But from the moment Y Bluen Eira’s crushingly heavy riff smashes through the speakers, driven by a thunderous performance from drummer Matthew James Thomas, it’s clear that a high stakes game suited them just fine. Rather than enter the studio with a spring in their step, and a stack of ideas in their pockets, the band hit record with the feeling that they had nothing to lose. Prior to recording, Bryan admits that bassist Rhydian Dafydd was working through some “pretty horrible, ugly stuff”, while she also stared down a case of writer’s block for the first time in her career. It’s definitely affecting, and we were questioning whether or not we were in the right frame of mind to go there.”
We’ve done enough records to know what the process can end up bringing out. “Going into the studio, especially in this band, is not always a cathartic thing,” vocalist and guitarist Ritzy Bryan says, while sat on a fathoms-deep sofa at Cardiff’s Clwb Ifor Bach. In another world, 2016’s Hitch was etched into the history books as The Joy Formidable’s final LP. A few minutes mixing these with scale fragments, and we sound better and better.The first thing to note about The Joy Formidable’s new album, AAARTH, is that it nearly didn’t happen. The main ingredients are attention and time. We raise the quality here, and we raise it everywhere. Working this way, the macro takes care of itself. But as we focus on quality and consistency, we do improve over time.ĭescribed here is work at the micro-level, at the level of one note and one movement. In any one day, we may or may not notice any difference. Daily Practice Yields Compounded Interest We can raise the standard and ingrain rhythmic clarity and precision. We can train ourselves to listen at higher and higher levels. We can notice how small shifts in position or speed affect the sound of each note. We can feel our fingers moving through the strings. We can listen for consistent and beautiful tone quality. We can put every aspect of our playing under the microscope and make it intentional. As we improve here, our overall level rises. This is the time and place to “sharpen the saw” and set the standard. Throughout this process the main goal is to mind the fundamentals.Įverything we want to ultimately embody in our music, we practice here. Once we can play two notes well, we can add one more.
This isolates a core element of all melodies and scales. We can focus all our attention on just two notes on one string.
#CLASSICAL GUITAR SHED BLOCK CHORD FULL#
Instead of a full scale pattern, we can practice just two notes. Question: What’s the recipe for beautiful flowing melodies?Īnswer: Our ability to connect one note to another on the same string.Īnd how can we train this ability? Well, we can work on just this core element. Then, when we can, we play two notes, and the game begins… Scale Building Blocks: Two-Note Pairs on One String We play at a chosen volume and with a chosen tone quality. To play a note well means we use an intentional hand position, form, and movement. First, we have to play just one note well. If we look at the smallest building block of this entire exercise, we find one note. Just as when we sing many notes with a steady breath, the scale is fluid and connected. When done well, there is little or no gap between the notes. The challenge is to synchronize the hands. (This is aptly called “ I/M alternation“)Īnd in the left hand, we play two or three notes per string (most often). On classical guitar, scales usually use the index and middle fingers on the right hand. We limber our fingers and improve accuracy and precision.Īnd if scales are the tool, scale fragments can sharpen that tool. We train our hands to play at a consistent volume. Scales are a tool with which we practicing connecting notes smoothly. But what does this mean? What does “better” look like? Why do we practice scales? To get better, of course.
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