Classical drills

One drill sounds at a time. Play becomes Stop on the same button. 50–60 is a normal classical practice tempo — speed is a side effect of evenness.

Suggested order

1. Seat and right-hand shape.
2. i–m alternation, then the weaker pairs.
3. Free stroke, rest stroke, planting.
4. Thumb on the basses, then thumb-plus-one.
5. Arpeggio patterns on open strings, then over a chord.
6. Independence — two rhythms, one hand.
7. First-position reading, then rest-stroke C.
8. Slurs, then the tremolo seed.
9. First pieces on IMSLP — we do not print the notes.
10. Concert-hall names — Vivaldi to Wagner, titles only.

Classical hold: guitar on the left thigh, left foot on a footstool (or a cushion), neck up about 45°. Right forearm rests on the bout; the wrist is slightly arched, knuckles roughly parallel to the strings. Thumb sits a little forward of the fingers, not tucked under them.

If a footstool is not handy, keep your usual seat and isolate the right hand — the finger letters still apply. What you cannot skip: a collapsed wrist. That makes every later drill louder in the wrong fingers and quieter in the right ones.

The little finger is not used. Nails are optional — flesh is fine and quieter. Come back to tone when you want the nail.

1 · Free stroke and rest stroke

e|-0-0-0-0-|   free (clears)
e|-0-0-0-0-|   rest (lands on B)

The model plays the same open e eight times free (softer), then eight times rest (fuller). On the guitar the difference is also where the finger goes after — listen, then watch your own hand.

Play free, then rest

2 · Plant and play

Set the finger on the string before you play it. That is planting. It kills the string for a moment, which is the point: you learn where the fingers are without looking.

Four planted notes on Em (short), then four without (long). Compare the tone. Later, plant the next finger as the current one plays — sequential planting, the habit that keeps arpeggios from buzzing.

e|-----------0-----   a
B|--------0--------   m
G|-----0-----------   i
D|-----------------
A|-----------------
E|-0---------------   p

Play planted p–i–m–a

3 · i–m on open strings

Index and middle take turns on open e, then on open B. This pair does most of the scale work for the rest of your life.

e|-0---0---0---0-|   i m i m
B|---0---0---0---0-| m i m i

Play i–m Loop i–m to the click

4 · i–m on one fretted note

Left index on the B string, fret 1 (C). Hold it and repeat i–m–i–m. Two things get tested: right-hand evenness, and whether the left hand is pressing just hard enough. Every repetition should sound identical.

e|-----------------
B|-1---1---1---1---   i m i m
G|-----------------
D|-----------------
A|-----------------
E|-----------------

Play repeated C

5 · The weaker pairs — m–a and i–a

Most people have a loud index and a shy ring finger. m–a on open e, then i–a, until you cannot tell which finger played. Three-finger i–m–a is the scale preparation that uses all three.

m–a          i–a          i–m–a
e|-0-0-0-0-  e|-0-0-0-0-  e|-0-0-0-0-0-0-
   m a m a      i a i a      i m a i m a

Play m–a Play i–a Play i–m–a

6 · String crossing

i on high e, m on B, then the pair walks toward the floor. The hard part is not the notes — it is keeping the unused finger from grabbing the wrong string.

e|-0-----0-----0-
B|---0-----0-----   i on the higher string, m on the lower
G|-----0-----0---

Play i–m crossing

7 · Walking p

Thumb alone on the three bass strings: E A D A. The fingers hover over G B e and do nothing. Rest stroke with the thumb (it comes to rest on the next higher string) is the default for a singing bass; free stroke when the next string must ring.

e|-----------------
B|-----------------
G|-----------------
D|-------0-------0-   p
A|----0-------0----   p
E|-0-------0-------   p

Play walking p

8 · Thumb plus one finger

p–i, then p–m, then p–a. Same bass, one treble partner. This is how a melody first sits on top of a bass without an arpeggio filling the gap.

p–i              p–m              p–a
e|------------   e|------------   e|-0---0---0-   a
B|------------   B|-0---0---0-   B|------------
G|-0---0---0-   G|------------   G|------------
D|-0---0---0-   D|-0---0---0-   D|-0---0---0-
    p  i          p  m              p  a

Play p–i Play p–m Play p–a

9 · Pattern library

Play this pattern Loop to the click

10 · Hold the shape, move only the right hand

Do not re-press between notes. Em first (open on top), then Am, then the rest of the open six. The library above already plays any shape; the buttons here are the first two, plus a four-chord loop.

Em                    Am
e|-----------0-----   e|-----------0-----   a
B|--------0--------   B|--------1--------   m
G|-----0-----------   G|-----2-----------   i
D|-----------------   D|-----------------
A|-----------------   A|-0---------------   p
E|-0---------------   E|-----------------   p

Play Em arpeggio Play Am arpeggio Loop Em → Am → C → G

11 · Thumb against fingers

The thumb plays a bass note on every click while i and m alternate on the off-beats. Two rhythms, one hand. Start absurdly slow — this is coordination, not speed.

    1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
e|----0-------0---   m
B|--0-------0-----   i
G|----------------
D|-0---0---0---0-   p
A|----------------
E|----------------

Loop p on beats, i–m on ands

12 · Walking bass under an arpeggio

Each cycle the thumb takes the next bass — E, then A, then D — while i–m–a stay on open G B e. The left hand can hold Em. When this is even, you have the skeleton of a study.

e|--------0-----------0-----------0-----   a
B|-----0-----------0-----------0--------   m
G|--0-----------0-----------0-----------   i
D|------------------------0-------------   p
A|-----------0--------------------------   p
E|-0------------------------------------   p

Play walking bass + i–m–a Loop walking bass

13 · First-position C ladder — reading seats

C D E F G A B C D E — the notes a method book reads first, and the same grid as piano's C. One note per click, named out loud. Letters here are home seats: p on the basses, i on G, m on B, a on e.

e|-------------------------0-
B|-----------------0--1--3---
G|-----------0--2------------
D|-----0--2--3---------------
A|--3------------------------
E|---------------------------
    C  D  E  F  G  A  B  C  D  E
    p  p  p  p  i  i  m  m  m  a

Play C ladder

14 · Named scale, seats still on

Same ladder, up and back down, name shown as it sounds. Say the name a beat before you play it.

up
e|-------------------------0-
B|-----------------0--1--3---
G|-----------0--2------------
D|-----0--2--3---------------
A|--3------------------------
E|---------------------------
    C  D  E  F  G  A  B  C  D  E
    p  p  p  p  i  i  m  m  m  a

down
e|-0-------------------------
B|----3--1--0----------------
G|-------------2--0----------
D|-------------------3--2--0-
A|--------------------------3
E|---------------------------
    E  D  C  B  A  G  F  E  D  C
    a  m  m  m  i  i  p  p  p  p

Play named scale

15 · Rest-stroke C — i–m on every string

Now the other job. The left-hand notes do not change. The right hand is i–m the whole way, including on the A and D strings. Rest stroke: play through, land on the next string. Repeat the top E on the other finger — never i–i or m–m.

up
e|-------------------------0-
B|-----------------0--1--3---
G|-----------0--2------------
D|-----0--2--3---------------
A|--3------------------------
E|---------------------------
    C  D  E  F  G  A  B  C  D  E
    i  m  i  m  i  m  i  m  i  m

down (E was m, so the turnaround E is i)
e|-0-------------------------
B|----3--1--0----------------
G|-------------2--0----------
D|-------------------3--2--0-
A|--------------------------3
E|---------------------------
    E  D  C  B  A  G  F  E  D  C
    i  m  i  m  i  m  i  m  i  m

Play rest-stroke C

16 · First-position G, one octave

The usual second scale: G A B C D E F♯ G. F♯ is D-string fret 4 — pinky, still first position. Rest-stroke i–m. A minor (C’s relative) is the same left-hand neighbourhood starting on open A.

G major
e|-----------------
B|-----------------
G|----------------0
D|---------0--2--4-
A|--0--2--3--------
E|--3--------------
    G  A  B  C  D  E  F# G
    i  m  i  m  i  m  i  m

A minor
e|-----------------
B|-----------------
G|--------------0--2
D|--------0--2--3---
A|--0--2--3---------
E|------------------
    A  B  C  D  E  F  G  A
    i  m  i  m  i  m  i  m

Play G major Play A minor

17 · Hammer-on and pull-off

A slur (ligado) is two notes with one right-hand stroke. Ascending: play C (B string fret 1) with i, then hammer the left ring onto fret 3 (D) — no second pluck. Descending: play D with i, then pull the ring finger off so C sounds. The left hand must be already planted on the lower note before the pull.

hammer              pull
e|----------------  e|----------------
B|-1h3--1h3--1h3-  B|-3p1--3p1--3p1-
G|----------------  G|----------------
    i LH   i LH        i LH   i LH

Play hammers Play pull-offs

18 · p–a–m–i on one treble note

Thumb plays a bass; a, m, and i repeat the same high note. That is the seed of classical tremolo (the texture in pieces like Recuerdos de la Alhambra — we do not print that work). Even four notes first. Later the three fingers get faster than the thumb; not yet.

e|----0-0-0----0-0-0-   a m i
B|-------------------
G|-------------------
D|-0---------0-------   p
A|-------------------
E|-------------------

Play tremolo seed Loop tremolo seed

Nails, flesh, and where you touch

Flesh only is the right starting point — quieter, fewer variables. Flesh plus nail (when you add nails): a short ramp, polished, so the string leaves the nail in a straight line. The sound is flesh first, nail as the release.

Contact point: over the soundhole is warmer; toward the bridge is brighter. Same finger, same note, two places — that is a tone drill you do with your ears, not with this player (the samples are one recorded spot).

If the nail clicks or hisses, it is too long or too square. File, do not play through a bad edge.

How to start a piece

1. Play only the bass (p) until it is a line, not a set of roots.
2. Play only the treble (i–m, sometimes a).
3. Together: melody a little louder than the accompaniment.
4. One phrase a day. The piece is ready when a listener can hum the top line.

Etudes that are already music

Still first-position pima, but they phrase. Stay on nos. 1–3 of one book until the melody sits above the accompaniment.

First concert miniatures

Tárrega Lágrima (E major, 1891–92) — the door to him. A singing top line over a simple bass. Rest-stroke melody, free-stroke thumb.

Lágrima on IMSLP

Anonymous Romanza (Spanish Romance / Jeux interdits) — E minor, then E major. Arpeggio in the right hand, a tune on top. The first piece many players finish.

Romanza on IMSLP

Petzold Minuet in G (BWV Anh. 114, Anna Magdalena book — often sold as Bach). Written for keyboard; take a guitar arrangement from the same IMSLP page. Two clear parts, still mostly first position.

Minuet in G on IMSLP

Then Bach

He wrote for lute, cello, violin, and keyboard — not six-string guitar. The skill is counterpoint: p is a bass line, i–m–a a melody that is not just an arpeggio pattern. Practise the voices apart, then together.

BWV 999 Prelude in C minor (lute). Guitarists usually play it in D minor. One texture, walking harmony — a kinder first Bach than a suite movement.

BWV 999 on IMSLP

BWV 996 Bourrée from the Suite in E minor (lute / lautenwerck). Two voices that trade the lead. The second half is the hard half — stay with the first until both parts sing.

BWV 996 on IMSLP

Then “Mozart”

Mozart wrote almost nothing for guitar. The Classical guitar is Sor, Giuliani, and Carulli — minuets and waltzes on IMSLP in those names. That is the Mozart-world sound: clear phrases, open position, a singing top line.

The famous trap is Sor’s Variations on a Theme by Mozart, Op. 9 (Die Zauberflöte). Concert piece. Not a first Mozart.

Then more Tárrega

After Lágrima: Adelita (E minor mazurka), then María. Same cantabile idea, a little more left hand.

Adelita María

Later Capricho árabe — a real concert miniature; shifts, half-barres, a long line. Then Recuerdos de la Alhambra, which is the tremolo seed turned into a piece. Not until p–a–m–i is even at a slow click.

Capricho árabe Recuerdos

Vivaldi

Violin and lute, not guitar. The lute concerto is the real guitar door; the Seasons are themes you arrange later, not a first study.

Spring RV 269 Winter RV 297 RV 93

Handel

Keyboard and orchestra. The Sarabande is the guitar miniature; the oratorio choruses are harmony you already know (I–V) once you can hold a tune on top.

Sarabande HWV 437 Messiah Water Music

Haydn

Quartets and symphonies. The Emperor hymn is a slow tune over a clear bass — the same two-voice job as a first study.

Emperor quartet Surprise symphony Trumpet concerto

Beethoven

Piano and orchestra. Für Elise is the usual guitar transcription; it is still intermediate — the A-minor theme first, the middle section later.

Für Elise Symphony 9 Moonlight

Chopin

Piano. Tárrega and others arranged the short preludes. Start with a slow one, not the Minute Waltz.

Preludes Op. 28 Nocturnes Op. 9 Waltzes Op. 64

Brahms

Songs and dances. The lullaby is a real first arrangement; the Hungarian dance is the famous one people rush.

Op. 49 (Wiegenlied) Hungarian Dances Symphony 3

Wagner

Opera orchestra. The wedding chorus is the honest first map (I–V); the Ride is a later transcription, not a first piece.

Lohengrin Tannhäuser Die Walküre

How long: 8–12 minutes of pima, and stop the moment the hand tightens. Classical practice is short and frequent, not long and heroic.

Listen for: equal volume between i and m (and later a). The drill is over when you cannot tell which finger played.

Common mistakes: the thumb crossing under the fingers; the same finger twice when a pattern turns around; planting so late the next string buzzes; rest-stroke scales still using p on the basses. Slow enough to see it, then speed up.

After the drills: one first piece — Sor Op. 60 no. 1 or Lágrima. Harmony loops that use the same right hand: Play along · classical.