Description

As the title of his book attests, guitarist and musicologist Mart n Pedreira presents a methodical treatment addressing the most highly refined guitar techniques. In my opinion, we should not confuse the methodical with the routine, because the latter does not facilitate the completion of any task. We applaud Pedreira for his rigorous vision of instrumental practice and his meticulous attention to the physical-motor aspects of the instrumentalist. This reference book is worthy of frequent consultation for its valuable suggestions. Leo Brouwer This comprehensive reference book integrates the historical, structural, technical, and ergonomic aspects of classic guitarperformance with the individual player’s cultural, intellectual, creative, and emotional facets in what the author calls a psychophysiological approach to interpretation. In addition to its emphasis on ergonomic posture and technique, the book includes over 200 short musical excerpts by Sor, Giuliani, Coste, Tárrega, Barrios, Montoya, Ponce, Pujol, Villa-Lobos, Rodrigo, Brouwer and others— illustrating practically every aspect of classic and flamenco guitar technique. This unique Wholistic Perspective of Technique Through Repertoire will be useful to teachers, aspiring composers, and to students and professionals forming recital and concert programs. Given the author’s extensive survey of technique and repertoire from an ergonomic point of view, it is likely that even seasoned concert artists and teachers will find something new of intense interest to share with their audiences and students. No classic guitarist’s library would be complete without this landmark book! The author’s goal in presenting this multifaceted approach is to provide theoretical and practical coordinates for improving guitar interpretation while acknowledging the player’s intellectual and emotional contributions. While there is no companion recording for this book, many of its examples can be heard in their entirety on YouTube. The inclusion of numerous quotes from renowned guitar virtuosos and other instrumentalists, plus statements by non-musician artists, scientists, and psychophysical experts from the Renaissance to the present day — emphasize the wholistic nature of this book. Readers

Contents

1. Posture, Instrument Placement and Breathing
2. Normal Posture and Mobility
3. Traditional Placement of the Guitar
4. Psychophysical Effects
5. Slanted Placement
6. Tilting of the Soundbox
7. Other Issues Related to Posture with the Instrument
8. Remodeling Instrument Placement
9. Breathing
10. Abdominal Breathing
11. Breathing Rhythm
12. Breathing versus Excitement
13. The Right Hand
14. The Postural Frame
15. Forearm Support Point
16. Hand-Forearm Placements
17. Aligned Placement
18. Intermediate Placement
19. Curved Placement
20. Alignment of the Fingers and Roundness of the Hand
21. Sensopostural Patterns
22. Physical-Acoustic Phenomena and Tone in Performance
23. Learning the Sound of the Instrument
24. The Plucking Mechanism
25. The Plucking Cycle
26. Contact with the Strins
27. Fingernail Attack
28. Fingertip/Nail Attack
29. Fingertip Attack (Thumb)
30. ÿPlanting: Coordination and Synchrony for a Balanced Mobility
31. Simultaneous Planting
32. Sequential Planting
33. Grip/Thrust
34. Free and Rest Strokes
35. Fixation (Muscular Integration in Plucking)
36. Exit and Relax
37. Physiological aspects that contribute to relaxation in both hands
38. Sensoperceptive Exercises for the Right Hand
39. Stimulating the Perception of Contact
40. Perception of Grip
41. ?Silent Plucking? (Simultaneity with the Thumb)
42. Rapid Repositioning
43. ?Tick Tock: (Fingernail Attack)
44. Release from the Bottom
45. Perception of Thrust (rest Stroke)
46. Exploring and Activating Relaxation
47. Tonicity Patterns (Flexibility of Muscle Tones)
48. Better Perception, Fewer Repetitions
49. Use of Voluntary Fixation in Plucking
50. Fixation with i-m-a
51. Fixation with the thumb
52. Applications
53. Fingering: Functional
54. Regularities and Options
55. Finger Crossing
56. The Little Finger
57. Artificial Harmonics
58. Five-Note Chords
59. Arpeggios
60. More About the Thumb
61. Timbre
62. Twin-stroke
63. Support-Planting
64. Displacements
65. Control of Resonance by Damping
66. Right-Hand Articulation Techniques
67. Legato and Staccato
68. Rest/Free Alternation
69. ?Vertical Articulation?
70. Intervals
71. Arpeggiated Chords
72. Dynamic Enhancement (Highlighting Notes)
73. Strumming (Rasgueado)
74. Preparatory Exercises
75. Functional Relaxion in Strumming
76. The Left Hand
77. Hand Roundness
78. Hand-Forearm Alignment/Control of the Arm Angles
79. Hand Rotation/Control of Supination
80. Left-Hand Sensopostural Pattern
81. The Placement-Release Cycle
82. Contact with the Strings
83. Balance of Positioning
84. Thumb Placement
85. Palm View
86. Side View
87. Thumb Position Readjustments
88. Placement of Finger
89. Planting in Linear Passages
90. Finger Pressure (Pisado)
91. Weight and Flotation
92. Release (Relax) and Exit
93. Position Shifts
94. Types of Position Shifts
95. Movement Transmission in Longitudinal Shifts
96. Hand Presentation on the Fretboard and Transverse Shifts
97. Perceptual Guidelines for Mobility in Shifting
98. Perception of Effort
99. Visual Orientation
100. Reference Points on the Fretboard
101. Visualization Strategies
102. Practice of Shifts by Leap
103. Reducing Noise in Shifting
104. Other Means for Precision and Economy of Effort in Shifting
105. Mechanics of Support Point
106. Pivot Finger
107. Avoiding Successive shifts in Opposite Directions
108. Using Less Supination in Linear Passages
109. Progressive Placement and Release of Chord Positions
110. Barre
111. Roundness of the Hand in Barre
112. Using Selective Pressure in Barre Chords
113. Reshaping the Barre
114. Increased Economy of Effort
115. Using the Weight of the Arm
116. Intermittent Release of Pressure
117. Selective Pressure in Linear Passages
118. Barre in Advance
119. Partial Barre
120. Hinge Barre
121. ?Fourth-Finer Barre?
122. Extensions
123. Preparing Extensions
124. Alternatives
125. Left-Hand Articulation Techniques
126. Legato by Sustaining Resonance
127. Campanella
128. Direct use of Sympathetic Resonance
129. Slurs (Ligados)
130. Planting when Playing Slurs
131. Cross-String Slurs
132. Rotation of the Hand in Slurs
133. Staccato
134. Slur-Staccato
135. Glissando
136. Fast Glissandi : From a note without fixed duration to another note with Fixed duration — Between two notes with fixed duration —Portamento
137. Short Portamento
138. Practice of Short Portamento
139. ÿVibrato
140. Prolonging the Sound
141. Epilogue
142. Appendixes
143. A Brief Anatomical and Physiological Outline
144. Study of Symmetries of Body Posture Using Profilometry
145. Pre-Warmup Exercises