FRANCISCO CHAVES
B l o g
How to get a beautiful sound
in the Classical Guitar
Before we start, I know already what you are thinking: "Beautiful sound is something subjective. How can you claim that X sound is better than Y sound?" And you are absolutely right. Some kind of music requires an aggressive, "raw" sound, other kind of music requires a more delicate, "warmer" sound.
For the purposes of this article, I will focus on the delicate, "warmer" sound. A lot of guitarists in the classical music world try to achieve that sound and in terms of aesthetic, it helps distinguish the "classical guitarist" from the "flamenco guitarist", who has a more aggressive, direct, "in your face" sound.
The guitarist who completely revolutionized the guitar world in that regard is David Russell (1). He is a Scottish guitarist that is known for his "flawless tone". The sound in the classical guitar world gradually has been evolving and becoming more round and smooth. Watch this performance of David Russell playing a Scottish tune with a superb tone (2). Other younger guitarists like Florian Larousse (3) and Tal Hurwitz (4) also managed to achieve this high-quality, warm, expressive sound.
First step: Nails
In a previous article, I already discussed about the use and importance of nails in the classical guitar. Please check that article for more useful information about it. As a curiosity, I will leave here a photo of David Russell's nails that he published in his facebook page (5).
Second step: Mastering "Tirando" and "apoyando"
You can have perfect nails but to be able to have good sound, you need to master these two basic techniques of classical guitar. In the following video (6), guitarist Dmitry Nilov makes a good explanation and exemplifies the two ways of playing guitar: "Tirando" and "Apoyando". "Apoyando" literally means "leaning on". The fingers lean on the next string. "Tirando" means to "remove" or "to take out". The finger strucks the string and does not lean on the next one. Usually "apoyando" sounds louder and fuller compared to "tirando". That is why Flamenco guitarists try to master the craft of playing fast scales only using "apoyando". That usually results in a more powerful sound compared to "tirando".
Third step: Angle of attack
This is quite hard to explain without the use of a video. Different angles of attack produce different sounds on the guitar. There is no video on the internet explaining this concept in detail, therefore I made a video on my youtube channel demonstrating that, just for you! (7)
Fourth step: Vibrato
Sound production happens not only in the right hand, but also in the left hand. Vibrato means "to vibrate" and is a common technique among classical guitar that drastically changes your sound. Here is a video (8) explaining and demonstrating this technique.
Fifth step: "Hardware" - Strings
Only after you completed religiously all the previous steps you can start to think about the guitar and string quality. Different guitarists use different guitars and different strings. Everyone has a different taste. I advise you to try different brands, different models and different tensions of strings. I also advise you to ask your friends and colleagues for their guitars and play a bit with them. See if you like them more or less, compare the sound by playing the same music in different guitars to have a better idea.
Here is a general guideline to strings with my own thoughts:
- Strings with high tension sound louder and with more "body", more "aggressive", more "direct". Strings with lower tension sound a bit "duller", "weaker", "softer". Strings with harder tension require more strength on the left hand and are, therefore, a bit harder to play compared with lower tension.
- Usually guitar strings are made of nylon, but some new models have been appearing lately that use "Carbon" (only for the trebles). Those strings sound much more powerful and louder than nylon strings. It is common knowledge that is harder to achieve a warm, clean and round sound with carbon strings in comparison to nylon strings. Although carbon strings make the guitar sound louder in comparison. There are pros and cons to each.
More "Hardware" - Guitar
About guitars, I will not made any specific comments because you should be able to achieve a good, high quality sound, even with a bad guitar. Of course a good guitar helps and if you have the resources, you should definitely invest in it, but a good guitarist can achieve a good sound even with a bad guitar if you followed the previous steps. Some general tips I can give about guitars are:
- Make sure the guitar tunes well. Once you play in higher positions, guitars start to become gradually out of tune. A good guitar manages to stay in tune even if you play a chord in a high position.
- Control the humidity on your guitar. Here is an article (9) that goes in depth about it.
- Find a space with good acoustics (specially for recordings!).
Extra techniques: Glissando and Portamento
To make your music sound really expressive and with great impact, you can use "Glissandi" and "Portamenti". They are similar techniques with a small difference. They both consist of sliding your finger through the string, connecting two notes on the same string. On the portamento you articulate the ending note with your right hand, while in the glissando, you just slide it without striking the next note. Guitarist Gohar Vardanyan demonstrates it in this video. (10)
Final tips
The more you play, the easier it gets. If you tune in and listen well while you are practicing, naturally your hands will go searching that beautiful sound. Your guitar will even sound better with time.
And also, do not stress! Playing in a relaxed manner will also go a long way for helping your sound. The attack will be smoother and more controlled compared when you are in a state of tension.
I hope you learned a lot with this article and have fun trying out all these new techniques in your guitar playing!
Useful links / sources:
1 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Russell_(guitarist)
2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZdM9Rp_e0o
3 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbTAw979KJQ
4 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z8Qiy5hBCk
6 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9drqCngszs
7 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SMI3yVVYEY
8 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZZTZWNlqxY
9 - https://www.taylorguitars.com/support/maintenance/using-guitar-humidifier
