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PLAY IT LIKE A PRO™

Learn to Play

Cavatina

By Stanley Myers, Arranged by John Williams

The famous Cavatina, by Stanley Myers as arranged by John Williams
is one of the most beautiful and loved pieces in the classical guitar repertoire.

It can be learned by the intermediate guitarist.

Learn to play Cavatina like a pro.

Includes:

• Over 4 hours (!) of video shot close-up in high definition to teach you to play Cavatina measure by measure like a pro.
• 78 individual detailed instructional videos.
• An annotated score in standard notation and tab (80 pages!) with detailed instructions on how to play this beautiful piece measure-by-measure with pro-level execution. Includes detailed left and right-hand fingering options, optional improved harmonizations, articulation options, technical instruction, and much more.
• NOTE: DUE TO COPYRIGHT LAW, THE ORIGINAL BASIC GUITAR SCORE TO CAVATINA IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE PLAY IT LIKE A PRO™ PACKAGE. YOU MUST PURCHASE IT SEPARATELY.

Douglas Niedt Gives You His No-Risk, Nothing-to-Lose, Money-Back Guarantee
"These are the best video/internet lessons with the finest hi-tech production on the planet. But, if you are not satisfied with this course, I will refund your money. Just tell me why you did not like it so I can make it better for others."

This is a digital download.

Download the 80-page annotated score to your computers and devices. You can watch the 78 videos on the Cavatina webpages or download them to your computers and devices.

Only $39.95 No shipping/handling charges
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About Douglas Niedt

Douglas Niedt is a successful concert and recording artist and highly respected master classical guitar teacher with 50 years of teaching experience. He is Associate Professor of Music (retired), at the Conservatory of Music and Dance, University of Missouri-Kansas City and a Fellow of the Henry W. Bloch School of Management—Regnier Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Doug studied with such diverse masters as Andrés Segovia, Pepe Romero, Christopher Parkening, Narciso Yepes, Oscar Ghiglia, and Jorge Morel. Therefore, Doug provides solutions for you from a variety of perspectives and schools of thought.

He gives accurate, reliable advice that has been tested in performance on the concert stage that will work for you at home.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Cavatina difficult to play?

Guitarists at an intermediate or higher level can play Cavatina.

Does Cavatina have a lot of bar chords?

Cavatina contains a number of bar chords. However, Douglas Niedt's tutorial includes many options to play fewer bar chords or to bar fewer strings.

Are there difficult stretches in Cavatina?

Cavatina contains a few stretches. However, Douglas Niedt's tutorial includes options to eliminate the stretches or to lessen their difficulty. Large hands are not required to play the piece.

What is the guitar tuning for Cavatina?

Cavatina is in standard tuning in the key of E major.

Transcript of the Video for measures 1-2, How to Play Cavatina

[00:00:00] This is measure 1 to 2, an overview of left-hand technique. First thing you want to do, is pre-plant the first chord. In other words, place all four fingers down before you play one note. That way, you're certain that the first measure will go well for the left hand. Now, you can do it without the bar like this, or you can use an optional 5-string bar, which we'll talk about in a moment. Either way, pre-plant everything. Now the problem here, measure one to two, is getting a smooth change. The tendency will be to clip the last note of measure one like this. That's no good. We don't want to clip that note short like that. I'm going to connect it as best as we can. Now one option is simply to be careful, and not to clip the note, not [00:01:00] to lift early. Like that, but it's a tough change and there's a high likelihood that you're going to miss that change.

[00:01:12] So, one thing you can do, you can use an optional bar. You can bar 5 strings at the 4th fret. And what that does, it gives you the first finger as your guide finger to just slide up two frets for the bass note, for the D sharp. Then, all you have to do is land the second finger on the first string. So it gives you a lot of stability, and will help prevent you from clipping that G sharp.

[00:01:44] Now notice that when we do the change, we only land the first finger and the second finger, and then we add the third finger and the fourth fingers later, as we come to those notes. We do not try to grab the entire chord. No way. Just the first finger and the [00:02:00] second finger.

[00:02:01] Now the problem with the bar, is that it can be noisy. You can get, you know, string noises even squeaks sometimes. So if that's the case, you may not want to use the bar. But if you can do it like I'm doing, and not get the string noise and get very little squeak, it might be a good way to go, to give yourself stability to make that chord change.

[00:02:25] If you do squeak, and the bar is not an option, then go without the bar. But here's another option for you. Take the second finger as you play the last note of measure 1, and pre-plant it on the first string. And that becomes your guide finger to go to measure two. Gives you a lot of stability. So all you have to worry about is slapping the bar down across there.

[00:02:52] So it looks like this: plant it and slide. Very good way to go. The [00:03:00] only, the disadvantage of that is that you do lift the E early, in other words, to move it over to pre-plant. So the E gets chopped off, but I have to say, most people are hearing, they are listening to the melody and the last two notes of the measure. They're not going to hear that E being cut short to get to the next chord.

[00:03:31] And, another option is to use both. Do the bar, and do the pre-plant. So it looks like this. You're doing the bar. You lift the second finger early to pre-plant it. Then, you have both fingers down and all you have to do is slide up. And you can't miss the change. And you won't be tempted to clip that last note of measure one short either, because it makes the change so [00:04:00] secure. Bar, pre-plant, and make the shift. That's almost foolproof. That's a good way to go.

[00:04:10] But again, if you don't like, if the bar is too noisy for you, if you don't like lifting that second finger early to pre-plant it, then you're left with just trying to do the change with none of that and just going for it and hoping you land it. So you'll just have to try all those things out.

[00:04:33] On the second, measure too, the obvious choice is a five string bar. But some players may have trouble getting the five-string bar to come out clearly. So if that's the case, you might try a 6-string bar. It might work better. The sound will be the same. It's just whatever comes out the best.

[00:04:52] And then, another option is to use a partial bar, barring only the 3rd, 4th, [00:05:00] and 5th strings. Like that. Some people may be more successful using that. Again, you just have to try out the different options.

[00:05:10] The final consideration on the first two measures and actually for most of the piece, is that you want a continuous vibrato to make the sound shimmer, to make the melody full, and to just add that glorious tone quality to the entire piece. You really want that. So get used to using continuous vibrato throughout.