Matteo Carcassi composed during the period when the guitar is relatively new. He devised countless exercises/songs to introduce the instrument to music lovers. In this piece, Melody in C Major, you will explore where the c major notes/chords/scale on the guitar neck. You will also improve both your left and right techniques at the same time. For the left hand, you will be covering many chords including half barre and full barre chords. For the right, there are several plucking patterns introduced. pimimimi and piaiaiai being the main ones. The ending concludes with an interplay between these 2 patterns. Make sure you save enough energy to conclude the piece in tempo.

Technique/Tips
It is crucial to suspend the bass note. 1,3 of each measure. Let the notes ring. Start slow. It’s not about speed but clarity of notes. Melody in C has no slides/pull off/hammer ons but there are some barre chords to deal with.

Bar[10]-[11] end of bar 10 at fret 7. be prepared to jump to 3 fret in position and in time to sound the bass note(F#).
Bar[2]&[22] These 2 bars are identical in tone. I included 2 different positions to play this measure.
Bar[28] The last stretch. Start with open C chord. I find this section pretty tricky in terms of right hand pattern switches. ( :

Excerpt of Melody in C major by Matteo Carcassi

Technique and Tips

Further Reading
I learnt Melody in C Major by Matteo Carcassi from Carcassi for tabulature. 128 pages going over many plucking techniques and patterns of over 100 songs. Book include an audio companion cd and is ring bound so you can lie it flat.

Etude in E Minor is a fine example of one of many Fernando Sor’s studies which focus on the right plucking hand. A study in the key of E minor at (Allegro Moderato) , played at a moderate to fast pace. This piece is 52 bars long with a 10 barre chords. Memorize the right hand pattern helps. Keep the plucking speed uniform at all time. You can undulate the volume for mood but there are certain notes that must be accented or played loudly. For example the second note of Bar[1] and [2] displayed in the tab image below.

Tips and technique
There’s a general beat between 2 adjacent measures (3 beat, 2 beat). For example: 3 beats on bar[1] and 2 bar[2] and so on. (Paimimim-Paim-Paim) (Paimimim-Paimimim). You play these beats with your thumb(P) and suspend these notes.

Bar[1]-[4] The main riff for the song. These 4 bars appears 3 times throughout Etude in E Minor.

Bar[29] reverse pattern. you have been playing one main pattern (paimimim-paim-paim) in this measure, you are introduce with another patterm (pamimimi-pami-pami). This pattern is a mirror image of the former. Make sure you flip back to the original pattern after this measure.

Bar[33]-[33] The ongoing finger plucking pattern you have been playing has be widen.

Bar[14],[20],[42] Flatten finger to form a barre on the treble string (b and e)

Bar[46]-[48] A slight variation of the main pattern with a funky backbeat on the treble e string.

excerpts from fernando sor's etude in E minor

Further Reading
I learnt “Etude in E minor (Allegro Moderato)” from this book Sor in Tabulature. The book includes 58 pieces of music as well as a recorded CD of the entire book. Ben Bolt believes these pieces are the “best of the best” for developing technique, musicianship, and exposing the guitarist to the ingenious musical world of Fernando Sor. Regardless of your current level of expertise, this music will be a joy to learn and listen to.

Randall William “Randy” Rhoads (December 6, 1956 – March 19, 1982) was an American heavy metal guitarist who played with Ozzy Osbourne and Quiet Riot. A teacher of classical guitar, Rhoads mixed his classical music influences with his own heavy metal style. “Dee” was written for Rhoad’s mother and the track can be found in Ozzy’s fine “Blizzard of Oz” album. I wish there are more classical piece by this masterful guitarist but he died tragically at the age of 25. Despite his relatively short career, Rhoads is a major influence on neo-classical metal players that emerged in the 1980s such as Yngwie Malmsteen, Michael Angelo Batio and Jason Becker, and he is cited as an influence by many contemporary heavy metal guitarists.

Technique
32 Bars. Suspend the bass notes are long as possible.
Bar[3],[20],[32] There are 3 occurrence of harmonics. You can play this bell like effect by gently barring the strings and strumming the notes downwards with thumb.
Bar[24] Please listen to the midi to get the timing since the timing is odd. Make sure to slide and play the double stops or interval (2 note chord) in time before the pull off.

Excerpt taken from Randy Rhoad's Dee

Tips
If you don’t have an classical guitar, you can still play this track with an acoustic. Randy rhoads played this song on the acoustic guitar. If you listen to harmonics he played in his recording, you can clearly hear the pick downward sweep. In any case, this song works equally well on both the acoustic and classical guitar.

El utimo tremolo is 1 of 2 tremolo songs by Augustin Barrios. The other being “Un Sueño En La Floresta” which I hope to cover in the future. El ultimo Tremolo is barrios’ swan song, he wrote this piece shortly before he died. The beat of the song was inspired by the rhythm of someone knocking upon barrios’ door! The knocks can be found in the first two bars of the piece and this motif runs throughout the entire work. Get fluid with tremolo (pami) before you tackle “the ultimate tremolo.” I have posted an easier tremolo song in my previous blog post, check out tarrega’s rescuerdos de alhambra. Lastly, don’t expect to learn this song in a week, so be patient. Dissect the song into parts. Focus on groups of measures say do 8 bars and move on to the next 8 bars. Good luck!

Technique
Like barrios’ la cathedral preludio saudade, this song has quite a lot of unique left hand chord positioning. If you find a certain chord impossible, look for alternative chord positions. Failing that, look at the previous chord and find it’s alternative chord position. By changing some chords around, you may handle these chords better and/or find an easier chord transition. To discover alternatives to the chords, explore along the guitar neck, find the the notes that sound the same. I normally try to ultilize open strings as much as possible. This tab fits best for myself. I encourage you to do some research on your own.

Tremolo and the melody
Right hand. Play All melody notes with thumb (p)
Left hand. Play tremolo with (ami).

Keep the right hand on auto-pilot since it play the same (pima) pattern. Focus on the left chords and think ahead! For instance when you are in the middle of playing chord A, think of the finger position for the chord B. 80 bars. Play straight with no repeats. Undulate the volume of tremolo to add emotions.Suspend first note of most measure for the full duration.

Bar[33] The G string needs to be suspend by a full measure. Curl your pinky finger to play the D note (12fret) without touch the G string below.
Bar[39]-[41] Hold barre chord all the way while playing all the melodies. This chord has tight fingering. Wrist could hurt at first. It really takes practice.
Bar[61] A weird barre chord at 11th fret. I use a cutaway in my video but it is not impossible on a regular cut guitar. This song goes up to the 17th fret.

play tremol (ami) and melody (p)

Tips
While practicing the tremolo technique, use this simple right hand pattern (pi-pi-pi) as a cheap substitute. You’ll get the gist of the melody by doing so and thus allowing you to totally focus on the left hand.

Download Tab | Download Midi

Matteo Carcassi produced many valuable classical guitar lessons and exercises. Here’s another pattern in form of a short 8 bar prelude. You will learn how to pluck separate strings with a sweeping feel using the pattern (pimamii).

Technique
(pimami) Right hand 6 note pattern. Time signature 6/8. 8 Measures. 4 bars with barre Chords. Suspend all root bass note (thumb)

pimami 6 note pattern for the right hand

Tips
pimami is a great workout for all 3 fingers including the thumb. Your fingers will pluck 4 strings successively on different strings. Always start with your thumb on the downbeat and suspend this note.

Download Tab

Further Reading
I learnt Prelude in Fy Matteo Carcassi from Carcassi for tabulature. 128 pages going over many plucking techniques and patterns of over 100 songs. Book include an audio companion cd and is ring bound so you can lie it flat.

Matteo Carcassi produced many valuable classical guitar lessons. For this right hand exercises, you will pick with the 6 note pattern (pmamim). Carcassi wrote a method for guitar (melodic and progressive studies) that remains valuable, relevant and interesting. Arpeggio in Dm deals with the (pi)-mam Right hand 4 note pattern

Technique
1 Barre Chord. 4/4 Time Signatue. 12 bars in the key of D minor. (pi)-mam Right hand 4 note pattern. Suspend bass note in every measure.

(pi)-mam Right hand 4 note pattern

Tips
Yet another prelude, this time in the key of D minor. You can use this piece as a warm up exercise also.

Download Tab

Prelude in Dm by Matteo Carcassi

Further Reading
I learnt Prelude in D Minor by Matteo Carcassi from Carcassi for tabulature. 128 pages going over many plucking techniques and patterns of over 100 songs. Book include an audio companion cd and is ring bound so you can lie it flat.

Mauro Giuseppe Sergio Pantaleo Giuliani (July 27, 1781 – May 8, 1829) was an Italian guitarist and composer, and is considered by many to be one of the leading guitar virtuosi of the early 19th century. His first instrumental training was on the cello—an instrument which he never completely abandoned—and he probably also studied the violin. Subsequently he devoted himself to the guitar, becoming a very skilled performer on it in a short time. In this song “Etude in A minor” you will play the lead with bass and treble strings.

Technique
-Lots of thumb action and finger gymnastics. Suspension of bass/treble notes.
-Bar[12]-[16] In these 4 Bars, you will enounter a series of rapid bass notes (struck with thumb).
Make sure the treble notes are suspended and heard.
-2 half barred chords at the end (first fret). 35 total bars. Played straight with no repeats.

taken from Mauro Giuliani's Etude in A minor

Tips
-The suggested Left hand fingering may be weird at first but you will soon notice the finger position sets up for the next finger placement. Sort of like looking ahead to facillate playing.

Download Tab

Further Reading
I learnt Etude in A minor by Mauro Giuliani from 50 Easy classical Guitar Pieces by Jerry Willard. Another book in my collection. Book is in tabulature. Great for beginner guitar for classical. 50 short songs introducing you to key players of the genre. Works featured in this book includes the many names that influence the classical guitar world. To name a few featured: Fernando Carulli, Napoloen Coste, Fernando Sor, Dionisio Aguado, Gaspar Sanz, John dowland, Robert Devisse, and Mauro Giuliani. This book comes with a companion CD plus a brief biography writeup on the aforementioned maestros.

Merry christmas, everyone! This short song by Sor, E minor at Midnight is a fine example how expressive a simple tune can be. Fernando Sor is considered to be a key composer from the 19th century. Spanish born in barcelona in 1778. Fernando’s was bought up in a monastery and was taught by a monk. Sor wrote his first opera at 18. One of the best thing I like about sor is that his work is not difficult to play.

Technique
A slow and fairly easy song. 16 Bars. A single barred chord at the end on the second fret. Note the time indicator at the bottom, it is broken down into semi quavers (1e&a, 2e&a etc…) or I was once taught co-ca-co-la.

Excerpts from Fernando sor's E minor at midnight

Tips
E minor at Midnight has notes sparse in nature, suspend the bass in every measure to add texture.

Download Tab

Further Reading
I learnt “E minor at Midnight” from this book Sor in Tabulature. The book includes 58 pieces of music as well as a recorded CD of the entire book. Ben Bolt believes these pieces are the “best of the best” for developing technique, musicianship, and exposing the guitarist to the ingenious musical world of Fernando Sor. Regardless of your current level of expertise, this music will be a joy to learn and listen to.

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