Classical Guitar Music

A classical guitarist plays by plucking or strumming the strings of the guitar with his right hand fingers and thumb. A plectrum is not used by classical guitarists.
Here's a great general classical style guitar course:


Playing The Guitar (Third Edition) By Frederick Noad. For Guitar. Folk, Flamenco, Classical. 196 pages. Published by Schirmer Trade. (SCH10059)
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If you are a finger style guitar player learning how to play classical guitar will expand your capabilities for expression, not by teaching you more techniques but approaching your existing guitar techniques in a different way. As a general rule modern music is played by artists who are looking for ways to express their own feelings. The class of musicians who we usually refer to as "classical" are also interested in the fact that they are interpreting the work of another person and that their interpretation, to some extent at least, is linked to getting n touch with the composer's feelings. Read the full article at How To Play Classical Guitar

The works of Johann Sebastian Bach for violin, for cello and baroque lute feature in the guitar repertoire. The main reason for this is one of the twentieth century innovators of the classical guitar, Andres Segovia, had a particular enthusiasm fo Bach's music.
Amongst the earliest guitar music composers from the classical period include Fernando Sor and Mauro Giuliani. In the nineteenth century guitar composers such as Mertz] wereinfluenced by the piano.
The Spanish composers, Isaac Albeniz and Enrique Granados composed piano music full of the colors of Spanish culture. Consequently alot of their piano music is part of the classical guitar repertoire. Francisco Tarrega composed many pieces specifically for the guitar.
Other influences on the classical guitar are music written originally for the lute or vihuela by composers like John Dowland and Luys de Narvaez, but also music written for the harpsichord by Domenico Scarlatti, for the baroque lute by Sylvius Leopold Weiss, for the baroque guitar by Robert de Visee.
There are lots of other names I could reel off, but one composer for classical guitar who should be mentioned is Joaquin Rodrigo who produced exquisite works for classical guitar and orchestra.

A good teacher will be able to guide you correctly through posture, hand position, etc. better than photos in books. It is possible to learn through books, but it will take longer and you may develop poor habits that limit your abilities and are hard to break after months of playing.
Practice as often as you are able, and don't fool around. If you want to play guitar music, then SOME hard work is needed. But fooling around has its place too!

Sounds unbelievable doesn't it! - It's a simple memory technique that once learned you simply can't forget. And it's completely free! Really! Also you can get a free metronome and a fantastic ebook with hundreds of guitar chord diagrams. Also available for free is a definitive guide to learn exactly how to read guitar tablature.
For FREE guitar software and lots lots more visit : http://www.TabGuitarLessons

sixth (lowest tone) string: E (a minor thirteenth below middle C-82.4 Hz)
fifth string: A (a minor tenth below middle C-110 Hz)
fourth string: D (a minor seventh below middle C-146.8 Hz)
third string: G (a perfect fourth below middle C-196.0 Hz)
second string: B (a minor second below middle C-246.92 Hz)
first (highest tone) string: E (a major third above middle C-329.6 Hz)
A guitar using this tuning can tune to itself by the fact the 5th fret on one string is the same note as the next open string i.e. a 5th fret note on the 6th string is the same note as the 5th string, apart from between the third and second string, where the 4th fret note on the third string equals the second string. Standard tuning has evolved to provide a good compromise between simple fingering for many chords and the ability to play common scales with minimal left hand movement.
There is a good free online guitar tuner and more info on this page.

A classical guitar has six nylon strings and is made of certain kinds of wood which resonates in a certain way to give the guitarist a very deep well to draw his or her musical expression from. The classical guitar repertoire comes from the Baroque, Renaissance, Romantic, Classical And Modern eras. The names of the musical periods referred to times in history but these times are also associated with modes of musical expression.

You do not have to be a virtuoso to be a classical guitarist. Many famous composers of pieces for the classical guitar wrote very simple pieces that can be played by students and guitarists with only a little experience. If you would like to look for these simple classical guitar pieces you will find them in the works of Luis de Milan, Gaspar Sanz, Robert de Visee, Alonso Mudarra, Niccolo Paganini, Francisco Tarrega, Dionisio Aguado, Napoleon Coste, Anton Diabelli, Mauro Giuliani, Heitor Villa-Lobos, and Johann Sebastian Bach. The easiest way to obtain these simple pieces is to browse through collections of beginner's pieces for guitar. Some suggestions for anthologies of easy classical guitar pieces are: First Pieces For Guitar: 20 Original Pieces in Progressive Order by Carlos Bonell - 1983, Basic pieces: Easy Entertaining Guitar Pieces for Beginners by Juan Antonio Muro, Young Beginners First Repertoire for Classic Guitar by Sonia Michelson and The guitarist's good book: folk songs, community songs, hymns and carols by Michael Raven.

If you can already play fingerstyle acoustic guitar, learning classical guitar will give your playing new depth. You won't necessarily be learning new techniques but you can use your existing techniques in a new way. You already know that modern music is concerned with self-expression, but you may not know that classical music also considers the intentions and feelings of the composer even though he may be long dead.

In playing classical guitar you employ a kind of picking called picardo, or rest stroke, when your finger comes to rest on the next string after it plays a note. Classical guitarists use the rest stroke for scale passages. You can also strike a string without coming to rest on the next string and this is called a free stroke. The free stroke is used for playing tremelo and arpeggio passages.

Many classical guitar players grow their right hand nails slightly longer to pluck the strings. This is not really necessary because plucking the strings using the flesh of the fingertips produces a unique and expressive tone.

The left hand techniques used in classical guitar are familiar to all guitar players. Hammer-ons and pull-offs are used in classical music the same as in other genres.

If you are an electric guitar player you probably have some experience at experimenting with different guitar effects. Your guitar effects are your tools or your palate that you use to express yourself musically. The classical guitarist expresses himself by exploring the different tones that can be achieved by plucking the strings near the bridge or closer to the neck, using fingernails or the flesh of the fingertips, and using varying amounts of force to produce variable volume levels.