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GUITAR TECHNIQUE TIP OF THE MONTH Your Personal Guitar Lesson |
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| BE SURE TO VISIT DOUG'S "SECRET VAULT" It contains many of Doug's Previous Guitar Technique Tips of the Month |
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Where Do I Put the Darn Dynamics?
By Douglas Niedt
Copyright Douglas Niedt, All Rights Reserved. This article may be reprinted, but please be
considerate and give credit to Douglas Niedt.
You are on DouglasNiedt.com
I don't know—maybe I'm odd, but I love getting mail. Any kind of mail. US mail, email,
interdepartmental mail at the University of Missouri where I teach. It doesn't matter. So I was
particularly pleased to receive an email from E.T. (please no jokes about my readership)
concerning January's article about the exaggeration of dynamics. E.T. writes, "I enjoyed the
most recent tip—"Exaggerate". The sound samples were especially helpful. Now for the PITA
question. Do you have any guidelines how and where to add exaggeration, or your favorite
book on musical interpretation?"
Before I answer the question and use the answer as this month's technique tip, I have to admit I
am rather clueless in the lexicon of email-dom and had to google the meaning of PITA. For
those individuals like me, here is a transparent hint: "Pain in…"
You are on DouglasNiedt.com
One of my favorite music pedagogy books of all time is called The Pianist's Problems by William
S. Newman (available as I write this January 2006 on amazon.com for $1.82 used!) Although
some of the book only applies to pianists, MOST of it applies to any musician. The chapter on
Performance addresses dynamics. But there are fabulous chapters on sight-reading, how to
practice, and how to learn a piece.
His discussion of a phrase is a good example of the succinctness and utility of the book as a
whole:
This brings me to a simple suggestion that makes it quite easy to determine the "correct" way to
use dynamics to shape a phrase. SING IT! It doesn't matter if you can't carry a tune or have a
terrible voice. Hide somewhere where no one can hear you, or take a walk in an isolated area
and sing your music. Most of the time, if you get into it emotionally, the way you sing a phrase is
the way you should play it on the guitar. Feel in your chest and throat which notes you want to
sing louder or more fully or intensely. Or which ones you want to sing quietly or delicately, or
linger on. Play them on the guitar the same way.
You are on DouglasNiedt.com
C.P.E. Bach, the second surviving son of J.S. Bach, in his classic book, Essay on the True Art
of Playing Keyboard Instruments ($16.00 at abebooks.com) advises one to "lose no
opportunity to hear artistic singing. In so doing, the keyboardist will learn to think in terms of
song. Indeed, it is good practice to sing instrumental melodies in order to reach an
understanding of their correct performance. This way of learning is of far greater value than the
reading of voluminous tomes or listening to learned discourses…" His chapter on Performance
is excellent and applicable to any music of any time, not just the Baroque and Rococo periods.
Also, may I interject that you can listen to almost any type of good singer to learn to shape a
phrase. It doesn't have to be an opera singer. Listen to anyone who moves you emotionally,
and use them as a model.
Back to Newman on a more analytical plane:
I would recommend you use both the analytical approach in books such as The Pianist's
Problems and the listening and singing approach mentioned by Bach. But the most important
thing in performing music of any kind—to give it shape, to give it life, and convey emotion—is
TO DO SOMETHING! Don't be afraid to make choices. Choose to play measure 28 quietly,
choose to crescendo to measure 18, choose to decrescendo into the return of the theme.
Someone may criticize your shaping of a phrase or your choice to play something loud that
they would play soft, but at least your music will have a voice and an identity and not be a
lifeless succession of notes.
"Music isn't just learning notes and playing them. You learn notes to play to the music of your
soul." (Katie Greenwood)
You are on DouglasNiedt.com
By Douglas Niedt
Copyright Douglas Niedt, All Rights Reserved. This article may be reprinted, but please be
considerate and give credit to Douglas Niedt.
You are on DouglasNiedt.com
I don't know—maybe I'm odd, but I love getting mail. Any kind of mail. US mail, email,
interdepartmental mail at the University of Missouri where I teach. It doesn't matter. So I was
particularly pleased to receive an email from E.T. (please no jokes about my readership)
concerning January's article about the exaggeration of dynamics. E.T. writes, "I enjoyed the
most recent tip—"Exaggerate". The sound samples were especially helpful. Now for the PITA
question. Do you have any guidelines how and where to add exaggeration, or your favorite
book on musical interpretation?"
Before I answer the question and use the answer as this month's technique tip, I have to admit I
am rather clueless in the lexicon of email-dom and had to google the meaning of PITA. For
those individuals like me, here is a transparent hint: "Pain in…"
You are on DouglasNiedt.com
One of my favorite music pedagogy books of all time is called The Pianist's Problems by William
S. Newman (available as I write this January 2006 on amazon.com for $1.82 used!) Although
some of the book only applies to pianists, MOST of it applies to any musician. The chapter on
Performance addresses dynamics. But there are fabulous chapters on sight-reading, how to
practice, and how to learn a piece.
His discussion of a phrase is a good example of the succinctness and utility of the book as a
whole:
- "By its very definition, a phrase implies a rise and fall—that is, a beginning, a climatic
point, and an ending. Just as a sentence may have one of more subordinate clauses, so
a phrase may have one or more lesser climaxes. However, the first problem of the
student is to determine the main climatic point toward and away from which the whole
phrase should move. The rise and fall of a melodic line is often given as a clue to the rise
and fall of a phrase. A rising and falling line does ordinarily mean increased and
decreased intensity when it is taken by a voice, or a wind or string instrument, any of
which is most penetrating and brilliant in its highest ranges."
This brings me to a simple suggestion that makes it quite easy to determine the "correct" way to
use dynamics to shape a phrase. SING IT! It doesn't matter if you can't carry a tune or have a
terrible voice. Hide somewhere where no one can hear you, or take a walk in an isolated area
and sing your music. Most of the time, if you get into it emotionally, the way you sing a phrase is
the way you should play it on the guitar. Feel in your chest and throat which notes you want to
sing louder or more fully or intensely. Or which ones you want to sing quietly or delicately, or
linger on. Play them on the guitar the same way.
You are on DouglasNiedt.com
C.P.E. Bach, the second surviving son of J.S. Bach, in his classic book, Essay on the True Art
of Playing Keyboard Instruments ($16.00 at abebooks.com) advises one to "lose no
opportunity to hear artistic singing. In so doing, the keyboardist will learn to think in terms of
song. Indeed, it is good practice to sing instrumental melodies in order to reach an
understanding of their correct performance. This way of learning is of far greater value than the
reading of voluminous tomes or listening to learned discourses…" His chapter on Performance
is excellent and applicable to any music of any time, not just the Baroque and Rococo periods.
Also, may I interject that you can listen to almost any type of good singer to learn to shape a
phrase. It doesn't have to be an opera singer. Listen to anyone who moves you emotionally,
and use them as a model.
Back to Newman on a more analytical plane:
- "In a phrase that contains some unusual feature, that feature becomes the climatic point.
The feature may be an unusually expressive harmony, remote foreign tone, sharp
dissonance, long tone, high tone, or low tone. Or it may be an unexpected dynamic
marking, provided that the marking occurs in a way that permits adequate emphasis (for
example, which lasts long enough)…Otherwise, the climatic point of the phrase normally
occurs on the last strong beat before the final note. The strong beat, in this sense, is
usually the first beat of the measure; though in slow music in even meter it may be the
middle of a measure…"
I would recommend you use both the analytical approach in books such as The Pianist's
Problems and the listening and singing approach mentioned by Bach. But the most important
thing in performing music of any kind—to give it shape, to give it life, and convey emotion—is
TO DO SOMETHING! Don't be afraid to make choices. Choose to play measure 28 quietly,
choose to crescendo to measure 18, choose to decrescendo into the return of the theme.
Someone may criticize your shaping of a phrase or your choice to play something loud that
they would play soft, but at least your music will have a voice and an identity and not be a
lifeless succession of notes.
"Music isn't just learning notes and playing them. You learn notes to play to the music of your
soul." (Katie Greenwood)
You are on DouglasNiedt.com
BE SURE TO VISIT DOUG'S "SECRET VAULT"
It contains many of Doug's Previous
Guitar Technique Tips of the Month
It contains many of Doug's Previous
Guitar Technique Tips of the Month
Have a comment?
Question?
Suggestion for the website?
We would love to hear from you.
Question?
Suggestion for the website?
We would love to hear from you.
We have a Printer Friendlier (PDF) version of this article that's also easier on the eyes.
It's SO much easier to read a printed article than to read it from the computer screen.
It's SO much easier to read a printed article than to read it from the computer screen.
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| These are my very detailed, in-depth articles and high-def videos on how to play the classical guitar. It's like getting your own private guitar lesson every month. Need info on classical guitar right hand technique? Guitar scales? How to play bar chords? Harmonics? Looking for a classical guitar practicing routine? Tips on performing onstage? How to tune a guitar? Looking for easy Christmas guitar arrangements? Chances are, I have covered it, or will soon. The tips are by subscription only. |
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Doug's Guitar Technique Tip of the Month will be sent to you monthly. These are the best on the
Internet. No one else's technique articles and videos even come close. Most of the written tips run
over 20 pages. Most of the videos run from 15-30 minutes. The tips are thorough and the
production is excellent. Check out the free tips in Doug's Vault for a sampling.
A one-year subscription (12 tips) is only $24. That is only $2 per tip.
Purchase a ONE-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION to:
DOUGLAS NIEDT'S GUITAR TECHNIQUE TIP OF THE MONTH
Doug's Guitar Technique Tip of the Month will be sent to you monthly. These are the best on the
Internet. No one else's technique articles and videos even come close. Most of the written tips run
over 20 pages. Most of the videos run from 15-30 minutes. The tips are thorough and the
production is excellent. Check out the free tips in Doug's Vault for a sampling.
A one-year subscription (12 tips) is only $24. That is only $2 per tip.
Be a better guitar player or teacher. SUBSCRIBE NOW!
Purchase a ONE-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION to:
DOUGLAS NIEDT'S GUITAR TECHNIQUE TIP OF THE MONTH
Doug's Guitar Technique Tip of the Month will be sent to you monthly. These are the best on the
Internet. No one else's technique articles and videos even come close. Most of the written tips run
over 20 pages. Most of the videos run from 15-30 minutes. The tips are thorough and the
production is excellent. Check out the free tips in Doug's Vault for a sampling.
A one-year subscription (12 tips) is only $24. That is only $2 per tip.
Purchase a ONE-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION to:
DOUGLAS NIEDT'S GUITAR TECHNIQUE TIP OF THE MONTH
Doug's Guitar Technique Tip of the Month will be sent to you monthly. These are the best on the
Internet. No one else's technique articles and videos even come close. Most of the written tips run
over 20 pages. Most of the videos run from 15-30 minutes. The tips are thorough and the
production is excellent. Check out the free tips in Doug's Vault for a sampling.
A one-year subscription (12 tips) is only $24. That is only $2 per tip.