bocephusfreak

I been thinkin' about takin up classical guitar to furthur my rock guitar skills. can anyone tell me the big differences in classical guitar technique and regular rock and roll guitar technique that make people who play classical guitar better players?? maybe this will help in my decision on weither or not to take classical lessons

__________________
Get a life raft everyone,
cause the resurgence of rock and roll is coming
and it's gonna flood the nation!!

 

Hero Of The Day

Never took any lessons, but i say any kind of training has to be good. I know Rock guitar is mostly based on scales and modes, along with big sounding chords, but i could be wrong. I think Classical guitar is all fingerpicking. But, Randy Rhodes took classical guitar for 9 years, i think it was. So, i guess its just a different approach and way of thinking with classical guitar.

Of course, i may be wrong. I definetly encourage you to take the lessons, though. Anything you learn makes you a better guitarist.

bocephusfreak

yeah, it kinda confuses people i tell that i might be taking classical guitar lessons! they say "i thought you were a rock and roller" and i say "i am, but i'm also a guitar player and by taking these lessons, i become a better guitar player but no worse of a rock and roller!" they just don't understand like we do!

__________________
Get a life raft everyone,
cause the resurgence of rock and roll is coming
and it's gonna flood the nation!!

Aqualung

A lot of it is fingerpicking, and fast at that. A lot of rock guitar is just playing chords for a bit, maybe picking the chords more slowly or whatever, but you're still just playing chords. Classical guitar is like playing solos all the time for ever. Yngwie Malmsteen is considered "neoclassical" (or "new classical") metal because he plays classical-style tunes on an electric guitar.

__________________


Here we go. Mushu cereal for breakfast with duck sauce.

Hero Of The Day

Yeah, a good guitarist can play in any situation. Its all just a different approach and way of thinking about chords, modes, scales, all that stuff.

I'd try Jazz lessons before i went to classical, jazz has more of a country feeling (a la Dickey Betts and Duane Allman) and more of a fan of that stuff. And i think Classical is all acoustic, but you have shredders in that department: Yngwie Malmsteen for instance.

bocephusfreak

yeah i was looking around my area to find some teachers and i can't find any jazz or anything like that. i was gonna see if i could find someone to teach me country and/or jazz, but then i found a guy that could teach me some classical. i would like to learn all different types, folk, celtic, country, jazz, other forms of rock, classical, etc. so i can mix my music kinda like led zeppelin does every now and then! you know in between the straight forward balls-out rock and roll

__________________
Get a life raft everyone,
cause the resurgence of rock and roll is coming
and it's gonna flood the nation!!

Hero Of The Day

Yeah, Jimmy Page has all that shit down. Jazz is pretty fast, ever here of Wes Montgomery? Jazz master.

I forgot about Celtic guitar!!! ZGood luck finding someone who knows about that stuff!! It good to see you appreciate other forms of music associated with a guitar. It shows you have understanding and depth unlike those idiots on the charts today.

bocephusfreak

yeah that's the thing that makes me different than other the pop music punk ass bitches, i actually like to play my guitar, instead of just playing guitar to get rich i respect punk rock and the idea behind punk (i can't play well and i still don't care) but now-a-days that is taken to an extreme with people singing way to much and putting less and less actual music in their songs!! i plan to change that!! They better grab a life raft, cause the resurgence of rock and roll is coming and it's gonna flood the nation!!!

__________________
Get a life raft everyone,
cause the resurgence of rock and roll is coming
and it's gonna flood the nation!!

Hero Of The Day

We have to derail every thread don't we

Can't wait for the MTV news broadcast, "This morning, music stores across the nation were overflooded by fans for there chance to purchase the new White Trash album called: Resurgence. It seems sales have been record high indicating over 15 million albums sold in one day!!

In other news, mass burnings of rap Cds contiuned this morning, by the request of the southern shredder and White trash, it seems all rap artists are now broke and most are in debt!! Things are not looking good, for the rap world. John?

Thanks Rick, it appears, a new day for record labels across the world"


Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, can't wait, can't fucking wait....

bocephusfreak

we do seem to do that don't we, it's okay, that's what forums are for, people who like music to chat!

and, DUDE THAT IS THE STUFF DREAMS ARE MADE OF!!!!!!!!!!!!

__________________
Get a life raft everyone,
cause the resurgence of rock and roll is coming
and it's gonna flood the nation!!

bocephusfreak

so basically if practiced right, it will make my solo's more accurate and faster
thanks a lot aqua!

__________________
Get a life raft everyone,
cause the resurgence of rock and roll is coming
and it's gonna flood the nation!!

Hero Of The Day

Dreams people like you and me will make a reality soon!!!

BTW, been searchin for Classical guitar stuff, heres what i found:

The classical guitar technique is a fingerstyle technique used by classical guitarists to play classical guitar music on a classical guitar.Classical guitar technique can be organised broadly into subsections for the right hand, the left hand, and miscellaneous. In guitar performance elements such as musical dynamic and tonal variation are mostly determined by the hand that physically produces the sound. In other words, the hand that plucks the strings defines the musical expression. Historically this role has been assigned to the dominant hand which, for the majority of players, is the right hand. Similar reasoning is behind string players using the right hand for controlling the bow. In the following discussion the role of the hands should be reversed when considering left-handed players.Since it is the hands and fingers that pluck the string and every person has different fingers, there are great differences in playing between guitarists; who often spend a lot of time finding their own way of playing that suits them best in terms of specific objectives: tone-production ("beauty"/quality of tone), minimum noise (e.g. clicking), large dynamic range (from soft to controlled loud), minimum (muscle) effort, fast "motion-recovery" (fast plucking when desired), healthy movement in fingers, wrist, hand and arm

There is not one definite way of reaching these goals (there is not a single definite optimal guitar technique): rather there are different ways of reaching these goals, due to differences in the hands and fingers (including nails) of guitarists.

When guitarists are performing music (while playing), they continually search (by actively moving/changing their plucking hand, fingers) for a good sound in terms of tone/timbe, to enhance the musical interpretation.

Ironically most guitarists focus their eyes on the left hand, since it is often difficult to place the left hand fingers on the correct fret and string. But in terms of producing the note, it is the right hand that is more important; it is perhaps sometimes given too little consideration.

meanceprimeaux

I'll just add that I think when you venture into different styles, it opens up paths that you wouldn't have ever thought about. Even things like song structure and the emphasis on the picking hand, as Hero referenced, are things that will change your perceptions of the guitar, and allow you tons more freedom to express yourself through your instrument, which is the ultimate goal.

bocephusfreak

i guess it is settled then , i guess i'm venturing out!! thanks for the help!!

__________________
Get a life raft everyone,
cause the resurgence of rock and roll is coming
and it's gonna flood the nation!!

Stringbender

Classical guitar playing tends to be done on a classical guitar- which is an acoustic with nylon strings. Usually, the player sits hunched over the guitar instead of standing up and fingerpicks at the strings. Also- the way the player holds his/her hands over the strings is usually different from standard rock-style playing. This helps the player to attack the strings and pull off some incredible playing, but the downside is this can only happen for a limited time before tendonitis, arthritis and serious carpal tunnel and potential nerve-damage to the arms and hands settles in. Most guys that have done this for years cannot hold a pencil after several years of this. I know- I’ve tried incorporating some of these techniques into my playing over the years and from 30+ years of playing have had to have 2 painful surgeries and boatloads of physical therapy to get back to where I am now (and it still hurts like hell on cold, rainy days). I would completely suggest going with the rock-guitar playing, and then slowly putting the classical style into your playing.OR- learn total classical playing as a wy to supplement your rock playing- but that might require having 2 different guitars and more time in learning! neo-classical rock style also works well for you because you don’t have to completely restructure the way you play so it will not hurt as much- you can play freebird or whatever to your heart’s content (which is tough to do on a nylon-stringed acoustic!)
Many guitar magazines have an article or two on playing neo-classical styles on rock guitar and are available all over the place. Look for articles on sweep-picking and/or arpeggios. If you go to Yngwie Malmsteen’s web site he gives a bunch of free pointers for playing his style of mucis. WORD OF ADVICE- START SLOW- warm up with playing whatever before and after you launch into this stuff- be careful the angle you hold your hand at, do many many stretches before and after playing this stuff and if you get any pain or numbness- see a doctor immediately. (and stay away from trying Paganini or Rachmaninoff unless you are INTO pain.. ) anything I can offer as advice or help- just let me know! Whichever you choose- Good luck!

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bocephusfreak

wow dude, thanks for the advice!!! my plan was to learn full on classical guitar and then use that in my rock guitar playing, or like during a long live show, i'll have a part where i come out and play some classical, or something! i just wanna be the best guitarist i can and i figure that by learning other styles, that would help! Thanks alot for the pointers dude!!

__________________
Get a life raft everyone,
cause the resurgence of rock and roll is coming
and it's gonna flood the nation!!

Music Resource

Learn as many styles as you can. It will enrich your playing immensely. It's good to have a lot to draw upon. It will also expand your musical horizons when it comes to listening to music.

Classical music is much more structured. There aren't any bends in old, traditional classical. Purity of sound and adherence to structure is emphasized...so is posture for that matter.

Pickless playing on a classical guitar is also different from rock guitar.

It's a good addition to your bag of tricks, I'd recommend taking classical lessons for a while - a couple years perhaps.