The Whole Guitarist - "Guitar Playing and how it Works" - Guitar Technique explained and the home site of Peter Inglis

Welcome to the Home Page of Peter Inglis, Guitarist.

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Updates

June 8th, 2008 - Wounding Song - Opera with Guitar! - Behind the scenes!

Images and comments from the perspective of playing an opera on the guitar.

June 4th - 7th, 2008 - Wounding Song - Opera with Guitar!

I've been in intensive rehearsal the past couple of weeks for Jeff Galea's brand new opera: "Wounding Song", which had it's world premiere on June 4th 2008 at the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre.

Hurry up if you want to catch this dramatic and exciting work.

Guitar fans will be interested because the Opera not only features guitar, which makes it unusual, but it features guitar as the central instrument in the orchestra! This is possibly a world first.

In the hands of capable composers like Jeff Galea the guitar has a bright future!

Wounding Song information at the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre website - info and bookings.

Click here to read about
"Guitar Playing and How it Works - 3rd Edn."

Great Australian guitar

Phil Stone

One of the best Rock guitarists in Australia since the early 1970's (Live at Sunbury Rock Festival 1972), Phil was unfailingly generous to me with his advice and time. His performing repertoire and stylistic breadth has expanded enormously since then, although he had mastered a wide range of styles even when I first met him.

Check out his more recent video and audio here:

John Williams videos

With my comments:
Schindler's List theme - then Demonstrates common ways of playing a melody on the guitar. - For reference, check out this performance played by Itzhak Perlman, and conducted by the composer, the other John Williams - John Williams, Itzhak Perlman - Schindler's List

A television performance from 1963 with a 22 year old Williams displaying a fully formed style and technique. - Bach - Lute Suite No. 4, BWV 1006a, Gigue (1963)

Bach - Lute Suite No. 4, BWV 1006a, Gigue - (199x ?)
Bach - BWV 1006a, Gavotte en Rondeau - Trills

On his father's teaching, Australia, Bach Prelude from BWV 998

Concerto de Toronto - Leo Brouwer - Rare footage of John Williams in rehearsal.

Isaac Albeniz: Asturias (Leyenda)
Isaac Albeniz - Asturias (Leyenda) (1975)
Isaac Albéniz - Sevilla
Isaac Albéniz - Córdoba

A.Barrios Mangore: El Ultimo Tremolo
A.Barrios Mangore: Vals No 3, Opus 8

Cavatina - Bryn Terfel and John Williams

1963: Michael Praetorius: La Volta

El noi de la mare - a lovely Catalan folk song

D. Scarlatti - Sonata K.175
D. Scarlatti - Sonata K.213

Villa Lobos Prelude No.1 in E minor
Villa-Lobos - Prelude no.2
Villa-Lobos - Prelude no.3
Villa-Lobos - Prelude no.4
Villa Lobos: Prelude No.5

Interview Part (3) - teaching, guitar and amplification

Feb 21st, 2008
Evolution of the Technique - added Feb 2008

December 16th, 2007

I performed recently at the Art Gallery of N.S.W. where I had a very stimulating conversation with an official of Orff N.S.W.. It was great to hear that Aussie schoolkids are getting involved in this approach to music education, with it's emphasis on movement, ensemble and improvisation.

The Aussies encourage the children to make their own instruments as well! More info here : WHAT IS ORFF SCHULWERK?

As a backdrop to our conversation we were able to enjoy the musical talent, energy and guitar skills of Sydney band 13th Floor.

As an example of how guitarists are well advised to look at the practices of other instrumentalists, I have put up a gallery of my Keyboard magazine collection, along with a few notes about the contents. Magazines like this are a goldmine of information, containing as they do interviews with living artists who share tips on practice, and talk about their concepts of music and style. They also talk about equipment, the music business, and provide musical samples, a great example of which was the Xmas 1979 edition which contained versions of the Xmas tune "Good King Wenceslas" by Keith Emerson, David Burge, Roger Williams, Anthony Newman, Bill Irwin, Tom Darter, Chick Corea.

In the course of time I'll add some notes and observations relating the material to guitar.

November 24th, 2007

Added excerpts from the new book - read them here: "Guitar Playing and How it Works - 3rd Edn.".

Also, some free, printable downloads:

DOWNLOAD a PRINTABLE high resolution pdf of page 125

DOWNLOAD a PRINTABLE high resolution pdf of page 93

November 23rd, 2007

"Guitar Playing and How it Works - 3rd Edn." is finally at the printers! Four years of work went into further development of the ideas offered in the 2nd edition: "Guitar Playing and how it works". A lot of the work is visible as organisation of the concepts into a structure that is logical and expandable.

Introduction
Definitions
Practice
Performance
Your Body is your instrument
Coordination
Rhythm is Movement
Right Hand is your Voice
Left Hand, Melody on a Tightrope
Melody on One String
Harmony: Voices singing together
Walking, Swaying and Running in Major
Walking, Swaying and Running in minor
Credits

By it's very nature, the final word can never be said on performance technique! In 2008 I plan to add video content to illustrate concepts in the book. Future volumes, already under way, will focus on aspects of developing a musical vocabulary through repertoire, performance and the required techniques. This is the stated goal of the work:

"This book aims to show how guitar performance skills can be developed to a very high standard by any average person. Patience, persistence, knowledge and desire are the keys.

I hope this book will serve to generate constructive dialogues between the student and their teachers, with other students, their bodies, minds, their musical culture and with the guitar."

October 30th, 2007

Modern Method for Guitar - Books 1,2 and 3 in one volume

The Modern Method for Guitar, of which I said "... the best scale resource currently available.", has been republished in one 432 page volume, and with Amazon's 34% discount on retail that brings the price down to what one volume alone cost previously. I recommend buying the volume and getting it rebound with ring binders at your local printer as 3 volumes.

I suggest that not only for practical reasons, but also psychological.... I used to tiptoe quietly around Volume 3 in the hope it wouldn't notice me leaving the practice room, the 3 volume edition would have reduced me to tears! I would certainly have never finished the project of learning the material. Being a wise man, Leavitt made the first volume the slimmest, then the 2nd volume, and so on to the 3rd volume.

Read more: Modern Method for Guitar

October 16th, 2007

Canadian Pianist Alan Fraser

The DVD "Piano Technique:The Craft of Piano Playing" from Alan Fraser shows a comprehensive knowledge of and practical ability with a wide spectrum of approaches to piano technique. You will notice a lot of commonality with my approaches to the guitar.

A fantastic demonstration of and discussion of Rotation in technique

A fantastic demonstration of and discussion of Rotation
Some quotes:
"The movement originates in the two bones of the forearm" (radius and ulna)....

"... the degree of ... using the fingers is ... personal. If you see five pianists doing a really good tremelo they will use the fingers (a different amount). You have to find your own way (by experiment)."

There are elements of this movement in all kinds of passages.... as soon as there is alternation between two parts of the hand... "

October 10th, 2007

Andres Segovia

Added a video of Two movements from Bach's Solo Violin/Lute Suite in E Major BWV1001 played by Segovia with some of my pointers as to what to watch and listen for in his musical technique.

I have heard personal anecdotes from Australian professional string players that back in 1950's and 60's London they would (everybody would) go out of their way to attend recitals by Segovia. He was regarded as one of the very finest of string players. Video: Fernando Sor - Mozart - Andres Segovia

September 12th, 2007

I received a couple of Kazuhito Yamashita CD sets from Japan.

Added

George A. Pepper's impressions of Kazuhito Yamashita's performance at the 1989 Texas GFA concert.

April 2007

Added to the list of recommended 20th Century Classical listening. Particularly exciting to me are the complete symphonies 1-9 by Malcolm Arnold and the 6 string quartets by Bela Bartok, which I last saw knocking around at about USD$60.00 retail - both sets are available from www.emusic.com for a few dollars.

"This is truly an innovative and intelligent mind-body method for playing the guitar...

Overall this book and this
approach are a revelation."

Click here to read the full
review by Martin Finnegan for the "Australian Alexander Teachers Journal"

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