Lesson 2

EXERCISE A

Welcome back! In this part of the lesson I want to teach you a very important concept
that will help you greatly with developing your guitar technique to the highest level.
This concept is: finger independence.

It is very important to enable your fretting hand fingers to move independently and with control
all over the fretboard. This is what will allow you to play fast and difficult neoclassical solos
quickly and accurately.

Here are the important points I want to tell you about practicing this exercise:

 I suggest practicing this exercise without a lot of distortion. In fact, I almost always play it
without an amplifier. This will allow you to work on articulation of your picking
and it is a very good way to test this part of your playing.

 Most of technique exercises that you will see in this course (like this one) will start
with a slow fragment (1 or 2 measures long) that acts as a “preview” of the main exercise
at full speed. Spend a few minutes just on the first 2 measures to make sure you get
into the groove of this exercise.

 Although this exercise may seem long, it is actually easy to break down into several sections
of 4 measures each (this makes it simple to memorize). Each section is to be played
with a different pair of fingers. This is where the greatest benefit of this exercise comes in.
By training each pair of fingers exclusively you are not leaving any weak areas
in your fretting hand technique. This will allow you to develop great speed and accuracy.

 The sections are: measures 3-6 (playing with fingers 1 and 2), measures 7-10
(playing with fingers 2 and 3) and measures 11-14 (playing with fingers 3 and 4).

 The second part of the exercise is played exactly the same way as the first,
but the whole exercise is played an octave higher.

 The most important thing here is to make the transitions from each pair of fingers
to sound very smooth and seamless. It should not “sound” like you are changing fingers
when switching from section to section. This is a great test of your accuracy.

 As you play this exercise, it is very important to pay attention to the fingers
that are NOT playing. You must keep them low to the strings and relaxed.
This is part of what developing good finger independence is all about!

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 In addition to practicing this exercise for training finger independence and pick articulation,
I also use it very often for warming up before going on stage with Rhapsody of Fire.
If you saw me backstage in the hour before the show, I would probably be playing this
exercise! (or some of the others that I will show you later).
One of the most important tips for avoiding injury and making sure your hands are prepared
to play at their best is to take the time to warm up.

 As in the last exercise, the metronome tempo shown in the tab is there to give you an idea
of a good long term goal speed you should be striving for.
This speed DOES NOT mean that you should learn to play the exercise at this speed
before moving to the next exercise or lesson in the course. We will build your technique
and speed as you work through the course (as we proceed with easier exercises
to the more difficult ones), and over time you will reach the maximum goal speeds
that are shown in the file.

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 EXERCISE B

This exercise is based on a major scale.

Today we will work on a smooth transition between playing eighth notes, sixteenth notes
and triplets. This exercise is great because it serves more than one objective.
It allows you to develop your technique together with your ability to effortlessly switch
between different note values.
In addition you will also be able to practice many new scales in this same way
(we will be doing this extensively)!

Here are some tips from me to you on how to be most effective with practicing this exercise:

 Please use a metronome! This is especially important for an exercise like this that uses
several note values.

 Also, remember to practice the parts with different note values separately first.
Start slowly (as always!) and learn the fingering well, so you can play it without looking
on the strings! Pay attention to the fingers you need to use (as indicated in the Guitar Pro file).

 Practice this scale in many different keys. In fact, play this exercise in every position
on the neck of the guitar. Not only will this help you memorize scales faster and build
better fretboard awareness, but also it will make it easier for you to play in lower positions
on the neck (it is typically harder for most guitarists to play on the lower frets of the guitar).
You, on the other hand, will be used to it from practicing it in these lessons!

 After you learn the parts separately, make a special effort to practice the TRANSITIONS
from eighth notes to sixteenth notes, and from sixteenth notes to triplets. Work on making it
smooth and seamless. As discussed in the last lesson, this is a very effective approach
for mastering an exercise like this one.

 Notice that the last pattern (triplets) has slightly different fingering than the first two
(eighth and sixteenth notes). Make sure you follow the fingering indicated.

Last, but not least, observe the PICKING! The picking that I recommend for you to use is different
than normal alternate picking which is more common. The reason why I prefer a different method
is because I feel it allows you to play even faster with less time and effort.
So please pay attention to the picking markings shown.

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 EXERCISE C

This exercise builds from the last lesson‟s arpeggio patterns.

We are once again using the same arpeggios as before (Major and Minor), only this time
we are moving up to a different position.
Please review the guidelines from the last lesson as they will be very helpful to you here as well!

As you can see in the notation, there are sometimes notes being played across the strings
on the same fret. Most of the time this occurs either on two strings or on three strings.
I use a specific fingering for this situation that I found gives me a better sound.
It is illustrated in the measures marked with words “1st Fingering” (measures 5-6, 11-12,
and 15-16).

Most other players however would use the fingering illustrated in measures marked with words
“2nd Fingering” (measures 7-8, 13-14, and 17-18). This movement involves rolling the finger
across several strings to play the notes that are on the same fret.

Notice that when notes are played on the same fret across 3 strings, the measures in “1 st fingering”
use some rolling motion, but not in the same way as indicated in the “2 nd fingering”.
So please notice the difference and practice the exercise both ways. This will make your technique
much better and will in enable you to play in a wider variety of musical contexts easily!

Here is some advice on how to practice this rolling technique:

 Rolling technique exists so that only one note sounds at one time. So there is no need
to press down more than one string at a time with the rolling finger.
Remember from the last lesson, I said, the most important thing about arpeggio playing
is to keep the sound clean? For rolling, it is especially important that only one note
be fretted at one time.
 You start fretting the first note of the roll the same way you would a regular note.
Then you bend your finger knuckle, so that the soft pad of the finger presses down the next note
of the roll (while releasing the first).
 In the beginning, it is hard to get the flexibility and control to perform the rolling smoothly.
If you are new to sweep picking, the rolling technique will seem especially difficult.
You really need to observe your form and motions carefully to see that your finger literally
rolls over the strings muting the ones already played, and only fretting the string that needs
to be played now. If you practice this slowly enough and with enough energy and concentration,
you will achieve this technique.
 Make sure that you are not overly tight in your hand muscles and shoulders.
 Don‟t forget to review my advice from the last lesson (part C) because much of it
is relevant here!

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 LUCA’S ETUDE

This etude is designed to help your fretting hand to shift positions on the guitar neck.
Our goal here is to allow your fretting hand to become more comfortable when it has to make
small position shifts in the middle of musical phrases.

 Our first position shift occurs between the 6th and 7th notes of measure 1.
In this case you might be tempted to “stretch” your fingers in order to make the transition
between notes 6 and 7. Instead of “stretching”, simply move your hand to make the transition
between these notes easier.

 Notice the sweep picking motion (all up strokes) in the final 3 notes of measures 2 and 4.

 In measures 5, 6, 7, 8 and 10 you will discover more small sweep picking motions,
please watch the picking instructions carefully in these measures, doing so will make this etude
a lot easier for you to master.

 Measures 7-10 are the most challenging due to the fact that there are a lot of position shifts
for your fretting hand to master. None of these shifts are very difficult, but what does make
this section challenging is that there are so many position shifts that happen in a short
period of time.

 The two primary keys to mastering this etude are:

1. Pay close attention to the fingering!
2. You MUST concentrate your mind on the specific tasks of each position shift.
You will need to build both muscle memory and mental memory to do this.

 As usual, approach this etude slowly at first, then build up the speed gradually!
Work on one measure at a time, do not try to memorize this etude all at once.

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 CLASSICAL COMPOSITION

Bassoon Concerto RV484 / Antonio Vivaldi

Even though the note values in this music appear to be very fast, do not fear,
because the metronome tempo is very slow! As a result the music sounds slower than it looks!

There are several new approaches used in this excerpt that I want to draw your attention to:

 The sections that incorporate open strings sound cool and are easy on the left hand to play.
However the challenge with these parts is to keep the two strings (the 1 st and 2nd strings)
from ringing together. In other words, you must mute the open string right after it has sounded
each note and not let it ring together with the next note on the adjacent string!
This is very important and will enable you to play this music cleanly.
Another challenging element of this section with the open strings is the coordination
between the two hands. Make sure to practice slowly at first and perfect your coordination
at slow speeds before increasing the tempo!

 The string skipping sections of the music will challenge your picking hand considerably.
Make sure that you take the time to perfect measures 3 and 5 slowly. The important thing
is to have each note sound perfectly clean and distinct from the others!

 The last two beats of bar 5, will offer you quite a work out for your 3rd and 4th fingers!
This is good because you will be ahead of a lot of guitarists who never train their left hand
fingers to such a high degree of independence!

 As in the last example, remember that you can set each of the instruments to play solo
or have it be muted. I recommend first to listen and learn the guitar part by itself
(mute the harpsichord). Once you become comfortable with it, practice it together
with the harpsichord section to experience the full effect of Vivaldi‟s music!

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 LESSON FEEDBACK

The „LESSON FEEDBACK‟ page represents one of the most important aspects of my „NEOCLASSICAL REVELATION‟ Guitar
Course and is your way to communicate your progress with me. Your data and comments about each exercise of each lesson are
necessary for me to follow you, your progress, and to assist you on your way to become the ultimate „NEOCLASSICAL GUITAR
MAESTRO‟.

After every 3 lessons, based on the information you will give me through the „LESSON FEEDBACK‟ page, I will send you:
 One email with my comments on your work and some advice about how you should proceed through my course to further
improve your guitar playing skills.
 One special and personalized exercise that I create especially for you, based on the technical difficulties you encountered
while training on the different exercises of my lessons.

To access the „LESSON FEEDBACK‟ page and to leave your comments go to:

http://www.tomhess.net/LTNCRFeedback.aspx

HOW TO USE THE ‘LESSON FEEDBACK’ PAGE:

 LESSON NUMBER:
Please specify the number of the lesson.

 I PLAY THIS EXERCISE PERFECTLY AT BPM:

Practice every exercise and then, shortly before receiving your next lesson,
measure with the GUITAR PRO metronome at what speed (BPM) you are
able to perfectly play every single exercise (exercise A, B, C and LUCA‟S
ETUDE).
Playing an exercise perfectly means you are not making any mistake
performing it. This is absolutely fundamental to be kept in mind: if 90% of
an exercise sound great, but you have difficulties with the other 10%, then it
means you have to slow down the metronome speed in GUITAR PRO until
you are able to perform it 100% correct, from the first to the very last bar.
If you have a particular problem with some bars of one exercise, then select
those bars in the relative GUITAR PRO file and train harder until you are
able to master them. Only then, when you have mastered your problem area,
go back to practice the whole exercise again. And most importantly: don‟t
worry about the first, surely disappointing results that most of you will see!
Even if you are only able to play an exercise perfectly at half speed when it
is time to send me your lesson feedback, it will already be a great result for
you and me! I started in the same way as every other famous guitar player
nowadays did... slowly moving forward to where I am today. And some
things still take me a while to master them.

 COMMENTS: As I already said many times, your comments are truly

fundamental for the interactive relationship I want to have with you. Feel
free to explain all the problems that you are facing with an exercise in each
comments‟ field of your „LESSON FEEDBACK‟. Fingering, picking,
technical problems of all kind with a specific bar and so on. Feel free to give
me as much information as you can. The more specific you are, the more I
can help you to solve and overcome the little and big obstacles coming up in
your practicing. And always remember: my partner Tom Hess and I created
a forum where you can find most of the answers and solutions for your
technical difficulties even before receiving my personal answer by mail after
every three lessons. So don‟t hesitate: once you have your login and
password information, go to http://www.tomhess.net (then click on the
„Forum‟ link on the left side of the page), discover the great value of the
„NEOCLASSICAL REVELATION FORUM‟ and share your passion for the
„neoclassical way of playing guitar‟ with all the other players.

 CLASSICAL COMPOSITION (OPTIONAL):

Please don‟t see the section „CLASSICAL COMPOSITION‟ in the same way I ask you to consider the other 4 exercises of each lesson of this course.
You don‟t need to practice the „CLASSICAL COMPOSITION‟ and reach a good level of progress before you receive your next lesson. This part of
your lesson is more a great bonus than an actual element of the lesson. Because of this, the comments and playing speed section for this part of your
lesson are indicated as „OPTIONAL‟ on the „LESSON FEEDBACK‟ page. The „CLASSICAL COMPOSITION‟ may technically be very
demanding, even for the best guitar players, so please consider it to be more a personal gift I am making to you. You can add it to your private
collection of great and exclusive classical scores ready to be challenged whenever you feel it‟s the right moment and time to do it.
If your current skill level allows you to face this section before receiving the next lesson (after you already mastered the other 4 exercises), then your
comments in the „LESSON FEEDBACK‟ page are welcome and I will take them into serious consideration, but I insist on the fact that they are not
necessarily required. Right now, mainly focus on serious practice of exercise A, B, C and my LUCA‟S ETUDE. Those are truly fundamental for your
progression through my course.

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 Good work and see you at the next lesson
on your way to become the ultimate
NEOCLASSICAL GUITAR MAESTRO

WWW.NEOCLASSICALREVELATION.COM

WWW.LUCATURILLI.COM

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