Building a Foundation, Pt. IV - Pick Basics

         When most players are starting out they will be using a pick or plectrum to play the guitar. Although there are slight differences in how the guitar pick is held from player to player, generally it is held between the thumb and index finger.

Pick is held between thumb & index finger

The thumb should be straight and relaxed to avoid tension build-up, while the index finger is slightly curled to avoid interference with the strings when playing. Moreover, in my experience the more a

                              Index finger curls to avoid strings


player “chokes-up” on a pick the more control one will have – i.e. the less of the point of the pick a player uses the easier the pick is to control. This is especially true when playing single notes as opposed to chord strumming.

                                                          

                                      Choking-up on the pick

                                                                   

 

Not choking-up on the pick

          Another consideration to mention regarding “Pick Basics” is how the pick is held in conjunction with the rest of the hand. There are three formations that the hand will generally take when playing: the fan, fist or cup. First, in the fan formation the fingers which are not holding the pick (middle, ring and pinky) are outstretched and slightly bent at the second knuckle to create a relaxed hand. This formation takes its name from the outstretched fingers mimicking the “guard-sticks” of a hand fan. Second, the fist formation has the remaining fingers actually “tucked” into the hand as if making a fist. Third, the cupped formation is somewhere between the fan and fist, as the remaining fingers curl-up to “cup” the hand.

 Fan

Fist

                                                                         

Cup

          The hand formation a player adopts seems to be of natural occurrence. I have experimented with all three and favor the fan or cupped formation as my hand feels relaxed and the weight more evenly distributed throughout. Conversely, the fist formation feels “heavier” or “awkward” and my hand tends to tense-up. Needless say, with my students I tend to stress extending the fingers outward in a relaxed manner when playing.
           I hope this has provided some food for thought as next month we’ll be continuing with more building blocks to be covered in the first lesson.

Building a Foundation, Pt. III - Naming the Strings

            It may seem like a trivial thing to mention, but since these first few posts are dealing with the initial guitar lesson Naming the Strings is on my “To Do” list. I generally like to introduce the strings of the guitar in conjunction with a diagram that the student can refer back to. Moreover, I emphasize that this is a diagram they will want to become familiar with as they will be seeing it or something similar many more times.
          Since the strings of the guitar are named by both numbers and letters, I prefer to introduce the “numbers” first as it is easier for a student to memorize. We do discuss the letter names in the first lesson, but naming strings by letter is stressed as we delve into sight reading, movable chords and basic improvisation.

                                         



                                                 

 

Higher Education and the Young Guitarist, Pt. III - Popular Guitar Studies

       Here is a link to the third article in the series Higher Education and the Young Guitarist - Popular Guitar Studies
which I co-authored for Tempo - the magazine for the New Jersey Music Educators Association.

     This series of articles offers music educators with a limited background in guitar information about studying the instrument at the university level. In this current article we tackle by discussing  "music trade schools" - with particular attention paid to Musician's Institute in Los Angeles, CA. The article is on pages 44 - 45.