Classical guitar is a distinct discipline within guitar playing: a nylon-string instrument, a settled seated posture, a right hand that plays with the fingertips and nails, and a repertoire written in standard notation. Bill studied classical pieces at Crane, and classical technique is where a teacher saves a student the most time, because posture and right-hand habits are hard to unlearn.
The instrument
A classical guitar uses nylon strings at lower tension than the steel strings of an acoustic guitar, on a wider, flatter fingerboard. The tone is warmer and rounder, and the wider string spacing gives the right-hand fingers room to work. The kinds of guitar guide compares it with steel-string and electric guitars, and the tonewoods and strings guide covers how top woods and string types shape the sound.
Posture and the right hand
The traditional position rests the guitar on the left leg, raised by a footstool or a guitar support, so the neck rises at an angle and both hands work without strain.
The right-hand fingers are named p-i-m-a, from the Spanish for thumb, index, middle and ring finger (pulgar, índice, medio, anular). The thumb usually plays the bass strings and the fingers the treble strings, so one player can sound bass, harmony and melody at once. Two basic strokes:
- Rest stroke (apoyando): the finger plays through the string and comes to rest on the next one. It gives a full, projecting tone for melody.
- Free stroke (tirando): the finger plays the string and clears the next one. It is used for arpeggios and chords, where neighboring strings must keep ringing.
Reading music
Classical guitar music is written in standard notation on the treble clef and sounds an octave lower than written. Scores mark fingerings for both hands: numbers for the left-hand fingers, p-i-m-a for the right, and circled numbers for the string. Reading standard notation is part of what lessons cover, so it can be built alongside the first pieces.
Études and repertoire
An étude (French for "study") is a piece written to develop one technique, such as arpeggios, slurs or scales, while remaining music worth playing. Students usually meet these composers in roughly this order:
- Carcassi and Giuliani: early-19th-century studies in arpeggios and right-hand patterns, a common starting point.
- Sor: studies and pieces from the same period that develop voicing and legato in more than one voice.
- Tárrega: late-19th-century pieces that use the full range of the instrument, including tremolo.
- Villa-Lobos: 20th-century études and preludes that bring modern harmony to the guitar.
- Bach: transcriptions of works for lute, violin and cello, which test the independence of voices.
How lessons approach classical
Lessons combine technique, reading, theory and ear training with the pieces the student chooses. Classical pieces come already written out, usually with fingerings. Bill breaks a piece into sections and, where it helps, has the student learn the melody or the bass line alone before putting the voices together. Where a piece has a second part, as in a duet, Bill plays it along with the student.
Piano students can study classical repertoire in the same way in piano lessons.
If you are buying a classical guitar, the free intro visit is a good moment to ask what to look for.
Questions
Do I need a classical guitar to learn classical guitar?
A nylon-string classical guitar is the standard instrument, because the repertoire and right-hand technique are built around its wider neck and lower string tension. Early pieces can be played on a steel-string acoustic, but a nylon-string guitar is the right tool once classical is the goal.
Is classical guitar harder than acoustic guitar?
It is different rather than simply harder. Classical guitar asks for right-hand finger independence, reading and longer left-hand stretches across a wider neck; steel-string acoustic playing asks for more finger pressure because of the higher string tension.
What age can a child start classical guitar?
From four. Classical guitars come in fractional sizes such as 1/2 and 3/4, and their soft nylon strings suit small fingers.
