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Ever wanted to compose an Allemande in the style of Bach?
This workshop will show you how! The second half of the workshop is lots of fun, where we all take a turn composing. Watch until then to see the secret of how this can be done so quickly. Want more content and lessons that will help you compose, arrange and learn harmony? Check out my online school, The Creative Guitarist, which is open by referral only - you have access to join here: https://daniel-nistico.mn.co/
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Do you enjoy practicing scales? For many guitarists they are a chore to practice.
I want to show you how you can love scales and also be creative with them. Scales are great for many different aspects of guitar playing. But there's a little known secret about scales: they're fantastic for creating melodies with. Check out the video below to find out how you can compose melodies using scales. Many melodies we play in pieces like Lagrima and Spanish Romance are made from scales. With this kind of tool at your disposal, you might compose a new iconic guitar piece that's played and loved by guitarists all over! Feel free to share your melodic ideas with me :-) Happy plucking, Daniel P.S. if you want to learn more about composing, check out my online composition course taking place next month. We often think of harmony as a boring, dull and dry subject.
This is a shame, because the topic of harmony opens up and develops entire realms of your playing that no other topic can. Harmony helps with your sight reading, fretboard knowledge, technique, musical understanding and more. So how can you learn about harmony in a fun and engaging way? By harmonizing a melody. With the right tools and process, you can harmonize any melody quick and easy! What's the advantage of learning this? • Learn Harmony: Harmonizing a melody teaches you the most foundational uses of harmony, while giving you a beautiful result you can play and enjoy. • Create: If you can harmonize fluently, you can create quickly - compose, arrange or improvise. • Musical Technique: Your technique gets a great workout that focuses on musical building blocks, rather than just pure mechanics. Happy plucking, Daniel This month, I'll be running a composition course for guitar that's Kindly hosted by the Melbourne Guitar Festival. Over the past 3 months, hundreds of classical guitarists have taken the course. Many of these guitarists had never composed a piece before and in 1 month, they wrote a complete piece they were very pleased with. The course is structured, with specific topics and tasks to guide you each week. There's a private Facebook group with a supportive and friendly environment, where you can submit your tasks and see/play other people's music. To help people get started, we'll be running a free workshop this Wednesday October 7th at 7pm AEST. You can learn more and register at: https://melbourneguitarfestival.com/workshop/ Here are some examples from people who took the course: Dance Quarantine by David George: David George had never composed before and wrote this piece (and others) in 1 month. It came about from completing one of the tasks where you're asked to compose a melody using chordal arpeggios (you're also given an appendix that has triads you can practice and use for this task). "Now, you have got me 'hooked' onto composing more for guitar and hopefully for other instruments as well. Even though I have been teaching music for the past 35 years, I never though I could compose for guitar." --- David George One Summer's Day by Trisha Budd Trisha had never composed before, but has now taken quite a liking to it! She started back in July, took the course again in September and is taking the advanced course in November (learn more about that here: [media]https://melbourneguitarfestival.com/a-piece-to-call-your-own/[/media]) "After completing the course, I'm full of enthusiasm and ideas to continue composing, whereas before I had been stuck for how to begin." --- Trisha Budd Aria by Elise Hermans Elise had tried composing before in the past, but she never managed to complete something before taking the course. Elise will be taking her skills further in the advanced course happening next month. “This piece is the result of this 4-week course on composing for classical guitar. For as long as I can remember I had an itch to create music of my own, but I never managed to make it happen: it always ended in loose ideas crumpled in the trashcan and me feeling inadequate. This course opened up a way to actually start and finish a piece, I have spent hours and hours scribbling and noodling around and just enjoying the process of developing this piece. If this is a feeling you, as a guitarist, recognize, I highly recommend you this course! And the most wonderful thing about it is that anyone, no matter your experience or background, can enjoy this course." --- Elise Hermans Music has many positive health benefits, whether we are listening or playing. You're probably aware of some of these benefits? For example, music has been used to help people who suffer pain, stroke, anxiety, Parkinson’s, dementia, and depression, to mention a few. Isn't that amazing! But did you know that composing music has its own particular set of health benefits? A study done in 2015 observed the brains of people who composed music and here's what they found: 1) Composing music stimulates your anterior cingulate cortex, helping you with: • Emotional processing - When you compose music, you are attempting to communicate your emotions through the vehicle of music. That involves a very mysterious and yet intricate connection between our feelings and sound. I can tell you from experience that composing music is a wonderful emotional outlet, very different from playing pieces by other composers. How could that help you in your day-to-day life? - What would it be like if your emotions were more carefully regulated? - How much better would your relationships with family and friends be? - What would it feel like to cut out negative emotions and have positive emotions flourish in your daily life? • Attention Span - Composing music requires a huge attention span, as you must carefully consider every detail - form, rhythm, phrase structure, harmonies, etc. - and concentrate on crafting each detail to maximum refinement. From my experience composing, it's a very different kind of concentration than practicing. It's much more all-encomapssing; physical, mental and emotional. It's like playing chess and telling a very personal story at the same time. How could that help you in your day-to-day life? - How much better would you listen to your spouse, children, friends, family, etc.? - Could the quality of your work at your job improve drastically? Maybe you can get much more work done in less time? - How much more could you learn and absorb with a better attention span? (I've found from teaching that a good attention span or ability to concentrate is one of the big keys from improving a guitarist's playing). • Decision making - You have to eventually come to a decision when you compose. Otherwise, you'll feel stuck or get writer's block. Sometimes it's hard to make a decision, as you have to choose between things of close or equal merit. This is quite similar to playing and interpretation. You have to come to a decision about your fingering, dynamics, etc. at some point or else your interpretation will be unconvincing. But in composing, the consequence (I would argue) are much greater. The decisions you make can totally reshape the piece, or give different sections a totally different effect. For example, change the texture from chordal to arpeggiated and you'll wind up with a totally different sound. How could that help you in your day-to-day life? - Decision making is important, especially when it comes to the big ones. What was the last big decision you made and were you happy with it? If not, what could you have done differently to make the outcome better? - Even in the small day-to-day things, decision making is crucial. For example, today I have decided to write this email to you! What are the consequences of your everyday decisions? Do they help transform the lives of others for the better? Do they have a long lasting impact on your family, friends, neighborhood, community, etc.? 2) Composing music stimulates your default mode network, helping you with: • Remembering the past - Composing allows us to process our memories into a positive and beautiful channel. How fitting that Julie, a guitarist who took my composition course, wrote her piece titled 'Remembering' (click here to listen) How could that help you in your day-to-day life? - Do you have any positive memories that you want to cherish for life? Turn those memories into a piece! Or, do you have any negative memories that you want to come to terms with? Write a piece and perhaps that will help you resolve (quite literally like how music resolves!) those memories. • Planning for the future - Composition requires planning, otherwise it just drifts into an abyss. Each student I've helped compose has used a plan inspired from a piece they love to play. Sometimes they might depart a bit from the plan, but generally it helps keep everything structured and organized. I've shown you various plans or templates you can use - the last one was inspired by a Chopin Prelude (click here). How could that help you in your day-to-day life? - As I've gotten older and now have two children, I realize the critical need to plan. Each day needs to be planned, otherwise it will be a mess! - Now that we're approaching a New Year, you might be planning a New Year's Resolution. That's a mild form of planning that many people don't stick to for the whole year. Planning needs to be a habit, done regularly and formed by discipline. Composing helps you make a discipline of planning, as you quickly find out how difficult it is to write a piece of integrity without the foundations of a plan. • Story Comprehension - An important part of the planning process when composing is the story your piece is telling. One of the most important questions that all composers ask: How does a piece display comprehension (unity) and a musical story (variety) at once? Those are the types of things you learn with me if you take my online composition course. How could that help you in your day-to-day life? - Learning is often most powerful when associated with stories. Build up this skill and you can improve your ability to retain and absorb knowledge. - Storytelling can help make you more engaging with your family, friends and colleagues. A great story is a meaningful way to communicate with people - children love a great story and will sit still and attentive for ages when engaged by one. Composing is much more than just trying to write a perfect piece.
It's more all-encompassing than playing music by other composers and has multiple health benefits that can affect many aspects of your life for the better. Make your 2020 resolution something special that will give you joy and fulfillment for a lifetime. I'm offering a $100USD discount on my online composition course, but only if you enroll before January 6th. There are just 2 places available, as the course is intensive (8 private lessons over 1 month). The only condition is this: As long as you can play a piece, you can write something of a similar standard. No prior experience in composition is required and I do all the dirty work of notating and editing your music. "This class was so much more than I was initially expecting! It really reinvigorated my relationship with the guitar. When you are crafting phrases together, music theory becomes tangible and not just an academic exercise. I enjoyed every minute and can’t thank you enough!" --- Jeremy If you have some questions that you’d like answered about the process, book a free Skype consult here:https://www.danielnistico.net/composit ... nsult.html Enroll at - https://www.danielnistico.net/a-piece-t ... r-own.html REFERENCES: Lu, J., Yang, H., Zhang, X., He, H., Luo, C., & Yao, D. (2015). The Brain Functional State of Music Creation: an fMRI Study of Composers. Scientific Reports, 5, 12277. doi:10.1038/srep12277 I was looking up some public domain versions of Asturias for guitar and accidentally bumped into one arranged for solo viola. I thought to myself "how on earth would that piece work on the viola?!". Then I heard this guy play it... please check it out - a fantastic and passionate performance that breathes a different life into the piece. I really love hearing pieces we know on guitar being re-orchestrated. I made a page with a whole bunch of pieces re-orchestrated that you'll probably be familiar with: https://www.danielnistico.net/re-orchestrated.html Leave a comment and let me know what you think of this version of Asturias :-) If you can play something on the guitar then you can compose too (and compose well!). So, why isn't a guitarist like yourself encouraged to compose? It's the best way to learn about style, form, ornaments, harmony - you name it. Why does a guitarist like you (and for a long time, me) choose to struggle playing pieces that are often beyond your capabilities? Why not instead compose something that is within your limits and at the same time learn a ton about music too. Then at the end of it all, you have something of your own to play - something truly special and remarkable that you can share with your friends, family and colleagues. It doesn't have to be long and complex. Just short and simple gives you something beautiful. And best of all, you can use what you already know as inspiration. Frank's Inspiration - may it inspire you! Frank composed a gorgeous tremolo piece in 1 month, through taking my online composition course (see video below to hear his piece). Before doing that, he was a typical serious amateur player of today, one who: - Plays pieces that everyone else plays - Practices the same exercises everyone else practices - Isn't trained much in harmony, form, analysis, etc. Composing defies these norms. After composing his own piece, Frank now has the ability to do it again and again and again. It gives him pieces that no one else on earth will have played, plus an extremely strong understanding of music. It deepens his relationship with the guitar, teaching him more about its inner workings, patterns and possibilities. Below is a recording of his piece. I hope it inspires you to defy the norms and start doing something extraordinary. It's time to kick that frustration, hardship and tedious attitude towards the guitar in the butt. You don't have to keep on following the same systems as everyone else - take the ultimate challenge below and you'll have lots of incredible, unique and fulfilling work ahead. Ultimate Composition Challenge 1) Find a piece you love and can comfortably play 2) Analyze the basic content of that piece (form, key, harmony, phrase structure, etc.) 3) Compose something based on that piece (model composition) Complete this challenge and you will go really deep in learning about the repertoire you can already play. Plus you'll wind up with a brand new piece of your own!  If you've ever tried to compose, you might find out that it's hard to get started. And if you do get started, it's can be hard to finish! This is what Julie had trouble with, but after taking my online course 'A Piece to Call Your Own,' she composed this gorgeous piece in just 1 month. Before you start composing something, questions will probably start flooding your mind. Things like: - What key should the music be in? - How will the music develop? - What chords should I use? - How long should the melodies be? - How do I transition from one section to the next? Yes, it can be overwhelming. But it doesn't have to be. A great way to get started with composing a full piece is to model a piece you already know. Doing that will answer all of those questions. It will give you a clear template to follow, so you don't have to think about all the theoretical details - just get immersed in the music! What's exciting about this is that there are many different models to follow - as many models as there are pieces. That means you can use this process over and over again, just as Julie can now do: "I had no clue how to get started but now I have a clear road map for my next piece!" --- Julie Departing from the model  Guitarists are obsessed with their fingernails - and for good reason. Why is nail care important? Why is it important for you? My thoughts are that the right hand is mostly responsible for projecting our musical voice. With it we control among other things our tone, dynamics, rhythm and color. Of course, the left hand also plays its part in all this too. Like me, you've probably had an experience or two of a "bad nail day". This can feel horrible, because all the hard work you've done just goes out the window. No matter what you do, nothing can really fix bad nails while you're performing. On the flip side, great nails can do some magic. They can make your sound rich and beautiful. Your dynamics and intentions just speak and the music flows like water so naturally. Our little series on harmony in Rung's Choral is now complete! Starting today, I'll be doing a new series on the right hand and focusing on some very basic things including tone, dynamics, rhythm, color, and touch. By just practicing on one open string, I hope to show you how you can work on many basic musical and technical elements in depth. For today, I have made a video that shows you my approach to filing nails. I would love to know your thoughts and hear from you about any troubles or battles you've had with fingernails in the past - I've definitely had my share of nail troubles! ~ One time when I was touring in China with my wife, I was zipping up my suitcase the night after our first concert and boom! My index fingernail got ripped off. I had about 2mm of nail left on one side of it and had to use that for the remaining concerts! ~ ~ Another traumatic nail incident occurred the night before my master's degree recital. I was practicing some of Alberto Ginastera's 'Sonata', which has a lot of strumming in the last movement. My nails were gradually wearing thin up until that point, but that night my index fingernail just had it and it flew off onto the floor! The following morning I had to go over to my then teacher's home to get some help - together we managed to attach a false nail. Towards the end of my recital, I was playing the very movement in the Ginastera Sonata with a lot of strumming in it and my false nail flew off into the audience! ~ Fingernails are a very important part of a guitarist's technique. If we don't have a system figured out for shaping and buffering them, it can be difficult to consistently maintain a beautiful tone. Nails can also cause trouble musically, as they can momentarily get caught on the strings if they're not the appropriate length. Same goes if they're too rough. Here are my suggestions in a nutshell for nail filing: 1. Buffer your nails before each practice session. - Playing for even 30 minutes can rough up your nails, so make sure they're always smooth! 2. Use a crystal nail file. - Emory boards usually produce a rough and harsh finish on your nails, Plus they don't last very long. 3. Hold the nail file at an angle and file in one direction towards the middle of the nail. - Watch the video to see what I mean. 4. File and buffer the tops of your nails. 5. Check the smoothness of your nails by rubbing them on the top E string. I've created a nail kit that contains the exact equipment I use all packaged into a convenient travel pouch. It's so important that wherever you play - lessons, rehearsals, gatherings, performances, etc. - your nail quality will have one of the biggest impacts on your tone. You also get: - A short guide to help remind you of the key points for nail filing. - A video where I demonstrate the nail filing and buffing process - A free copy of my dissertation on fingernails  |
AuthorDr. Daniel Nistico is a passionate performer, author and educator who specializes in the performance practice of 18th and 19th century guitar music. Daniel's teaching and research aims to revitalize the concept of being a well-rounded musician, with emphasis on topics like harmony that can lead to deeper musical understanding and provide tools for composing and improvising. Archives
March 2021
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