Single String Studies for Classical Guitar

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

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Q Why are some of the notes higher than my fretboard? I use a nylon string guitar.
A A nylon string guitar is a "classical" guitar and therefore would not have as many frets as a normal steel string acoustic or an electric guitar. We have a new version of the Single Strings Studies series designed for classical guitar which has just been released. If you want to still use your version (Single String Studies Vol. 1) I would just transpose any notes that are too high down one octave. This may seem like a pain, but it is actually a common thing that guitarists have to do when reading in a professional situation. This is mostly caused by composers writing for the guitar in the wrong octave and then asking the guitarist to play in a lower or higher octave. I would say that unless you are planning on becoming a classical guitarist your are better off learning to transpose because it is a common occurence in the real world and you may move on to a steel string acoustic with a cutaway or an electric guitar.
 
Q In regards to Single String Studies, if the purpose of the exercise is to learn the position of the notes on the fretboard, then transposing defeats the purpose of the exercise. I am an intermediate classical guitarist and would like to improve my reading skills.
A Keep in mind that there are many levels of purpose built into the Single String Studies books. You will find a list of these on the back cover of the book. I think for you it sounds like you should get the Single String Studies for Classical Guitar. If you exclusively only read published classical guitar music, Single String Studies for Classical Guitar will be an excellent source for you to improve your sight reading and fretboard knowledge.

I think one thing you should consider is that at some point if your skills get to a point where composers are writing parts for you, you will quickly find that having the ability to transpose notes up and down an octave or sometimes even two octaves will be a very useful skill. Many composers don't realize that the guitar is a transposing instrument so you are commonly transposing parts up or down an octave. You will also run across this if you read music that isn't written for the guitar. Keep in mind in this situation you will need to play all notes 8va in order to reproduce the correct pitches.
 
Q I'm just beginning to learn the guitar and I've just gotten your book 1st steps for a beginning guitarist. However, I am aiming to be able to play classical guitar solos. I wonder if you might recommend any of your books for this.
A About the only guitar book I currently have is Single String Studies for Classical Guitar. This book will help you with learning how to read music and memorize where the notes are on the fretboard without looking at it. There are audio examples that can be downloaded from the internet which will help you know whether you are playing the exercises correctly.
 
Q I am learning to play the guitar on an acoustic. I would love to learn how to play classical and your book on Single Strings interests me. Do I need a separate guitar with nylon strings in order to learn how to play classical methods? Or would it be advisable to learn how to play the chords and individual strings on the same guitar?
A Thanks for contacting me. If you want to play classical music on the guitar then I would highly recommend you get a classical nylon string guitar. This isn't crucial, but the nylon string really sounds great with the classical repertoire. If you are planning on going in this direction, Single String Studies for Classical Guitar would be a good book to help you develop fretboard knowledge and reading skills. I would also recommend working through Music Theory Workbook for Guitar Volumes One and Two. This will really help you understand the guitar fretboard and get a good start on music theory. You could also play more jazz oriented stuff on the classical guitar. There are many artists that take this approach. If you want to start learning jazz chords and their application, I would also recommend Chord Workbook for Guitar Volume One.
 
Q I intend to purchase one of your book Single String Studies for Classical Guitar. There is however a problem. I won't be able to listen to midi files, they are not playable by any of my media players. Furthermore the link provided on site for Massiva for Windows doesn't seem to work. Is there any way to listen to this Midi files?

(I already bought your book 1st Steps for Beginning Guitarist, very helpful indeed)
A I just checked the midifiles and they work fine so the problem must be somewhere else. First I hope you realize that the midifiles are compressed using a program called stuffit.

http://www.stuffit.com/cgi-bin/stuffit_loginpage.cgi?standardwinexp

You will need to uncompress these files in order for them to work. Let me know if you have troubles with this.

Any midifile will play if you just drop it into your browser window. So you can just click on a midifile and drag it into let's say Internet Explorer and the file should play. Unfortunately, the browser doesn't allow you to control tempo so you will need a midifile player for that. You can find a list of them for windows at:

http://www.harmony-central.com/Software/Windows/midi_players.html
 
QI'm an intermediate classical guitar hobbyist who needs to seriously bone up on his music theory. I'm considering buying both volumes of your Music Theory Workbook for Guitar. Are they useful for the classical guitarist? I notice that, for example, the exercises involve 24 frets.
AI think both volumes would be excellent resources for you to work through. Some examples do go above the 12th fret but the vast majority don't. These two books will really help you to see scales and chords on the guitar.

I would also recommend Single String Studies for Classical Guitar

http://www.muse-eek.com/books/class_sst1/lower.html

This will really help with note identification, knowing the fret-board without looking, sight reading and ear training all wrapped up in exercises that go through all keys all strings.