Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Tips

Many guitarists suffer from two handicaps: Sight reading and Respiration.

SIGHT READING

A good sight reading often comes from the 2 fact:

• RecognisIng instantly the notes of the sheet music that he is playing.
• knowing the names of the notes beyond the V’ fret of the guitar.

9 Steps To Improve Your Sight Reading

RESPIRATION

Significant number of guitar players (when playing guitar) have irregular, defective, chaotic, even noisy breathing, because they have never thought of breathing correctly.

In this field, it is absolutely necessary to maintain a minimum of regularity and to know how to alternate normal and deep breathing, according to the needs of your body.

The posture of the upper limbs – especially the right one – does not make things easier. If this limb is tense, it pulls the shoulder forward, which has the effect of obstructing the work of the thorax during breathing.

To evaluate the extent of this phenomenon, we can suggest to carry out the following experiment

1. Stand up straight, feet together and head upright.
2. Cross your arms tightly in front of your body, starting from your shoulders, which should project forward.
3. Try to breathe deeply.
4. Return to the starting position.
5. Bend forearms to 90° from the axis of the body.
6. Without taking the arms away from the trunk, bring the forearms towards the back of the body and leave them like that.
7. Try to breathe deeply.

Keeping the head tilted – especially to the left, as far as guitarists are concerned – can interfere with your breathing.

As there is an interdependence between the shoulders and the respiratory rhythm, it is advisable to preserve them from deviations induced by the instrumental practice.
However, a perfect postural scheme is not always enough to guarantee – and to preserve – a correct breathing.

THE RESPIRATION SHOULD BE AN INTEGRAL PART OF INSTRUMENTAL TRAINING.

• Singing along with playing can be an effective method to keep breathing in sync with the music.(Singing the melody of the guitar piece can often result in better phasing)
• Mark every musical phrase with a sign (4 measures/4 measures or 8 measures/ 8 measures)
• Take a short breath every time you start a piece or beging a new musical pharse.
• Breathe deep through the nose,on outbreath
• Relax eyes, forehead and jaw
• Relax shoulders (let them drop)

For example, the tensions and relaxations generated by the phrasing” should be synchronized with the breathing rhythm by adapting the crescendos and the descrescendos with the inspirations and expirations.

Classical Guitar