Continuing on with the Steve Baughman theme, I wanted to post about these two new videos of his on Youtube.

The first is an old time fiddle tune that Steve has rendered on guitar, which according to him is in Double Drop D tuning, or DADGBD. He plays it in the clawhammer style, which is exactly the same technique that one would use on the banjo. Clawhammer guitar comes across a bit differently to me, the guitar having more sustain and all, but it really works well for some tunes.

The second tune is a duet with his musical partner, Robin Bullock. It is a Breton tune, and appears on Steve’s latest cd, Life in Prism.

On his celtic guitar DVD Steve says something that I have tried to remember, and to me is really apparent on these videos.

The left hand is what you learn, but the right hand is what you are. – Steve Baughman

On the clawhammer tune even though he is playing quite fast, the music just comes flowing out, and his right hand is always relaxed. This can be the different between one’s music sounding effortless or plodding and forceful. I see the same thing in high level practitioners of any art, they make the difficult and impossible seem effortless and graceful.

So how to accomplish this? I don’t think there is any magic pill or potion that will give you effortless guitar technique. Time with the instrument is an important factor, I know Steve practices daily. I think mindful practice is also important. When I am learning a new technique or drilling a new pattern into muscle memory I am always trying to be conscious of tension in my playing. Am I gripping the neck to tight? Is my right hand relaxed or am I trying to muscle the notes out? A mirror may be handy at this stage, as you can analyze your posture and observe for tension in the face.

I will often take a break during my practices to let my hands relax. Go get a quick bite to eat, make some coffee, or whatever. Or if the music I am playing for that is to hard I might move to something easier, and come back to the more difficult stuff another day.

If you want to learn some right hand techniques that can help make celtic music on fingerstyle guitar more effortless I would highly reccomend Steve’s Celtic Guitar Solo’s dvd. I don’t have any financial stake in this, I just think its good instructional material and have gotten alot out of it myself. Steve teaches a nifty right hand pattern you can use to play Breton music, as well as some right hand techniques that can be applied to jigs and reels. Steve is a good instructor, and the video is entertaining and engaging to watch.

Anton

I picked up a new book this weekend, The Natural Classical Guitar, by Lee F Ryan.  Its a great book, and looks pretty deeply into the both the mental and physical aspects of playing guitar.  Most of the material is applicable to any guitarist or musician, though alot of the right hand stuff will be of more use to classical or fingerpicking guitarists.

I got the book after my friend reccomended it quite a few times.  I feel my technique, especially in the right hand, could be alot better, which in turn would make my music sound more effortless, improve my tone, and just allow things to flow more.  In the past i have tried to get there just by playing my pieces more, and occasionally practicing scales and some of Guillanni’s right hand exercises.  Whle this has worked a bit, it has not been a detailed enough approach.  I really need to break things down to their basic elements, is my right hand wrist staying flat, am i picking from the large knuckle joint, is my nail shape and tone consistent.  Its going to take some discipline, as i will just be playing repetitive single notes or simple scales.   

The book breaks down into minute detail everything i feel i need to work on, and provides short sample exercises and musical pasaages where you can apply them.  Its not something i would reccomend for the complete beginner, but for someone who has been playing a little while and really wants to get down into the nitty gritty of their technique it might worth looking into.

Anton

Over the past few weeks i have been changing up my position when playing solo guitar. Usually i play in the more common position, guitar on the right knee, pretty parallel to the ground.

With this position my picking hand seems to fall naturally to that space between the soundhole and the bridge. Not overly bad, and to me my hand feels more “secure” there, perhaps due to the higher string tension. But i think this makes my tone a bit more bright and crisp than i would like.
So i have switched up to the classical position. That is when one uses a footstool, or in this case, my guitar case, to prop up the left leg, putting the guitar at more of an angle. It feels more natural for me to position my hand directly over the sound hole this way, getting more of that “sweet spot” where the guitar sounds big and warm. It also seems to put my hand at ore of a 90 degree angle to the strings, which seems to improve the tone a bit. I also dont tend to slouch over the guitar as much this way, is better for me and probably lets it resonate more.

Some folks have reported problems using a foot stool, apparently having their foot elevated like that is bad for the hip and spine. I never had that problem when i studied classical guitar in high school and college, but i dont want to have to cart a footstool around with me everywhere. I am looking into getting something like the Ergoplay sometime. I have tried similar products, and they were quite comfortable.

regular position

Classical position

My friend William Bajzek is always sending me various Youtube clips of musicians that catch his eye.  William has great tone and technique, so i always try to pay attention to what he has to say. 

He sent me this video the other day, and i was amazed at this insane flamenco player.  I knew flamenco guys could play fast, but i guess i had never really seen their technique up close, or thought about it much.  The guy in the vid does two things that William has mentioned to me alot in the past, so they must be worth learning.  One is to depress the string in towards the top before plucking it, the other is two let the tip joint of the finger relax and totally extend.  Then you hinge from the big knuckle joint and bring the finger back towards the palm.  This guy explains it much better than i can.  I am still working on it all, trying to be consistent and accurate.