Is there a better left hand exercise than the chromatic octaves?

[Octavius]

I've been doing Segovia's chromatic octaves everyday now for nearly a
year and have greatly improved my left hand, especially in the areas
of counterpoint. Is there anything better out there for the left hand?
Should I move on to scales with three parts?

[David Raleigh Arnold]

Yes, see my chromatic octaves, based on Legnani. Extending the exercise
to the 12th fret is a good idea for many reasons.

DGT is by far the best thing ever in pure tech. See sig below. daveA

--
email: darn...@cox.net (put "poisonal" anywhere in subject)
DGT: The very best technical exercises for all guitarists:
http://www.openguitar.com/dynamic.html. Original easy solos at:
http://www.openguitar.com. :::=={_o) David Raleigh Arnold

[JonLorPro]

For further development along the lines of fingered ocatves, see if
you can find "Imitando il Granchio" by Miguel Abloniz. It is a study
in fingered octaves based on Sor themes, which demands and inculcates
fluidity in of octave configurations in positions throughout the most
used portion of the fingerboard, and will do much more for your
facility in various lateral juxtapositions of them and maintenance of
accuracy through small and large shifts than any presentation of them
merely as a chromatic scale.
For other left hand aspects, create your own developments of
independence exercizes further to those of the type found, for
example, in Shearer publications. Do not be dissuaded by any charges,
which are sure to come, that these are "meaningless and worthless".
That is massive ignorance on display. You can decide after for trying
for yourself what has meaning to your development of technique.

[David Schramm]

Emilio Pujol, Book III and IV

--
David Schramm
Clovis, CA
http://schrammguitars.com
http://onlineapprentice.com

[la...@deack.net]

I'll second that. Did you use these, David? I worked on a lot of
the Pujol studies with my teacher. My teacher wrote some extensions to
a couple of the studies that were fun and instructive for me.

[David Schramm]

Yes, My teacher was a student of Pujol's so he taught me how Pujol taught
him many of the exercises and studies.He was also one of those consulted for
the English translation of the books.

[Octavius]

Thanks everyone for all of your great replies! I've ordered "Imitando
il Granchio" and Book 3 by Pujol. Is book 4 out of print or for sale
in the U.S.?

[David Schramm]

Book three will take you about 2 years to get through if you do it right.
During that time you can hunt down a used copy, new if you can find it, of
book 4.

[Bertran de Born]

On May 15, 7:35 pm, "David Schramm" <ddschr...@comcast.net> wrote:
> Book three will take you about 2 years to get through if you do it right.

Octavius may do well to consider book 2 before launching into book 3.
Obviously I have no idea of his skill level, but book 3 does assume a
certain level of proficiency. Imo the very first study in that book
is quite a doozy:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=3RsWOH2DdIo

Just a thought.

[Octavius]

Volume 3 has just what I'm looking for, lots of 2 and 3 part
exercises. I found the Russian version of book 3 on the internet. It
has a lot of text that goes with each exercise so I ended up ordering
the english version.

[David Schramm]

That first study is great. That was the first one my teacher gave me and I
have been using it for nearly 20 years as my warm up. It is fairly simple
and great for the second year student.

[Bertran de Born]

Oh...well personally I consider it quite difficult. But more power to
you!

[David Schramm]

Depends on how you learn it. I recommend playing the 16th notes one to a
click on the metronome at 60 bpm or slower. Totally relax the muscles
between each note. Empty the fingers, arms, back, and neck of all tension.
Do this for 21 days then speed it up. Do it 10 times perfect per day. If you
make a mistake start the 10 count all over. After that you progress to the
next 21 day stage of learning the study. Your minimum goal should be around
1/4 note= 100 bpm.

If you find it difficult it is probably because you haven't developed the
strength, flexibility and relaxation. In that case do Pujols preliminary
exercises for the study. Slurs are also great for developing strength.... or
master book 2 before moving on.

--
David Schramm
Clovis, CA
http://schrammguitars.com
http://onlineapprentice.com

"Bertran de Born" <howar...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:95495894-f7e4-439d...@i76g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...

[Bertran de Born]

On May 16, 6:09 pm, "David Schramm" <ddschr...@comcast.net> wrote:
> Depends on how you learn it. I recommend playing the 16th notes one to a
> click on the metronome at 60 bpm or slower. Totally relax the muscles
> between each note. Empty the fingers, arms, back, and neck of all tension.
> Do this for 21 days then speed it up. Do it 10 times perfect per day. If you
> make a mistake start the 10 count all over. After that you progress to the
> next 21 day stage of learning the study. Your minimum goal should be around
> 1/4 note= 100 bpm.

Thank you. Is this the sort of strategy that Purcell recommends?

[David Schramm]

>>>Thank you. Is this the sort of strategy that Purcell recommends?<<<

It is one that I developed. Over that past 10 years I've had nearly 2000
guitar students. (I have about 200 new students per year) Those who excelled
on the instrument are the ones who have used the method that I have
described. It is one that I found gets results for those who use it. The
guitarist with the greatest technique IMO is Scott Tennant. He is so relaxed
when he plays, even during virtuosic passages.