Why does this guitar sound so good?

[TBman]

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[Gitfiddlemann]

That's easy.
He has evidently worked hard on his right hand tone producing technique, and his left hand work is clean.
Good technique allows him to maximize the capabilities of the guitar.
Similarly, bad technique, on a 10K+ top flight classical, will sound poor, and good money will have been wasted.

Conclusion: Sounding good is mostly in the player's hand, not the guitar's.

[rick-slo]

Lot has to do with the recording setup and the guitar. Classical guitars are smoother, rounder sounding that flattops. It's easier to avoid sizzling notes.
Even though the player picks the strings in a way that pulls them upward (not normally ideal) he does play with some force and far enough out from
the bridge to help round out the sound.
__________________

[dkstott]

+1 to AndreF's comments

Originally Posted by AndreF

That's easy.
He has evidently worked hard on his right hand tone producing technique, and his left hand work is clean.
Good technique allows him to maximize the capabilities of the guitar.
Similarly, bad technique, on a 10K+ top flight classical, will sound poor, and good money will have been wasted.

Conclusion: Sounding good is mostly in the player's hand, not the guitar's.

[rick-slo]

Duplicate post by mistake

[dkstott]

FWIW. It took me about a year to get rid of 40+ years of bad habit's on steel string guitar playing to be happy with my Nylon string playing.

My right hand plucked and pulled strings instead of pushing through the strings.

All that work has also improved my overall playing.

[rjathon]

Originally Posted by dkstott

FWIW. It took me about a year to get rid of 40+ years of bad habit's on steel string guitar playing to be happy with my Nylon string playing.

My right hand plucked and pulled strings instead of pushing through the strings.

All that work has also improved my overall playing.

How did you learn the proper technique?

Thanks,

Russ

[TBman]

Originally Posted by dkstott

FWIW. It took me about a year to get rid of 40+ years of bad habit's on steel string guitar playing to be happy with my Nylon string playing.

My right hand plucked and pulled strings instead of pushing through the strings.

All that work has also improved my overall playing.

I'm plucking away, no push yet. Do you use nails at all?

[dkstott]

It was a combination of spending a lot of time with Scott Tennant's book "Pumping Nylon" and 2 months of lessons with a classical guitar teacher / player.

Scott's book gave me the all routines to work on & some of the technique. The instructor guided me on fixing my poor right hand technique & getting a consistent sound.

FWIW - I used Scott's book and the DVD. There were sections in the book that were not clear to me. The DVD demonstrated it better for me.

Between the 2 instructions, it became clear what I needed to do. It then became a daily practice goal to reinforce the guidance to achieve the sound on a regular basis.

Dave

Originally Posted by rjathon

How did you learn the proper technique?

Thanks,

Russ

[dkstott]

I'm 80% just bare fingertips with the remaining 20% using just enough nail to get the change in sound. I file or polish my nail ends to avoid harshness from rough edges on an almost daily basis now.

I never paid attention to my filing nails when playing steel string guitars. It was a big difference when I starting filing and polishing them.

One thing that helped me with pushing the string was working on consistent tone & volume with index, middle and ring. ( I, M, A in classical world terminology) Playing the exact same note using each of the fingers & trying to maintain the tone and volume.

I found that when I snapped at the string, the sound was harsher and louder. So the exercise was to play as softly as possible and get good tone before trying to be loud.

I'm still working on my right thumb's consistent volume to only be loud when I want it to be. The rest of the time, it needs to be the same volume as the trebles

Hope this helps

Dave

Originally Posted by TBman

I'm plucking away, no push yet. Do you use nails at all?

[rick-slo]

Somewhat ironically the curled finger upward picking is even harsher sounding on a flattop than on a classical yet the more serious
classical guitarists usually have the training to be more fully versed in tone shaping methods.

My ideal of a tone is what one can get by using a flatpick.

[FrankHS]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Somewhat ironically the curled finger upward picking is even harsher sounding on a flattop than on a classical

Just realized (for first time) your observation above is trrue, and probably explains why I (all but) ditched the steel string, (except for bluegrass flatpicking) even before I discovered any classical technique. Notwithstanding, good clean tone speaks for itself, and I have no problem with how the linked player is playing (at least that piece, AM.) Pedagogy has liberalized or developed over last 30 years, and it's not _all_ about stroking with the large knuckle, but also letting the middle knuckle help a lot, and even tip joint if you're made that way. Tennants "Pumping Nylon" does not admit the same. But watch ST's hands play anything fast, or medium speed, it's a different story, IMO.

Anyhow, (TB) the way to feel what a "push" feels like is to play any scale or any arp with rest just strokes. Hard to jab TOO much upward doing that. (It seems.) Then you may discard them after getting an "aha" comfort level.

Lots of free YT tutes out there.

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by FrankHS

Just realized (for first time) your observation above is trrue, and probably explains why I (all but) ditched the steel string, (except for bluegrass flatpicking) even before I discovered any classical technique. Notwithstanding, good clean tone speaks for itself, and I have no problem with how the linked player is playing (at least that piece, AM.) Pedagogy has liberalized or developed over last 30 years, and it's not _all_ about stroking with the large knuckle, but also letting the middle knuckle help a lot, and even tip joint if you're made that way. Tennants "Pumping Nylon" does not admit the same. But watch ST's hands play anything fast, or medium speed, it's a different story, IMO.

I was specifically referring to a rounder tone. Naturally you want to be able to get a range of tones. For a bit brighter tone you could push through less and/ or move in closer to the bridge.
You can also tilt the finger and/or angle them more or less perpendicular towards the strings.

Check the video below for Williams comments (also notice for example at 2:13 where Segovia lowers the wrist towards the guitar to really dig in for a push through).

[TBman]

This (classical guitar) is a really deep rabbit hole for me, but obviously the rewards are great if I can stick with it.

[FrankHS]

(Removed by author, sorry.)