Passionate Dynamics

You don't have to be a fingerpicker for this lesson, but it does make it a little easier!

In case you haven't noticed, the idea behind these lessons is not so much to teach a particular technique or lick, but how to add more musical qualities to your playing. In past lessons I have mentioned such things as accenting, articulation, dynamics, etc. These are musical qualities that you need to integrate into your playing, to elevate your performance into something more than just playing the right notes in the right order. This lesson will show you how this works with fingerstyle.

I want to preface this lesson by admitting that I am getting increasingly bored and sometimes even appalled at the bland, repetitive, monotone and un-original stuff I hear coming out of my radio that passes for music these days. I am trying to light a fire under some musicians' butts to get more passionate about what they do, and it all starts here, with how you approach your instrument. So-

Be expressive when you play! - Use accenting, dynamics, articulation and anything else you can think of to give your playing some expressive meaning.

To play expressively, you have to practice expressively! - Yes, playing with feeling and expression can and should be practiced. Like a muscle, it gets more proficient with more frequent use. And besides, if you don't practice it the way you want to perform it, then it ain't gonna happen!

By the way, plucking the strings with your bare fingers is a great way to get accustomed to directly transmitting your feelings through your guitar!

With this first exercise, work on doing the dynamics indicated. Letters above the tab are classical abbreviations for right hand fingers:

p = thumb
i = index
m = middle
a = ring

pp = "pianissimo"- very soft
ff = "fortissimo"- very loud

Your aim is to start very soft, build to very loud by the first beat of the second measure, then return to very soft by the end, then repeat continuously several times. The line markings below the music are the visual representation of this, known as "crescendo" and "decrescendo."
Make it your intention to exaggerate the difference between your softest and loudest notes- go for maximum contrast. Most guitarists never reach their full potential in this regard; many have no idea of the dynamic power that is literally at their fingertips! (you can do this with a pick, too.) Push it to extremes to discover the true extent of your dynamic range. Be sure to keep it balanced- all notes equally soft, getting louder equally, and so on.
Tip: until you feel comfortable with gradual volume changes, just try to make each group of four notes louder (or softer) than the one before- i.e. get louder or softer in steps, or increments.

Now try it with a more interesting pattern.

Work on making the same dynamic changes.

Now we add one more element- accenting: an extra-loud, strong sound on the m, a and m strokes of the pattern, while laying back softly on the other strokes (again, maximize the contrast):

Get somebody to listen to you and objectively evaluate how well you are doing all this. Most guitarists doing fingerstyle will un-intentionally underplay while thinking they are being wonderfully dynamic!

So now we are layering two things on top of just playing the right notes in the right order: we have dynamics and accenting. Is it worth it? Isn't it enough to just play the music correctly?

That is up to you. But I think we are laying down some very important groundwork here on this issue of getting expressive qualities into your playing, and we have just scratched the suface!

Now go forth, practice, and start thinking about ways to add expressiveness to your guitar playing!

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