by Student Level
The “a” finger moves less independently than p,i, & m. Shearer introduces “a” with sympathetic motion, adding it to the already established m-ii free stroke.
To create the melody and accompaniment texture, give more dynamic stress to the melody and less to the accompaniment.
Pathway is an intermediate-level study built on a simple melody and featuring a variety of chord colorings.
In tonal music, knowing the key of a piece is a great fingerboard organizer, telling the guitarist what chords to expect and which possible positions they may be played in.
In Learning the Classic Guitar (1990), Shearer introduced one of his most important pedagogic ideas: the Four Principles of Efficient Musical Function.
Sounding two notes with a single R.H. stroke is called slurring. In this article, we’ll cover two other kinds of slurring—Delayed Slurring & Group Slurring
Much of the music written before 1900 is in fixed meter, that is one meter (or time signature) per piece. When the meter changes, frequently or infrequently, from one time signature to another within the same piece, it is called mixed meter.
To read and play music, instantly at first sight, is an impressive skill but also one of the most challenging tasks for musicians, particularly with guitarists.
“Scordatura,” in Italian literally meaning “discord,” refers to retuning the standard tuning of a string instrument.
Scales are essential building blocks of music. The Preface of Aaron Shearer’s Scale Pattern Studies for the Guitar (1965) begins with
When learning a new piece, it’s important to first scan the music to get an overall feel for its structure, a process called pre-reading. Look for elements like key signature, challenging rhythms and pitches, and musical patterns.
Fingerings provide clues to organize both right-and left-hand movements when learning a piece of music. Music may include a sprinkling of fingerings
Темрява—Temryava (pronounced “tem-ye-vah,” meaning “darkness” in Ukrainian) is an intermediate level piece that features one-hand harmonics.
This is an arrangment of two traditional Scottish Tunes—Bottom of the Punch Bowl and My Nanie O (or When Bidden to the Wake) merged into one.
This Invention in E major is in open position and features slurring, rhythmic syncopation, pizzicato, glissandi, ponticello, and p golpe (tapping on the soundboard).
Nearly all beginning guitar method books start in the open position for good reason. The left hand stays fixed in place, oriented at the first fret.
Prayer is an intermediate-level piece that features sections of flexible rhythm, meter, and tempo in a playing style called rubato, a piacere, or ad libitum
When Jesus Wept was originally composed as a canon (musical round) in 1770 by American composer William Billings. The setting here is two-voice/imitative and was arranged in response to the George Floyd death on May 25, 2020.
In the Silence is an intermediate piece that features a rest-stroke upper melody with free-stroke arpeggiated accompaniment.
When compound- and simple-subdivided beats are combined together, the result is irregular meter.
Identify three-note fretboard patterns as chord names. Each pattern is part of a larger 4-, 5-, or 6- string chord. The qualities choices are lead-sheet style. (Here "o7" is for all types of diminished 7th chords)
