Guitar
SingingWood Home



   
  • Finger-picking
  • Solo Finger-picking
  • Flat-picking
  • Strumming
  • Accompaniment for Singers
  • Improvisation
  • The Basics
John Blasquez teaches a wide range of guitar styles:

   • Finger-picking
   • Flat-picking
   • Solo finger-picking
   • Strumming for singers (vocal accompaniment)
   • Open tunings

Solo Finger-picking

John specializes in solo finger-picking. This is a rich style, like classical guitar, where the guitarist plays the melody and accompaniment simultaneously, creating the illusion of two guitars playing at once.

Here's an example of solo finger-picking: an American folk melody entitled John Hardy, arranged and performed by John Blasquez.

John Hardy  NOTE: If you have trouble getting this to play read the page Listening to the Music.   

This version of John Hardy sounds rather difficult, but it's really an intermediate-level piece. A guitarist familiar with basic chords, who has a couple of months of finger-picking experience can learn it in a few weeks.

John has arranged dozens of solo guitar material at this intermediate level. And he has lots of fun, interesting lessons that help students in getting started and advancing to the point where they can easily learn pieces like this.

The Foundation

Many musicians overlook the basics. And some very important ones: posture, relaxation, economy of motion, and effective practice habits.

Most beginning guitarists adopt awkward, restrictive, and inefficient postures and hand positions. And they use excessive strength and movement — limiting their ability to play quickly. They find it difficult to play fast for extended periods of time without tiring, or they will once they start playing fast, and by then it's hard to unlearn such habits. This is a normal course of events, and bears no indication of one's future achievements — unless these habits continue unaltered.

John gives a lot of coaching in this area, with lots of friendly reminders on how to hold the guitar, and demonstations that explain why. usally the benefits are immediately self evident.

Improvisation

Guitar is a wonderful instrument on which to learn improvisation. Improvisation is an essential skill if you want to play rock, blues, jazz, country,. If you want to play along with other musicians, but you're not in an orchestra or school band, improvistions is the key.

Click here to find out more about improvistaion.

More information to come …














































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