Are classical guitar chords/scales different from normal ones?
by Neil Dias
(Mumbai, India)
Hello,
I'm familiar with all the major and minor scales and chords, and am now in transition of being a classical guitarist from a regular guitarist.
I just want to know how different are the typical classical guitar chords/scales from the usual chords played?
Thanks
Neil
Hi Neil,
The answer is they're mostly the same but you're often playing them in broken or arpeggio fashion i.e. one note following another rather than strummed all at the same time.
Also classical music mostly follows the time established harmonic rules of progression. Further, a page on classical music at wikpedia.com states...
"Classical music is a broad term that usually refers to mainstream music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 9th century to present times.
1 The central norms of this tradition became codified between 1550 and 1900, which is known as the common practice period.
European music is largely distinguished from many other non-European and popular musical forms by its system of staff notation, in use since about the 16th century.
2 Western staff notation is used by composers to prescribe to the performer the pitch, speed, meter, individual rhythms and exact execution of a piece of music. This leaves less room for practices, such as improvisation and ad libitum ornamentation, that are frequently heard in non-European art music (compare Indian classical music and Japanese traditional music) and popular music."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_music
I hope this makes matters more clear.
Kind regards,
Trevor M.