keen to help if and where I can – Nicole.

 

Learning Classical Guitar And The Mental Approach You Need For Success

Nicole Neal2 Comments

I was reading an article on LinkedIn recently that resonated quite strongly with me and reflects my own thoughts around succeeding/ acquiring of skill (something that I’ve discussed with former students of mine too).

Those thoughts are that skills, and particularly skills such as learning and playing the classical guitar, are very much influenced by your mindset and approach to learning. I personally believe that old adage that you achieve pretty much anything if you set your mind to it.

Do You Have A Fixed Mindset or A Growth Mindset?

Folks with a “fixed mindset” (who might say things like “I am a musical person” or “I am not a musical person” or “I have always found this difficult and will continue to do so”), those that think that talent, brains, intelligence, natural gifts, call it what you will, are the answer to learning to play classical guitar (for example), can be their own worst enemy! Folks with a fixed mindset, thinking perhaps that they’re not good at something, like it’s something that’s set in stone, and the ones more likely to give in or give up at the first sign of challenge and difficulty.

Do you have this kind of mindset when learning a new piece? When developing an element of your technique? That’s preventing you from picking up the guitar even?

I seriously believe that a “growth’ mindset is vital when learning the guitar and progressing on the instrument (as it is with any instrument or skill). A growth mindset is acknowledging and appreciating that you’re probably not going to be that flash at something the first time you try it and possibly even for quite a while thereafter. A growth mindset acknowledges, however, that changes and improvements do occur over time – they may be large or they may be incremental, but undoubtedly they will occur. They don’t occur of their own accord though.

I’ve said this many times to past students, and I’ve said similar things many times previously on this blog too – the key to achieving mastery of the classical guitar (or at least getting a reasonable way into that journey) is focussed effort. Yes, talent can help, but it’s really the efforts that you put in, and the knowledge that you’ll improve, change and develop over time as a result of those efforts, that will set you on the path for success on the classical guitar.

For me when I first picked up the classical guitar I came to it with a background playing piano and clarinet, and having trained in classical dance for nearly 10 years. I was immersed in a musical world from a young age, so my “talent” (which was really just repetitive and consistent training and immersion over many years from a very young age – although that sounds rather brutal to put it in those terms!) carried me for a time. After the complete hiatus for a few years I had from playing in my late teens and early twenties, picking up the guitar again and wanting to really take things as far as I possibly could with the instrument, that’s where the “growth” attitude really came into its own.

I understood that a great deal of work lay ahead of me and came to enjoy that fact and the journey I was on. And I still do – my journey is still very much continuing. Part of this was also learning to be accepting of my technique at a given point and being in the moment, but knowing that I still needed to push and continue my hard work and focussed efforts to ensure the path ahead of me continued as I wanted. I was playing my path into view, if you like.

So do you have a growth mindset in your approach to learning classical guitar? Do you take technical challenges on? Do you ponder on how you can develop or overcome a particular challenge? Do you feel inspired listening to others? Do you appreciate that, given time and continued effort, you can play pretty much anything your heart desires?! I like to think it’s true 😉

And this is the article I was reading that sparked this blog post: http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140609121847-20017018-the-one-mental-approach-you-need-to-succeed