Anyway, I’m thinking of putting out a one month course that puts a lot of the suggestions I make on the CG Blog into practice. That is, each day, you’d get an assignment. The assignment might be about organizing your practice schedule or technique or musicianship or interpretation. Some of this stuff would be expansions on things that have been covered before, and a lot of it would be new.

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1. More On Strings
2. Follow Up: How Good Should a Guitar Teacher Be?
3. Ask the Readers: Fingernail Open Thread

I’m Thinking About… from Classical Guitar

I just put my first real ding on my Thames while changing strings. My high e string slipped out of the 12-hole tie block leaving this beauty:

I still remember my first ding on my Kenny Hill New world guitar. It was a beautiful finish until I stood up hastily in the practice room and let the edge of a stand skip along the top.

Got any horror stories?

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Open Thread: Horror Stories from Classical Guitar

I don’t do anything other than keep my hands tucked under my armpits. I have friends that swear by, “hot hands,” and I know people that wear gloves right until they walk on on stage.

How do you deal with cold hands?

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Open Thread: How to Keep Your Hands Warm? from Classical Guitar

Now contrast that with how David Russell sits. Feet flat on the footstool and the floor. It looks more comfortable and stable.

What do you do with your feet? Do you feel one method has an advantage over the other? If you use a guitar support, please weigh in with your thoughts.

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Open Thread: Feet Flat or on the Toes? from Classical Guitar

Do you write on your nice (from the publishing house) sheet music? Or do you make copies and mark those up? How do you keep the music you’re working on organized?

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Open Thread: do you write on your sheet music? from Classical Guitar

The next interview is with guitarist Matthew McAllister, a UK based guitarist.

So, what should I ask him?

PS: Big THANK YOU to everyone who weighed in on the Fingernail Open Thread.

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Call for Questions: Matthew McAllister from Classical Guitar

Have you had trouble with your nails due to awkward shapes? What did you do to get over it? Or, if you’re still working on it, what did you try that didn’t work?

I’d be interested in hearing from those of you with thin nails. What did you do to strengthen them?

Please leave your stories in the comments!

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Ask the Readers: Fingernail Open Thread from Classical Guitar

Several people weighed in. The majority of answers were for one hour lessons.

Cameron Mizell brought home the teacher’s perspective: some students really can’t do hour lessons. I’ve found this to be true as well. It can be a number of things that determine this. The biggest factor being practice habits. If a student doesn’t practice, lessons can be very scary. The result is a lesson of review, and a (at least partially) annoyed teacher. Now imagine doing that for an hour. For other students it’s more about their ability to focus.

What really struck home for me were GuitarVlog’s thoughts. How much time, in a lesson, is really devoted to playing/learning the guitar. It’s certainly not the full time. In a thirty minute lesson, I spend at least 5 minutes waiting for the student to set up, then chatting about how the week of practice went. Then there’s clean up time at the end, and more talking with a quick review of what the lesson went over. So perhaps 30 minutes of actual music-related time is enough. At the same time, I do think that the bit of socializing that every lesson entails is just as important as the focused time itself.

It’s a rough line to walk. I know that there is a lot of socializing in my lessons. I’m okay with that. I still learn quite a bit. But the lesson varies from week to week. Some weeks are extremely focused, others not so much.

It’s important to evaluate what’s working. Many times, without realizing it, the student does steer the lesson. If they come in a chat it up for the entire time (and I’ve had students that do that), that’s what lessons will be. In the same way, a student should be able to ask a teacher to try different lesson arrangements, and see what works best for both parties.

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Lesson Length Follow Up from Classical Guitar

My lessons are one hour, which seems like it’s enough time to get things done. I’d be especially interested in hearing if anyone takes multiple lessons each week, and how each lesson is organized.

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How Long Should a Lesson Be? from Classical Guitar

Not a ton of votes, but the results seem to indicated that it depends. Several very good points were made in the comments:

James said that, “The best teachers are the ones that can inspire you and open the doors to a wide range of musical styles.”

I agree, especially for the younger guitarist. That said, inspiration is a big part of lessons for me. Not so much that I’m inspired by my teacher, but rather inspired and motivated to practice and improve. It’s very hard to work without a goal. Even a weekly lesson provides an effective short term goal every week.

Brett mentioned, “I think the level of your teacher can be dependent upon the level which you are at and the level you want to progress to. When I was first starting guitar, I was able to learn a lot from decent guitar players and teachers, but now, I need someone who can take me to the next level. So I say it depends.”

To go along with that, Bobber said, “I don’t see any hard and fast rules here. I have been fortunate to have been around some great players. Both Oscar Ghilia and Eliot Fisk I found to be tremendous inspirations when I was around them in Aspen (in the late 70’s). But looking back, my regular teachers were sub par and lacking in perspective with regards to necessary technique and proficiency. These days, that has changed a bit so it’s probably not as significant.”

I think these two comments address some very specific issues. Perhaps your teacher’s playing ability should be reflected in your own goals and level. I’d never really considered this before. I just assumed that one should seek the best player out and learn from them. But that logic is flawed.

Virtuoso teachers should be sought out by advanced students seeking to go the next level. The reason I say that, though some may disagree, is that a teacher who can play anything is going to be able to provide more insight into performance, musicality and technique because they’ve been there before. But a beginner doesn’t need a virtuoso teacher. A beginner needs some one who makes them excited about the guitar and can mold their musical sensibility and technique for the first lesson.

I truly admire those teachers who have refined a method that works well with beginning guitarists (of any genre). The skill required to do something like that is on par with being a virtuoso player.

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Follow Up: How Good Should a Guitar Teacher Be? from Classical Guitar