Classical guitar fingerstyle

The term classical "Classical guitar" can refer to any kind of art music played on a nylon string guitar, or more narrowly to music of the classical period, as opposed to baroque or romantic music. The major feature of classical fingerstyle technique is that it has evolved to enable solo rendition of harmony and polyphonic music in much the same manner as the piano can. The technique is intended to maximise the degree of control over the musical dynamics, texture, volume and timbral characteristics of the guitar. Careful attention is paid to the physical posture of the player. Thumb, index, middle and ring fingers are all employed for plucking. Chords are often plucked, with strums being reserved for emphasis. The repertoire varies in terms of keys, modes, rhythms and cultural influences. Altered tunings are rarely employed, with the exception of Dropped D.

notation

Fingerings for both hands are often given in detail in classical guitar music notation, although players are also free to add to or depart from them as part of their own interpretation. Fretting hand fingers are given as numbers in circles, plucking hand fingers are given as letters

Finger	Notation	Finger	Notation
-	-	Thumb	p
Index	1	Index	i
Middle	2	Middle	m
Ring	3	Ring	a
Little	4	Little	c

[edit] Alternation

To achieve tremolo effects and rapid, fluent scale passages, and varied arpeggios the player must practice alternation, that is, never plucking a string with the same finger twice. Common alternation patterns include:

• i-m-i-m Basic melody line on the treble strings. Has the appearance of "walking along the strings".
• i-m-a-i-m-a Tremolo pattern with a triplet feel (i.e. the same note is repeated three times)
• p-a-m-i-p-a-m-i Another tremolo pattern..
• p-m-p-m A way of playing a melody line on the lower strings.

Tone production

Classical guitarists have a lot of freedom within the mechanics of playing the instrument. Often these decisions with influence on tone/timbre - factors include:

• At what position along the string the finger plucks the string (This is actively changed by guitarists since it is an effective way of changing the sound(timbre) from "soft"(dolce) plucking the string near its middle, to "hard"(ponticelo) plucking the string near its end).
• Use of nail or not: today almost all concert guitarists use their fingernails (which must be smoothly filed and carefully shaped^[4]) to pluck the string since it produces a sharper clearer sound, and also a better-controlled loud sound. The "use of nail or not" is usually a fixed consistent decision of the player and not varied; the thumb is an exception and might actively be varied between nail [sharper clearer sound] and flesh. Playing parameters include
• Which finger to use
• What angle of attack to hold the wrist and fingers at with respect to the strings
• Rest-stroke apoyando; the finger that plucks a string rests on the next string—traditionally used in single melody lines—versus free-stroke (tirando ( plucking the string without coming to a rest on the next string)