tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post6029809245047811783..comments2024-03-27T23:06:03.736-05:00Comments on The Music Salon: 50 Years of Guitar-PlayingBryan Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-76707106439848525342016-10-01T20:59:35.123-05:002016-10-01T20:59:35.123-05:00Thanks, so much David!Thanks, so much David!Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-85237481319023711922016-10-01T18:13:24.813-05:002016-10-01T18:13:24.813-05:00Happy Anniversary Bryan. Half a century is a true...Happy Anniversary Bryan. Half a century is a true landmark in a life devoted to the creative arts. Best wishes for many more years of music.<br />Davidnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-70302813488388840582016-09-29T17:24:12.745-05:002016-09-29T17:24:12.745-05:00Thanks, Slugging!
"Never practice mistakes&q...Thanks, Slugging!<br /><br />"Never practice mistakes" is a tricky thing to accomplish. It has to do with concentration, I think. If you make a mistake, figure out what happened and make sure it doesn't happen again. Go over the passage, correctly, very slowly. A remarkable number of students make the same mistake over and over, which just means they are ingraining it. After a lot of "woodshedding" you should start playing the piece through and yes, then you do not stop to correct anything.<br /><br />I have the Sting Dowland album and yes, it is the exception! For one thing he is going from popular to classical which hardly anyone even attempts and second, it is pretty successful, I agree. Sting also plays a little classical guitar.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-81557401923195704802016-09-29T16:58:01.053-05:002016-09-29T16:58:01.053-05:00A lovely little piece that is, enviably well playe...A lovely little piece that is, enviably well played. I've just recently taken up classical guitar, having spent much of the last decade, my teenage years basically, playing lead guitar in bands. I will most likely seek lessons when I have time over Christmas, but in the mean time advise like that you've listed is extremely useful. If I may ask for a point of clarification, what do you mean exactly by 'never practise mistakes'? I presume you mean to focus on and correct them, as opposed to playing through a work and not stopping even if you make a mistake, which I was always taught as an electric guitarist?<br /><br />Sorry to bother you with such a boring question! I'm obsessively trying to avoid bad habits, considering that I have enough lingering ones from electric guitar (the left hand thumb, for example).<br /><br />Oh, one other thing. I meant to comment on post a few days ago, but alas forgot. It was on crossovers. I hope you don't mind me quickly commenting on it here.<br /><br />I tend to agree with you -- crossovers are like gin and tonic in which only 1/20th is gin. You'll never hook anyone on that. But I've been listening to John Dowland a lot lately, and trying to learn some of the pieces, and stumbled across Sting's album of Downland's songs. Now, I find Sting awfully irritating, but the album was actually quite good for what it is. The lutenist especially. Sting's voice, though irritating to me, was not unmusical. The album seems to be a successful crossover, and I can imagine (though I have no evidence) that it may have at least made some people curious about classical music.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com