THE SAKARI METHOD. MASTERING THE FRETBOARD Part Two of The Trilogy FOR CLASSICAL GUITAR. How To Internalize Where The Written Note Is Located

Transcription

1 THE SAKARI METHOD MASTERING THE FRETBOARD Part Two of The Trilogy FOR CLASSICAL GUITAR How To Internalize Where The Written Note Is Located

2 WARNING! THIS MATERIAL IS COPYRIGHTED AND YOU ARE EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN TO COPY, REPRODUCE, POST OR FORWARD THIS DOCUMENT OR THE LINKS TO THE LESSON SERIES IN ANY FORMAT. ANY ATTEMPT TO DO SO WILL BE IN VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT LAWS. THIS MATERIAL IS ALSO EMBEDDED WITH CODES THAT CAN BE TRACED IN THE EVENT THE LINKS TO THIS MATERIAL OR THE MATERIAL ITSELF ARE DISTRIBUTED WITHOUT EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM K. SAKARI HEIKKILA The Sakari Method All Rights Reserved.

3 Lesson #3 E string B string G string D string A string E string Visualizing the above fret / pitch pattern is extremely important and understanding the duplicate pitch relationships is the KEY to being able to read music on the guitar. Remember, you have 8 fingers trying to dance around 6 strings and on, well, in my mind, about 62 frets. Call it 108 frets if you are wanting theoretical accuracy. Anyway, it s a complex undertaking and you are the one who has to understand the real issues about the guitar, not the other way around. The Classical Guitar will never try to help you understand and solve the hurdles to your issues that you must overcome in order to improve your playing skills.

4 It just quietly sits there waiting for you to understand it. When you finally realize this fact, an enormous world of inspiration will open up for you. It is YOU that has to adapt, the guitar always remains constant. Neat, eh? Alas...not enough guitarists think this way. So...here we are at strings 3 and 4. The open 3 rd string and the 4 th string fretted at the fifth fret. This is where it all changes, tone color wise. Suddenly you have to play a clear nylon high string and then the same pitch on a metal wound base string. I have to tell you, I struggled with this issue for a long time in the beginning. I just felt the introduction of a clear nylon string tone was too soon in the pitch of the instrument after the three wound base strings. It seemed that the third string open pitch was too low and should be a metal wound string. And they are available that way, by the way. I ultimately decided that since so many triads ( three note chords ) were employed on the three high strings, that sonority was preferable to a consistent basso continuo sonority ( base line melodies ). Just a side note for you to consider. OK. Back to Learning the six open strings and what they have to offer all by themselves.

5 Fret board learning is about string personality and tone color possibilities, note the mere location on the music staff and the corresponding fret and string number. So far we have not touched on the 6 th or base E string. That s because the open E and its first four fretted notes can t be found anywhere else on the guitar. It s only when you play the fifth fret 6 th string do you find its pitch duplicate on the open A or 5 th string. Play the 3 rd open string alternately with the fifth fret 4 th string at our same metronomic settings, spending a few minutes playing through the various answers to my 25 questions on each speed Again, start with 42 and move up one speed every few minutes playing one note on every other click of the metronome. Here are those questions again: 1) What right hand fingers should I use to play the strings? 2) Or should I use just one finger for both notes? 3) If I use two fingers, should I use the rested stroke or free stroke?

6 4) Or alternate them? 5) Which left hand finger should I use on the fifth fret 6 th string? 6) How long should I let each note ring before I sound the next note. 7) Should I just let each note ring continuously and keep a finger on the fifth fret of the sixth string? 8) Should I play them both at the same volume or different volumes? 9) Should they have identical tone quality, similar tones or different tones? 10) Should I use vibrato on the fifth fret note? 11) Will vibrato on the fifth fret cause the open A string to vibrato? 12) Should I dampen each note immediately after playing it? This is called staccato. 13) If I dampen the note, should I dampen it after letting the note ring for a moment or two? Or wait until the last second? 14) Should I play each note as loudly as possible or as soft as possible?

7 15) Should I play the fifth string softly and the sixth string loudly? 16) Or just the opposite? 17) As I continue with this exercise, should I start softly and gradually increase the volume? 18) For one string and not the other? 19) Or the opposite? 20) And then decrease the volume through time? 21) Should I play the notes near the fret board creating a hollow sound or near the bridge to create a bright sound? 22) And which one for which note? 23) Should I change the tone color through time? 24) As well as the volume of the notes? 25) Should I play the 4 th and 5 th string alternately or play each one two times, or three times, or more before playing the other?

8 Again, the answer is yes and all to each one. Remember, the more time you spend on each pair of duplicated pitches, the more ingrained your muscle, intellectual and emotional memory will become. This process, as we move through the entire fret board, will insure your success when we start looking at the printed notes later in the course. This concludes Lesson #3. Remember to pay close attention to the tone color differences between the 3 rd and 4 th strings and use their differences to the maximum as you alternate between them. See you in 8 days. Keep experimenting with various finger combinations on the right and left hand. Later in the course I ll give you a fingering pattern that will test your ingenuity here in the beginning. My courses really rely on your own independent study, much like a college course. The more time you spend, the more you feel comfortable with the skills and the more comfortable you become with the skills, the more masterfully you will eventually play your music. Be glad for every second spent in the beginning here as the lessons WILL become more and more demanding.

9 Once more... SO DON T WRITE THESE EXERCISES OFF AND WAIT FOR THE CHALLENGING EXERCISES BEFORE YOU REALLY ABSORB ANYTHING. THAT S WHAT MOST OTHER METHODS DO AND PERHAPS YOU ALREADY KNOW THAT THEY DON T WORK TOO WELL! Sincerely, Sakari If you need me to answer any of the questions for you, just let me know. info@firstlightbulbmoment.com