Looking for the reasons why you should learn to play the classical guitar?
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The classical guitar is one of those instruments that, when done just right, your opportunities for growth can be endless. One of the reasons why the classical guitar is so appealing is that it has a timeless quality to it.
Read also: Websites to Learn Classical Guitar Online
However, the reality is that classical music today is influenced by all time periods of music from modern day to renaissance. And the sheer beauty of classical music is undeniable, plus you do not need electricity to play it. Here are 10 more reasons why you should learn how to play the classical guitar.
10 Reasons Why You Should Learn to Play the Classical Guitar
- The chance to grow your technique
One of the best things about learning to play classical guitar is that it helps to gradually improve your playing so you can eventually develop flawless technique. Playing classical guitar at your best and highest level means working on your technique non-stop because the work is never done. This ultimately makes the process of learning and growing all the more fun.
- There are immense social benefits
Very few instruments match the guitar when it comes to bringing people together-campfires anyone? Although people mistakenly regard classical guitar as rigid, it can also be fun, especially when individuals apply their personal interpretations. Guitarists at parties are often the center of attention even when the performance involves something as simple as several absent-minded chords.
- For the diversity
The term classical music can be a bit of inaccuracy. Although it is true that its doctrines of classical music are deeply embedded in the classical period, modern composers and performers of classical guitar draw from a range of other styles. As such, it is not unusual to hear the classical guitar that has influences from jazz, art music, folk, and a range of other national styles. What this gives you is repertoire, endless diversity when it comes to the material available, as well as composition and structure.
- It helps with coordination
When performing, classical guitarists do not just grow their musicianship, but they also improve their coordinating ability, making them excellent multitaskers. Guitarists are usually forced to handle a range of tasks at the same time such as:
- Creating proper chord shapes with hands
- Focusing on the notes so as to play them properly
- Reading classical guitar tabs and scores
- Listening to sounds and keeping time simultaneously
This ability to multitask is typically missing when one is just starting out. But the human brain is quite resilient so it adapts to the idea of multitasking and this can be applied to other areas of your life.
- The classical guitar will boost your confidence
The process of mastering chords and nailing classical guitar technique is not always easy. But when one stick it out, it gives a sense of achievement, which can be extremely gratifying for a guitarist. Achievements such as these are what allows most classical guitarists to feel confident and able to take on challenges as they come. Even if you choose to play classical guitar as a hobby, the sense of fulfillment that you will feel will allow you to gain confidence to explore other aspects of your creative side so that you can live the rich and full life you were always meant to live.
- Classical guitar is a real career option
Aside from the social benefits that come with playing classical guitar, it can also be a great option for anyone that chooses to pursue music professionally. The acoustic guitar is an extremely popular selection among musicians and for good reason. Whether one chooses to play classical guitar full time or as a dedicated amateur, classical guitar is a pure pursuit that can earn you money.
- You can play in solo or in an ensemble
Playing in a group can be a wonderful experience but if you prefer playing alone, classical guitar gives you the option to as well. While most classical guitarists tend to give solo performances, they also tend to function well in groups. Classical guitar is usually a great addition that complements other instruments and singers well.
- It sounds great
The loud screeches and riffs of other guitar styles such as electronic can be overwhelming sometimes. However, the acoustics produces by classical guitar are usually much gentler and softer which can be pleasant and soothing to the listener. Classical guitar offers softness and delicateness that is often missing in other instruments.
- It is popular
Though considered traditional in a sense, classical guitar is still one of the most popular genres of guitar there is today. Classical guitar has led to the growth of numerous famous bands and albums and its popularity will only get better as time goes by.
- To preserve your fingers
It is not unusual to hear steel string players complaining of hurt fingers and calluses. Unlike these varieties of guitar, classical music does not require props like picks. Also, the tension on steel string guitars tends to be too tight, which can cause harm to your fingers when playing. Classical guitars are made with nylon strings, which are a little tender and safer for the performer.
Conclusion
So, there you have it! The benefits of classical guitar extend far beyond what you would expect. Not only can classical guitar do wonders for your brain, but it also leaves you open to a lot of experimentation, which is the ultimate dream for a professional musician.
Sure, modern guitar styles do have their perks but in essence, they can never attempt to match the simplicity and the elegance of classical guitar. Best of all, there is no age limit for learning to play classical guitar because the basic tenets of classical guitar apply to everyone; all it takes is a little hard work and commitment to the cause. So go ahead, sign up for that first classical guitar lesson today.
Back in college days (1970s), some friends all got together to hear a nice Martin D-28 Dreadnought steel-strung guitar steamroll the sound of a relatively cheap Takamine EC-28 classical guitar, the latter a little lacking in upper register volume and substance.
Despite the D-28 being louder when heard within 15 feet or so of the player, it was basically all “frup-frup” and overtones at the back of the fairly small auditorium of 500 seats. We were all shocked! The tonally “fundamental-heavy” fat strings of nylon, despite their presumably somewhat lighter mass, carried musically MUCH better to the back of the room.
In addition, possibly due to nylon’s highly elastic nature, and possibly due to the classical’s typically longer string length, the “room fade” took longer with the classical guitar. There were only a few of us in the room at that time, so “audience absorption” played little or no part.
Are nylon strings really all that much easier on fingertips? Not really: The action of the steel string guitar should never be as high as that of some nylon string guitars. The tension of its strings, even when “twanging” hard, don’t swing as wide a vibrational “loop” as the rubbery nylon strings.
The biggest drawback to nylon is that it becomes deformed sooner than steel strings, so for vigorous and avid players, the hours tallied up in guitar playing sooner make the neck end of the strings thinner than the bridge end, wrecking intonation. Also, nylon does absorb moisture. That moisture, if in the form of skin oils, over time, sooner results in “dead” tone: They just lose their crisp and piercing tone, especially in the metal-wrapped, or “burden” strings.
Wrapped metal conveys finger sweat and oils into the multi-filament core of these strings, where the water in the sweat evaporates out, leaving behind the salts and oils that deaden the tone. A small amount of boiling in various cleaners adds a little life to them, but the fine wires wound around the D string even eventually just wear through, leaving little rattling rings that float along the string’s length. Nasty.
Incidentally, while a steel string’s high E string is generally the first to break it’s the D on the classical that breaks first. Why? Well, its core is considerably small than its visible diameter would suggest, and the core is multifilament, so about 20 percent of that core is AIR!
It’s so disconcerting to hear the guitar start to tick, at first very slowly, individual filaments in the D’s core popping apace. Less than a minute later, the ticking speeds up and the rest of the filaments just pop all at once when they reach critical tension.
Are these drawbacks to classical guitar? Not a bit of it. Someone, someday, will come up with a method of fusing cobalt into nylon trebles and monofilaments, so they may pass across an installed magnetic pickup. Then the mike’d and amplified classical won’t be so subjected to the biggest bugbear of classicals: Public address system (PA) amplifiers’ feedback. The guitar acts as a receptive mike diaphragm, increasing the effect of speaker volume, regenerating through the circuitry to quickly blast feedback into the room. Remember to use a Bose-type tower, if available, and keep the cone of the speaker from being in front or behind the microphone’s sensitive end. Always site it beside the speaker cone if possible. And get those speakers up into the atmosphere! Sound waves bouncing off patrons and ushers cause feedback to become intolerable in just seconds.
Is the classical better? Definitely. Wider neck, longer strings, better players, no pick.