Etude #1 Fernando Sor Intermediate

Posted on November 1, 2010 by UGOL


Fernando Sor (1778 – 1839):

Etude #1 Fernando Sor – Intermediate

The series of 20 Etudes by Fernando Sor are the basis for a lot of classical guitarists studies. They have been used for decades as a great method for training on the guitar. One of the best aspects of these studies is that when preformed on the Classical Guitar in the proper manner, they sound wonderful and they are perfect to add to your classical repertoire.

Etude #1 is played at a rather leisurely pace at 90 bpm, which makes it a good initial piece for not only the advanced beginner, but for the intermediate classical guitarist as well.

This version is based on the original composition as written by Sor. It is a bit different than the ‘stripped down’ version you will see in the beginner tab section, but both are great pieces to play.

Perhaps the most significant parts of this song for you to gain knowledge is preparation of the left hand fingering. Often you will see a fingering that seems very unusual, but after playing through the entire measure, you will discover the reasoning for such fingering. We are preparing you to play the upcoming notes in a more efficient manner.

Etude #1 Fernando Sor Intermediate – Part 1:

Etude #1 Fernando Sor Intermediate – Part 2:

Etude #1 Fernando Sor Intermediate – Part 3:

Etude #1 Fernando Sor Intermediate – Part 4:

Download This Song Here

Interested in the original PDF file or the Guitar Pro file of this song. Download it here.

Etude #1 Fernando Sor Intermediate
PDF File
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Etude #1 Fernando Sor Intermediate
Guitar Pro File
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How to Hold a Classical Guitar

Posted on October 31, 2010 by UGOL


How to Hold a Classical Guitar:

How to Hold a Classical Guitar:

Holding the Classical Guitar properly has just as much importance as either your Right Hand Position or your Left Hand Position. Once you know the proper positioning of the guitar, you will find that it is not only easier to play, but as in the correct hand positions, you will have less hand fatigue and you will be able to play better quality notes that are easier to reach with your finger/hand combinations.

Selection of the Proper Seat:

Unlike the Acoustic Guitar, where you have the option to set back and relax while you play (although this is not in good form either), you should search out a stool that is about chair height or ottoman height. This height would range between 17 to 19 inches. A seat that I often used, while in my youth was a padded piano bench. You sit up a bit higher but it was really comfortable.

A back in of no importance with a seat, but a good padding on the seat may be desirable. Even a folding chair will suffice, but I think it is kind of cool to purchase a nice wooden stool with a padded seat. Of course arms are not an option here as they will interfere with the free movement of the arms.

Ultra WFT33 Folding Foot Rest:

Classical Guitars, again unlike Acoustic Guitars are held much differently, which includes elevating the left foot on a Foot Rest between 5 and 8 inches.

The ideal foot rest is adjustable and fold-able. There are quite a few folding metal stools available, but my preference is the Ultra WFT33 Folding Wood Foot Rest.

It is wood and brass, adjustable and really great looking. The wood is a warm colored stain and combined with the brass trim, it looks as though it was made as a Classical Guitar accessory.

You can pick one up for less than $19.00 and it will last a lifetime.

Stagg Mahogany Foot Rest:

Another wooden Foot Rest you may be interested in is the Mahogany Foot Rest from Stagg Music. The rest is height adjustable, ranging from a low of 5.5″ to a high of 8″.

What I love about this foot stool is that it has a highly polished gloss finish, and combined with the dark mahogany color and brass appointments the rest is almost a work of art – much like a fine classical guitar.

It also folds flat to a very compact 2″ high x 5.1″ wide and 11″ long and includes a bag. The Foot Rest comes with Stagg’s Lifetime Warranty and this stool should last just that too. It is about twice the price of the Ultra, but it is also even classier looking.

Holding the Classical Guitar:

Now that we have the proper equipment outlined for holding the guitar, let’s analyze just how it is done. Adjust your Foot Rest to a proper height and place your left foot on it. Now cradle the guitar between your legs so the waist of the guitar rests on your left, elevated leg. This forces the neck up at about a 30 degree to 40 degree angle.

The lower bout of the guitar rests against the right leg and the hands just naturally line up for proper picking angle for the right hand and proper fingering angle for the left hand. The guitar is held in place by pressure from the right forearm pressing against the guitar to the torso. Look at the photo at the beginning of this article for proper guitar positioning.

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The Right Hand

Posted on October 30, 2010 by UGOL

Correct Right Hand Placement:

As we discussed in the article on the Correct Left Hand Placement, it is very important, if not critical to place BOTH of your hands properly and have impeccable technique to be able to play a Classical Guitar at your best. I would like to say that you can apply many of these principles to the acoustic guitar as well. Proper technique can seem like a pain at first because it forces us to follow rules, an many of us resist following rules, including myself.

If you did not read the article on the left hand, you can see it at this link: The Left Hand.


Proper Right Hand Position:

Start With Right Arm Placement:

Proper Right Hand Placement begins with holding the guitar properly. We will address that in future article and that is very important as well. But for now, let’s continue concentrating on the Right Hand.

With the guitar held in the proper position, place the right forearm on the edge of of the guitar – look at the photo here. This position will vary depending on the length of your arm, but you should be very comfortable and let your arm rest on this edge in a very natural manner.

Next Comes Proper Hand Placement:

With your right arm resting comfortably on the guitar edge, let your right hand hang down in a very natural and relaxed manner. Now if you would draw an imaginary line through the axis of all your finger knuckles where they meet the palm of your hand, this axis line should closely correlate or be very close to parallel with the line of the strings. Again look at the photo and see what I mean by this.


By aligning your knuckles parallel to the strings, you get a bit of a kink or a slight angle at your wrist. This should be very subtle and not strained in any manner. Also note how your index, middle, ring and pinky fingers attack the strings at a perpendicular or at right angles to the strings. This will allow you to get the best sound production out of your strings and also allow you to have the optimal nail shape and length for these fingers.

In our Score or Notation and TABs you will find on this site, we will have each and every note documented as to what is the most appropriate Right Hand finger you should use to strike which string to produce the note.

Right Hand Thumb Position:

If you strictly follow the arm and hand positions described above you will find that by merely extending your thumb out to the bass strings, it will be in perfect position to play. If you play with a thumbnail, you may need to sculpt your nail creatively to match you exact hand position. In other words, your nail may need to be shorter or longer or slightly oblong to work for you.

The Right Hand Arch:

What this refers to is keeping your hand some distance away from the strings and let your fingers gently arch to reach the strings. Put the palm of your hand too close to the strings and you greatly restrict your finger movements and this diminishes performance. Too far away and…..Well, you will find out that you can’t reach the strings. Experiment a bit and find out what works best for you. Look in the mirror. You hand should look just like the one in the photo above.

By strictly adhering to these right hand positioning principals, you will find that you get better performance, better tone production and less playing fatigue. After all I’m not just discovering this technique. This has been developed over centuries by Classical Guitar players that are much better than I will ever be.

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The Left Hand

Posted on October 29, 2010 by UGOL


Proper Finger Position:

Correct Left Hand Placement:

Being able to play the Classical Guitar with the utmost efficiency is paramount in obtaining the optimal speed, accuracy and tone control. The Classical Guitar is held a bit differently than that of the standard Acoustic Guitar or Steel String Guitar, in that it is cradled between the legs. In this article though, we will concentrate on the left hand positioning, which is not all that different from the Left Hand positioning for any guitar.


1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th Finger Positions:

Positioning the fingers of the left hand is of utmost importance. Examine the photo here and you will note that the fingers are placed directly behind the frets. This is important for the following reasons.

It takes the minimum amount of pressure to press the string down directly behind the fret. Also, you do not have to press the string down to the actual wood of the fretboard as you would in the center of the fret. and the note is easiest to sound clearly directly behind the fret.

Additionally, you will note that the fingers in this example, being the index, middle and ring fingers, are arched above the fretboard in such a manner that the tips of the fingers press down the string.

This is important for rapid playing as the fingers can be lifted and pressed down in a more vertical manner rather than by the side of the finger or by having the finger in a more flattened position. This also promotes better air circulation and minimizes perspiration on the fingers.

In our Score or Notation and TABs you will find on this site, we will have each and every note documented as to what is the most appropriate Left Hand finger you should use to press down the string to produce the note. As a general rule though, use the index finger for notes on the 1st fret, middle finger on notes on the 2nd fret, ring finger on the notes on the 3rd fret and the pinky finger for notes on the 4th fret. Also remember that rules for the guitar are meant to be broken, and you will find this one broken quite often.


Left Hand Thumb Position:

Left Hand Thumb Position:

We can’t effectively talk about left hand finger positions without due consideration given to the left hand thumb position. This is probably one of the more important techniques to discuss. Again look at the photo here. Note that the left hand thumb is placed near the center of the neck, or at least on the top half of the back of the neck.

Also notice that the hand basically hangs down from the neck. To do this, just grasp the neck in a similar manner you see here and allow you hand to hang limply down, being only held into position by the fingers on the fretboard and the thumb on the guitar neck. Do you see how the palm of the hand does not even come close to contact with the fretboard?

So holding your hand in this position will give you greater ease in playing, better efficiency in your playing, less hand and finger fatigue and less perspiration from your fingers, and the palm of your hand. Is this a hard position to do? At first it is, yes. As with anything though, if you are taught correctly immediately, it will be much easier than learning it incorrectly and then having to retrain yourself. So look at these photos and finger your guitar as colse to these examples as possible for most situations.

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Classical Guitar – A Brief History

Posted on October 28, 2010 by UGOL

Really the modern Classical Guitar as we know it today was modified from more mid-evil instruments by famed luthier Antonio De Torres. Up until the Torres guitar, classical guitars were smaller-bodied, hand very underdeveloped bracing and and lacked the tone and volume qualities.

Torres guitars were so superior to any guitars available up until that time, his examples changed the direction of guitar making dramatically from that time forward.


The Notable Changes Torres Made:

Development of the fan strutting on the top plate. He felt so strongly about this fan bracing that he built a guitar with a high quality spruce top plate with his unique 7-fan bracing pattern. He built the back plate and sides from paper mache to demonstrate his point that a well strutted top plate was the most important aspect of a good sounding classical guitar. Many great sounding classical guitars made today still utilize the basic 7-fan braced pattern that he developed in the 1800′s, or a minor departure from that.


Antonio De Torres Guitar

Another of the most notable changes that Torres made was the reconfiguration of the body size. Up until that time the guitars had a much more subtle shape with upper and lower bouts lacking definition and barely no waist at all. Torres developed the larger box or sound chamber to give the instrument more volume and bass and a much richer sound. This difference was astounding from other instruments of the day.

Classical Guitars built prior to Torres were commonly very ornate, made with a lot of inlay of both shell and wood marquetry. Torres changed all that and greatly simplified the detail on the guitar with simple purfling and binding lamination’s. The plates were keep very plain and the guitar was totally beautiful as a result of its simplicity and elegance.

Finally Torres developed the tied classical guitar bridge that we see on the guitars made today. They are virtually unchanged from the original Torres design.

Additionally Torres experimented with the scale length and settled on the standard 650mm scale we see in many guitars built today. Along with that he developed the modern fretboard which was wider and much thicker than the instruments of the period.


Jose Ramirez III Classical Guitar

Arias & The Ramirez Brothers:

Although Torres left behind no pupils or successors, after his death Madrid became the Mecca of Classical Guitar construction. There were three luthiers that stood out of the pack. They were Vincente Arias (c. 1840′s – 1912), Jose Ramirez I (1857 – 1923), and his brother Manual Ramirez (1866 – 1942). The Ramirez brothers we fantastic luthiers in their own right and the shop that Jose started in Madrid exists today and is run by his grandson Jose Ramirez III.

Manual Learned the craft from his brother and had 3 students 2 of which, Santos Hernandez (1873 – 1942) and Domingo Esteso (1882 – 1937) made some outstanding classical guitars. Jose Ramirez I basically had 2 pupils as well. They were his son Jose II (1885 – 1957) and Enrique Garcia (1868 – 1922).

Manual Learned the craft from his brother and had 3 students 2 of which, Santos Hernandez (1873 – 1942) and Domingo Esteso (1882 – 1937) made some outstanding classical guitars. Jose Ramirez I basically had 2 pupils as well. They were his son Jose II (1885 – 1957) and Enrique Garcia (1868 – 1922).

In the 1960s, to cope with increasing demand, José III moved the workshop to General Margallo street in Madrid, and greatly expanded the number of employees, leaving the original premises as a shop only. In the early 1970s this was replaced by a larger shop at 5 Concepción Jerónima, directly in front of the original establishment. The original shop was restored and reopened at the end of the 1980s by José III’s children, José Ramírez IV and his sister Amalia, both themselves by then guitar makers.

In 1988 Jose III passed control of the business to José IV and Amalia. In 1993 they undertook a major restructure of the business, concentrating on wholly handmade professional instruments, and contracting out the construction of top-quality student instruments to be built to their designs and delivered to their own workshop for final inspection and adjustment.

In 1995 they were unable to renew the lease on the original shop, and moved to the current address nearby at 8 Calle de la Paz. José IV died in 2000, leaving Amalia to oversee the entire operation. As of 2010[update] this consists of a team of fourteen, including Amalia herself, four other guitar makers, and three apprentices.

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Classical Guitar Humidity

Posted on January 15, 2010 by UGOL

Humidity and Your Guitar:


Digital Hydrometer

Classical Guitars are quite fragile instruments. They are even more fragile that their steel string cousins. If you pickup a steel string guitar and then a classical guitar, you will see what I mean. The classical guitar top, back and side plates are thinner, the structural bracing is lighter and the tone bracing (fan braces) is very fragile. Therefore as the steel string guitar, at least the quality solid wood version is subject to damage due to low humidity conditions, the classical guitar is even more suseptable.

How Dry Air Affect Classical Guitars:

Excessive dry atmosphere can cause the following problems to even a very well-made guitar:

Cracks in the solid wood tops, backs and sides.
Bridge separation from the top.
Braces either cracking or coming loose or both.
Top warping or bellying.
Neck warping.
Change in string action.
Frets sticking out of edge of fretboard.
Cracks developing in fretboard.

It matters not if you have a $1,500 Rodriguez or a $25,000 Ramirez, the discovery of a major crack or other symptom as described above can be a very intimidating experience.


Cause of Low Humidity:

Most often low humidity is the result of cold air being heated up to room temperature by means of a gas flame in the furnaces of our homes, shops or offices.

Even though the humidity can be very high outdoors, such as 65 to 70%, the gas flames dry out the air and take almost every bit of moisture out of the air. This not only is devastating to our fine wood instruments, it is hard on the wood trim in our homes and offices and it creates an unhealthy atmosphere for us to reside. You nose dries out, skin becomes dry and itchy and you are much more suseptable to viruses, such as colds and the flu. Not to mention a home that is humidified is easier to heat and feels warmer with adequate humidity than one that is not.

Humidity Gage

Your Very First Step:

Your first step in correcting the humidity level in your home is to get a baseline of what the humidity level is in the area your instrument will reside. Once you know the humidity level, you can take the appropriate corrective action.

First, purchase a quality hygrometer or humidity gage. I prefer to use several of them in different areas of the house where my guitar is stored and played. Buy one with large digital output, and also will store high and low point humidity levels. If you have no humidity control in your home and you have either a gas fired furnace, or electric heat, don’t be surprised to see humidity levels as low as 10 to 15%

Here Are Some Good Hydrometers That You Should Consider:

Honeywell TM005X Wireless Indoor/Outdoor Thermo-Hygrometer
HygroSet II Adjustable Round Digital Hygrometer
Oregon Scientific BTHR968 Wireless Baro-Thermo-Hygrometer

What is the optimum Humidity Level?

For human habitation, a comfortable level will run fro 25 – 45%. You have to be a bit careful though, as you introduce more humidity into the enclosed space you can get too much moisture. What I mean is if you don’t have thermal pane windows or adequate moisture barriers in your walls or ceilings you could be sending excess moisture into the structure of your home which is not a good thing either. If you suspect this, I would humidify the home to a moderate level of about 20-25% and boost the humidity to 35% to 40% locally by use of a case humidifier or a soundhole humidifier.

Your guitar was most likely built in a shop or factory with very carefully controlled humidity. Most shops keep the humidity at about 40% or close to that so the guitar can exist in either higher or lower humidity conditions without damage.

How To Change Humidity Levels:

There are 3 method for you to address low humidity levels in your home or office

Whole Home Humidifier: Newer, quality built homes often have a humidification system installed on the return air side of the ductwork, very near the furnace. If yours does not I would have one installed and connected to a water source to be as trouble free as possible. You could easily get your level into the twenties with this system and you would have a much healthier home as a result.

Room Humidifiers:A second method is to do local humidification with room humidifiers. These are build for either a shop location or one or two rooms. They need more attention and constant filling, but can quickly raise the humidity locally.

In-Case Humidifiers: These type of humidifiers require that you mainly store you guitar in the case, which is not a bad idea. The only problem with this is I prefer to keep you guitars out and accessible to pick up and play at any time.

Case and Guitar Humidifier Recommendations:

Oasis OH-1 Original Guitar Humidifier
Oasis Guitar Humidifier and Hygrometer
Kyser Classic Humidifier

Oasis 6 Case Humidifier

It is often quite difficult to bring the humidity levels for a whole house system much past 25%. If you desire a higher humidity level for yur guitar, you should investigate either in-case or sound hole humidification system.

Some of these systems, such as the Oasis also include an in-case hydrometer which helps you keep tabs of the local humidity.

So pamper your classical guitar this winter, especially if you live in a cold weather state. Do yourself and your guitar a favor and keep your home humidified and avoid the dry air that is damaging and unhealthy.

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