5 Things You Need to Learn Classical & Fingerstyle Guitar, Part V: A Good Teacher
Photo by Pavel Danilyuk from PexelsA Good Teacher Can Shave Off Years of Practice and Frustration.
What a Good Teacher Offers
Here are a few things that a good teacher will bring to the table. This is not an exhaustive list, but just a few things that come to mind:What Self-Teaching Offers
I don’t mean to trash those who have been self-taught. There are a lot of good players out there who are self-taught. However, I’ve been around long enough to see the fruit that bad teaching and bad practice produces. Here are a few I’ve noticed.Playing a Classical/Nylon Guitar with a Pick
Okay, no a major point but one thing that bugs me to no end is to see a nylon guitar played with a pick or with someone sticking their pinky finger on the sound board, drives me nuts. Can a nylon guitar be played with a pick? I’m under contract to answer ‘yes’, but please do realize, the nylon/classical guitar is designed for fingerpicking… and yes, it can be played with a pick and many professions do it wonderfully.Wrists on the Soundboard
Another thing that I see is guitarists playing with their wrist practically touching the sound board because their forearm is so low. Believe it or not, this can actually cause issues with your fingers and wrists later on down the road. The forearm should be lifted slightly (maybe even an inch or an inch and a half) above the sound board with the wrist straight and the fingers can be extended all the way and where you use your knuckle (the joint of a finger, especially the joint connecting the fingers to the hand) to execute playing the note.The Hitchhiker
Ever see the guitar player with his thumb sticking up above the fingerboard… he’ll get a ride eventually. This was considered bad form back in the day. I believe they called it ‘Eagle Clawing’ and it was a no-no when I picked up my first guitar. Now-a-days it seems that it’s become part of the technique for electric and steel string acoustic players. Not so for a classical player, but I’ve seen people do it, or at least try to. The left-hand thumb should be place flat on the back of the neck, roughly between the first and second finger. It shouldn’t pop-up above the neck at all.Conclusion
Okay, I’ve rambled enough, but bear with me for one more example. If someone watches a video with a really good teacher about right-hand position. Then leaves the video and forgets what was said about the right-hand position. They will continue with bad technique. However, if the student has poor right-hand position and the student goes home, forgets what was said, then the teacher can correct the right-hand position again in the next lesson.Snagging the Hard Parts
An approach to working pass the challenging parts in a piece.
Have you ever?
Have you ever tried to learn a piece of music and find that most of it is easy enough to learn, but there is always that one spot (or two) that consistently gives you a headache that ibuprofen won’t cure? We’ve all been there. The pain in the hands, the frustration, the desire to give up and take up pottery classes instead. What if I told you there is a way to work through these rather ego slaying sections with ease, beauty, and finesse? What if I told you it didn’t have to be this hard?
“Yeah, right!” you’d say and to be honest, you’d be right.
Unfortunately, there are no magic bullets to accomplishing these feats. However, there are approaches and concepts, which, if you work into your practice upfront, it’ll make life a little easier in the long run (well, at least the guitar practicing part of your life).
My Practice Method
I think my practice approach is a little different than most. It takes a little longer to learn a piece of music. However, in the end, it’s learned and if I practice it once a week, it’s in my repertoire. At least, that has been my experience. It may not be a polished performance piece, but it’s still in memory.
To learn a piece of music, I normally take a phrase and practice it as an exercise until I have it up to a metronome setting just above the top speed. So, for example if the speed of the piece is 112, I aim to play the phrase cleanly at 122. I may start at 25% (yes, 25%) and work it up to full speed.
Let me explain. When you start a phrase, set the metronome at 25%. Play it five times perfectly in a row. If you mess up just once, you will have to start over at 1. This does wonders for your phrasing. It will also identify the hard parts in the phrase.
Isolate the Hard Parts
Once you have identified the part that’s giving you trouble, take a pencil, circle it (I put parenthesis around it), include a beat in front of it and a beat behind it (don’t play to far or it this will not work as well), and play only the circled section five times at the speed you’re practicing at.
So, for example: you have a phrase that you’re starting at 28 bpm. Half way through the phrase you run into a section that is difficult to play. You circle that section, including a beat before and a beat after. Then you play that section five times in a row perfectly. Then, and only then, do you go back and practice the whole phrase five times in a row perfectly, before moving on.
![]() |
An excerpt from my original composition, "Something About Flowers" |
What Then?
Move the metronome up 10 bmp. So, for our example: move the metronome up to 38. Practice the hard section 5 times in a row perfectly before practicing the whole phrase. After that, practice the whole phrase 5 times in a row perfectly. Once you can play it five times in a row perfectly, move up 10 beats on the metronome (for our example, move the metronome up to 48). Wash, rinse, and repeat until you can play it at full tempo.
Conclusion
I know that there could be people who take issue with some of my wording, but don’t get hung up in the weeds. A phrase is basically a music sentence, usually consisting of four measures. Listen to the section you’re playing and you will be able to pick out where it ends. What I mean by perfectly is to play through the section cleanly with no mistakes. Take your time. You’ll get it.
5 Things You Need to Learn Classical & Fingerstyle Guitar, Part IV: A Guitar Method Book
Photo by Pavel Danilyuk from PexelsCreating a Good Foundation
Which Method is Best?
With all of the good material out there, which one is the best book to learn from? That’s really up to your instructor and, yes, I highly recommend that you have a personal instructor, whether that be on-line through something like Skype, or in person lessons. An experienced and qualified instructor is your number one option to learn and improve your guitar playing, but more on that in another post.Not So Much a Method, but an Approach
I think it is safe to say that teaching by playing pieces is the most engaging and interesting way to instruct a student. To my understanding, previous paths to virtuosity was wrought with many intensive exercises and drills that basically bored the student and made the learning of the instrument a challenge to say the least. I’m not sure if this is been abandoned for the most part because exercises and drills obviously make you stronger in your playing.Don’t Make Mountains out of Molehills
You have probably heard the expression, “Don’t make a mountain out of a mole hill.” I have a saying that I like, “Mountains are made out of little mole hills.” That’s all they are and if you address one mole hill at a time, eventually, you will climb the mountain. Learning the technique, practicing the exercise, and playing a piece of music that enforces the technique, seems to me, the best pathway to success.What Hath Reading the Bible to do with Guitar?
Introduction
Recently I’ve had discussions within my circles about Christians who don’t read God’s Word, the Bible, on a regular basis. I must admit that this perplexes me. There can be a plethora of reasons given that this happens, or doesn’t happen, but for the believer in Christ, it should be happening. I want to you know that I’m talking to the believer here. I don’t have any expectations that an unbeliever would read God’s Word or have any hopes of understanding it in any meaningful way. There are many unbelievers who love to argue against the Bible who have never bothered reading or studying it at all and just want to repeat an argument that they think has some validity, but doesn’t realize that their new found argument has been refuted decades or even centuries before. As the Bible says:What Happens When You Read?
Reading God’s Word, the Bible, is like someone who practices their instrument. Eventually, they’re going to getting better. You spend countless hours practicing and making time for the things you love. Just as your practice of chords, scales, and arpeggios train your fingers for the task at hand (see what I did there?), so the reading of the Bible trains us for life and is, “beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16 NASB). Since all Scripture is inspired by God, God’s Word teaches us how to live life.What Doesn’t Happen When You Don’t Read
Oh boy, this article is getting a bit long, but bear with me. Simply put: when you don’t read, you’re not transformed, you’re conformed to the pattern of this world’s thinking. You don’t gain insight into the mind of Christ, you don’t mature, you don’t grow up. Any infant that does not receive regular healthy nourishment grows weak and eventually dies. The Word of God is our spiritual food, our spiritual nourishment. Without it we grow weak and die.Practical Suggestions
Wow, close to 1,000 words in this article so far. If you have read my other posts, you know I try to keep them short and manageable, as to not lose your attention… or mine. However, if you made it this far, here are some practical suggestions for reading the Bible. Just like your guitar practice:- Have a set time to read and study where you have minimal or no distractions.
- Have a set place to read and study. This could be at your desk, in your recliner, or on the back porch. It doesn’t matter, just as long as you have a quiet place to read and reflect.
- Have a set schedule. I have my own reading plan in which I read the New Testament once a year and the Old Testament in two years. It’s not as intense as the one-year plans and it gives you a little more time to reflect on what you’re reading. If you would like to look at it and see if it works for you, please download Pauly's Two Year Bible Reading Plan.
- If you have a lot of “windshield time”, i.e., if you drive a lot, get an audio Bible and listen to it.
- If you happen to miss a day, all is not lost. Make a plan to get caught up. In full transparence, when writing this article, I didn’t get to my Old Testament reading. When I get behind in my reading, I read an extra chapter a day until I get caught back up. That’s also one of the benefits to the Pauly’s Two Year Bible Reading Plan.
- Cultivate Reading. Like playing an instrument, this is a great habit to learn. Sometimes, habits take time to cultivate, but practice makes perfect, and in this case: in more ways than one.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Psalm 150:4
"Praise Him with timbrel and dancing; Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe." (NASB)
Are You a Good Person?
New Book Release!

Open Position Scales: A Systematic Approach to Practicing Scales
Includes 24 major and minor open position scales, but it’s not your typical scale book. This book is set up to promote a process to practice all of the open scales found on the guitar, in all 12 keys, throughout the week. Each scale is represented in standard notation, notation and tablature, and scale charts. Get your copy today!
Apparel and Stuff
Check out t-shirts and other stuff at the Tee Spring Store.