Scholarships for the Summer

I'm offering 2 scholarships for free private lessons this summer from June 1 - September 1. I'd like the guitarists to be music majors at college looking for extra guidance and inspiration during the summer. The level of the guitarist is not as important to me as is his or her enthusiasm and love for the art. Lessons will be bi - weekly and will be at my studio (not over internet webcam).

For consideration, please send me your name, a well written email (one or two paragraphs) with your background information, what you'd like concentrate on (playing Baroque music, Technique, Contemporary Music, etc.), and a sample of your playing - video or audio. Please do not sent the video or audio to my email - use www.yousendit.com and send me links to the files.

Best wishes,

Kevin

Merrry Christmas - 2007

Below is a small gift from me to the guitarists who read this blog. I want you all to know how much I admire you. It takes courage to study music with love and faith - and even more so on an instrument which is as demanding as the classical guitar. Keep following your bliss.

The First Noel arranged for solo guitar (with video)

Sincerely

Kevin

Admiration of the Students

As a teacher for many years now, I am always impressed with my older students. They are not children, where they are told by parents that the discipline of music study will do them good or because some report suggests that learning a musical instrument will make them smarter. These students are studying simply because they love it. As I have learned, love can transcend any logic or reasoning.

My older students are working at least 8-10 hours a day, they have families and other commitments, and yet still try to find time to learn the classical guitar. And I might add - this is not always a pleasurable study. The study of the classical guitar is demanding and can be frustrating. I've seen students weep over frustration, get angry, get depressed. I try to explain to them that the plateaus in study (and life) come frequently. We must learn to enjoy them as much as the climb. We must enjoy and travel on any plateau to eventually reach the highest mountains. Relax and know that those mountains will come.

classical guitar lessons, music and philosophies at www.guitar69.com

change when the music changes

I stress the importance of "changing when the music changes" to my students. This concept is a basic one for my own interpretive ideas.

If the change in the score is drastic, we should change something drastically in our playing. If it is a subtle change, the difference will be subtle. The question then becomes - how do we choose to highlight these changes? This involves musical and expressive techniques - rubatos, accents, color changes, dynamics, fingering choice, etc.

Many teachers stress listening to orchestra music. Why? Composers of the world change their orchestration (sound, dynamic, mood) when the music changes it's character. They highlight the change in the music by changing the orchestration. Again, it's simple and honest. Pay attention and you'll see what I mean.

The more we can notice the way music changes in our scores, the more we can highlight those changes in our playing and be more expressive.

classical guitar lessons, music and philosophies at www.guitar69.com