The main elements of classical guitar playing mechanics are:
1. Posture and hands position
2. Right hand strokes
3. Technique
4. Articulation

1. Posture and hands position

Posture

From the very first lessons, it is necessary to constantly monitor the correct posture and position of the student’s hands. Without this, good sound poduction and the development of technique are impossible.

The student should sit on a chair closer to the edge, put his left foot on a footstool (12-18 cm high), put the body of the guitar with a notch on his left thigh (the headstock should be at the same level as the shoulder or slightly higher); move the right leg to the side. The lower deck should touch the chest and be vertical. The forearm of the right hand at the elbow is placed on a large bend of the guitar side.

The body of the player is slightly tilted forward, the shoulders are at the same level, not tense. The guitar in the hands should be stable, hands should be free.
For girls and women, a slightly different posture is offered: legs together, the right foot is located at the footstool. It is not recommended to take right leg under a chair: it doesn’t look good from the stage. The footstool should be higher than for the male posture.

Right hand position

 The hand is set freely above the strings, if possible, vertically (a natural angle is obtained between the forearm and the hand).
The fingers are rounded. The wrist should not fall in or arch outward. The thumb is set aside from the fingers and is located on the bass string approximately in the middle of the sound hole. The index, middle and ring fingers touch the strings at the sound hole, to the right of the thumb. The little finger is very rarely involved in the playing. The sound is produced with the fingertips from the pad to the nail. In the early stages of learning classical guitar, it is useful to start playing without using nails to strengthen the muscles of the fingers.

Left hand position

The fingers of the left hand press the frets near the metal nut. The thumb is not involved in the playing. Behind the neck, it serves as a support for the four playing fingers. The location of the thumb in the first position is opposite the second finger, in the middle of the neck. The thumb should not protrude from behind the neck, rest against it. It only supports the neck, being parallel to the frets. The strings are pressed by the extreme phalanges of the fingers (without nails), which are placed on the frets perpendicular to the plane of the fingerboard, like hammers. The fingers are rounded (especially the little finger needs to be monitored) and do not bend at the joints. The wrist should not be tense or arched outward. The elbow is not set aside, is not pressed against the body, the shoulder and forearm are free, not tense.

2. Right hand strokes

There are two main strokes:
1. apoyando – resting on the adjacent string (this stroke should start from the first joint close to the palm);
2. tirando – towards the neighboring string, but without touching it.

Apoyando is used when performing a melody, single sounds, scales, scale-like passages, to highlight the melody in an arpeggiated texture. It is necessary to strictly follow the alternation of fingers: two – im, ma; in some cases three – ami.

Tirando is used when playing chords, arpeggios, accompanying sounds, both chordal and single. The thumb of the right hand mainly produces sound with the apoyando stroke.

3. Technique

Barre is one of the main techniques of the left hand, in which the index finger of the left hand presses several strings at the same time.
There are small and large barre. With a small barre, the finger presses from two to four strings, with a large one – five or six strings. In sheet music, barre is indicated by a Roman numeral, which indicates the fret, and a square bracket before the chord.

When working on the barre, you need to make sure that the finger presses the strings more tightly against the metal fret, without bending in the joints; the tip of the finger should not extend beyond the neck. It is necessary that the movements of the remaining fingers of the left hand be free.

Glissando is a sliding transition from note to note. Sliding is done with the finger of the left hand along the string, while the right hand extracts the initial and final sounds or only the initial.
Glissando is indicated by a straight line between notes or by the word gliss. If the second sound is produced only from sliding, without the participation of the right hand, then an additional slur is placed above the notes. This glissando is often used at fast tempos. Glissando can be ascending or descending (the latter should not be abused). To achieve a distinct glissando, you need to press the string harder while sliding. Glissando technique can be performed while playing double notes, chords.
From glissando as a guitar playing technique, portamento should be distinguished – a sliding transition when changing position, in which a smooth sound is achieved. The strength of the sound in the portamento when sliding, unlike glissando, decreases. Portamento is not marked in sheet music.

Vibrato is the vibration of a sound as a result of the shaking of the finger pressing the string and the hand.
Vibrato gives the sound melodiousness and emotional coloring. It is one of the most important means of musical expression. Working on vibrato in exercises and scales makes the left hand more elastic and strong. Vibrato is also used in chords.
You should work out vibrato separately with each finger of your left hand, especially a lot of attention should be paid to the first finger. Vibrato is rarely indicated in the notes, its use depends on the choice of the performer.

Arpeggio is a sequential, alternate performance of the notes of a chord.
Arpeggio is very widespread in classical guitar playing technique and therefore can be considered one of the main playing techniques. The pima finger combinations in the arpeggio are very varied. Arpeggio work should begin with simpler figurations at a slower pace. The melodic sound in the arpeggio is played with apoyando stroke.

Tremolo is the rapid repetition of the same note.
On the guitar, tremolo is played with four pami fingers. In the exercises it is useful to use various options for alternating fingers: pima, pamima, etc. You need to start working on tremolo at a slow pace, achieving evenness of sound and gradually increasing the tempo.

Arpeggiato is the fast, sequential playing of chord notes. It is indicated by a vertical wavy line before the chord. The arpeggiato can be played with the thumb of the right hand (glide stroke), with three or four fingers.

Pizzicato is a playing technique in which short, damped sounds are produced. The right hand is placed with the edge of the palm from the side of the little finger on the strings at the bridge, and the sounds are produced with the thumb (sometimes with the other fingers of the right hand). In the notes, this technique is marked by the word “pizz”.
For practicing pizzicato, it is useful to play scales on the bass strings using this technique.

Harmonics are flute-like sounds (separately sounding overtones in stringed instruments).

Natural and artificial harmonics. A natural harmonic is played by producing the sound with the finger of the right hand while lightly touching the pad of the finger of the left hand on the string above the metal fret and quickly removing it. Natural harmonics are played on the 12th, 7th, and 5th frets. Less often, harmonics are played on the IX, IV, II and III frets.

Artificial harmonics are difficult to play. When plaing the artificial harmonic, the finger of the left hand presses the string; the finger of the right hand touches the string at the place where it is divided into two equal parts; the finger of the right hand produces the sound. Artificial harmonics sound an octave higher than the sounds on the pressed frets. In sheet music, harmonics are marked by the words “harm” or “arm”.

Rasgueado – the production of chord sounds with one or more fingers using the outside of the nail. The combination of the strike of the index finger, four fingers, thumb creates many varieties of rasgueado, which are useful to become familiar with.

Ligado is a guitar playing technique in which the first note is produced with the help of the right hand. With an ascending ligado, the second and subsequent sounds are produced with the fingers of the left hand, which are forcefully lowered onto the sounding string; with a descending ligado, the fingers of the left hand, producing the sound, are removed from the strings towards the palm.

4. Articulation
Legato is a smooth performance of notes. Indicated by an arcuate line (slur) above or below the notes.
Staccato is a short performance of notes. Indicated by a dot above or below the note. There are two ways to perform staccato:

1) after producing the sound, the fingers of the right hand immediately rest on the sounding string;

2) after producing the sound with the right hand, the fingers of the left hand are quickly removed from the strings. The quality of staccato depends on the activity of the fingers. Staccato chords are played in the same way as individual notes.

Denis Rusakov teaches playing the classical and acoustic guitar in Kazakhstan, in the city of Karaganda. He puts his heart and soul into working with each student. If you need guitar lessons in Karaganda, contact Denis!