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Roberto Capocchi, guitarist: Blog

Thanks to Guilherme Vincenz for finding this!
What can we learn from it?
"The fame of Andrés Segovia, the Spanish guitarist whose name has been a prominent one of late years in capitals of Europe, had preceded him. An audience including many Spaniards and many more of the musical connoisseurs of the city greeted him when he made his first appearance yesterday afternoon in Town Hall. But the appearance of Mr. Segovia is not that of the trumpeted virtuoso. He is rather the dreamer or scholar in bearing, long hair, eyeglasses, a black frock coat and neckwear of an earlier generation. He seats himself, thoughtfully, places his left foot on its rest, strikes a soft chord, then bends over his guitar and proceeds to play like the poet and master he is of the instrument.Granting a knowledge far greater than this reviewer possesses of the technics of the matter, it would not avail to describe Mr. Segovia’s performance in technical terms. He belongs to the very small group of musicians [...]
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Seven Habits of Excellence

Posted on July 6, 2010 with 2 comments
Try keeping these seven qualities in mind as you practice.  I borrowed these from Gerald Klickstein's 'Musician's Way"
He has a short aricle about them at: http://musiciansway.com/blog/?p=1137
1) Ease
2) Expressiveness
3) Accuracy
4) Rhythmic vitality
5) Beautiful tone
6) Focused attention
7) Positive attitude
I like thinking of these as "improvable" rather than having a pass/fail attitude.  This means a practice session can be fulfilling and successful if you end up playing more accurately than before - even if it's not perfect.  You can make your tone more beautiful than before, even if it's not yet the best tone you'll ever have, etc.  Excellence, in this sense, is to continually, and happily, improve from where we are.  This does not mean settling for a lesser result, but rather keeping in mind that your practice is an ongoing, lifelong process.
How do we invite each one of these qualities into each practice session?

The 5 Biggest Mistakes Guitar Students Make
 

The 5 Biggest Mistakes Guitar Students Make By Jamie Andreas
1 - Practicing Too Fast
Virtually all guitar students practice everything at a speed that makes it impossible for their muscles to work in a relaxed fashion. Unknown to students, their muscles are in a state of chronic tension during the whole time they are practicing.
This tension stays in the muscles due to the power of "muscle memory". Because of this, the student will be placing a severe limit on their guitar abilities. Everything will feel difficult because the hands, arms, and body have a level of tension during movements that simply does not allow for smooth action.
The real secret is a super slow type of practicing that I call "No Tempo Practice". It has the power to unlock the professional level ability in any player.
2 - Not Paying Attention to the Body During Practice
We play the guitar with the body. That is the central fact that cannot be ignored. Students who have [...]
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This is a wonderful framework that works for me, and that I've learned to teach - and then coach - my students.  In a nutshell, here's what I do, in small "bites:"
1) Study the score
2) Read it on the guitar
3) Run through it in my head
4) Drill it a little, playing from memory
5) Incorporate the new bit
Then, I move on to the next bit.
Try it!
This is not a comprehensive practice method.  It just gets new music into your head, so you can do all sorts of other practice methods more freely. 
The steps can be fluid - often, I'll alternate studying the score and reading on the guitar to make fingering decisions.  Or alternate reading on the guitar with visualizing to create a stronger, clearer mental picture.  Alternating visualization and playing from memory allows me to study my fingers in detail, and compare what I see with the "ideal" technique in my head.  At this point, I avoid drilling too much.
Make the process you own:
1) How big are the bites?  [...]
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Notes by Aaron Grad
 
Stringed instruments to be plucked or strummed developed in the world’s earliest civilizations, and variants of those primitive lutes and lyres spread throughout Europe, Asia and Africa. The Greeks called one such instrument the kithara, a name that came to describe certain offshoots of the lute family from the time of the Renaissance. But it was not until the mid-19th century that this instrument reached its maturity, when the guitar maker Antonio Torres perfected what we now call the classical guitar. This ancient instrument of the people finally had the power and range to fill a concert hall, and a rich solo repertoire and recital tradition soon followed.
 
It is no coincidence that the defining instrument builder and the leading composers and performers in this new Romantic guitar style were all from Spain. Conquered by the Romans, invaded by Germanic Visigoths, occupied for more than 700 years by Muslim forces from Northern Africa, and finally [...]
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