# Using classical pieces to work on technique



## 18Rocks (Jan 3, 2014)

Has anyone here tried this?

If so, what pieces do/did you play?

How did it help your playing?

There was an article posted on a popular guitar magazine site with using a classical piece for help with technique and melody. I've been playing it for a couple of days now and really like the way it carries your fingers all over the fret board.

The piece I'm working on now


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## ThatGingerMojo (Jul 30, 2014)

That is a really nice exercise, has scales, keys and arpeggios all mixed into one compact lesson. I love sitting in front of the TV and fingerpicking these same types of exercises. Do this over and over again, next thing you know you've been playing for an hour. Two weeks later you will be shocked at just how good you have become at this sort of technique.


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

I took lessons a while back and my teacher had me work through the studies of Leo Brouwer. It was great for fretting hand finger independence and picking hand rhythms.


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## 18Rocks (Jan 3, 2014)

I find that even after just a few days that my finger independence (which needed work) has been getting better and string skipping as well.

I'm hoping this will help a little with my struggles with chords (finger placement and flexibility) and tswitching. I know nothing beats practicing the chords themselves, but hopefully this will also help.


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## bootbun (Mar 5, 2013)

Classic method books for violin are a real treasure trove of amazing ideas - I "inherited" a big stack from my violinist father-in-law but one of the best resources I've run across is CD Sheet Music, a company that packs tons of music onto CD ROM. I have a bunch of these but one of the best collections pertaining to the topic is 0220546, Violin Methods and Studies: The Ultimate Collection that includes many of the great classics including Wolfhart, Kreutzer, etc.

http://cdsheetmusic.com/products/product_listing.php?cat_id=7

If you want to check out an example of this sort of material Scott Abene has kindly posted a free .pdf of Alan Hanlon's "Kreutzer for Guitar" at

http://www.scribd.com/doc/245416797/ALAN-HANLON-Kreutzer-Etudes

Barry Galbraith's "Play Along With Bach" is great as well, Bach two-part inventions arranged for guitars:

http://www.amazon.ca/Play---Long-Ba...id=1421849586&sr=8-6&keywords=barry+galbraith

Needless to say, all of this "advice" is pointless if you don't read standard notation..... if you are stuck to tab then 99.99999999% of the world of classical music is closed off to you,


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