Free Guitar Lesson 2

Galop By Carcassi

Study Notes

"Galop - A quick dance in 2/4 time popular
in the 19th century..."

Guitar Lesson 2 is a charming little piece by Matteo Carcassi called Galop. Traditionally, a Galop is a quick dance usually in 2/4 time and was very popular during the 19th century. It originated in Germany but was also quite popular in France.

The reason I've chosen this Galop is so that you may practice some open string or natural harmonics and to practice guitar slurs using the 3rd & 4th or little finger of the right hand.

When playing these harmonics (on the 12th & 7th frets) you must make sure that you place your finger on the string over the TOP of the fret not before it like you play ordinary notes (see more here).

When you watch the video of Galop (see below) you'll notice my left hand third finger moving slightly up and down as I play the harmonic. This is to avoid the ridges of my finger spoiling the effect of the harmonic. I try using the end segment of my finger to facilitate this a little more.

Guitar lesson 2 also gives you the chance to practice playing guitar slurs with the 3rd and little (4th) fingers of the left hand.

Many guitar players especially avoid using the 4th finger and so it always remains weak. It you have any difficulty playing the slur just practice those few bars over and over again BUT SLOWLY!

Many classical and other guitar players tend to rush their practice in order to play the piece quickly but this is really counter-productive. You need to curb the tendency to play/practice the piece from go-to-whoa every time because this just leads to bad habits and practicing mistakes - more on this topic at another time.

Back to slurs. Make sure you "drag" the string downwards with your little finger so that there is a nice clean and crisp "snapping" sound.

Here is a video of the complete piece...

Slurs, of course, make up the trill. They consist of continuous hammer-ons and pull-offs. You can see a trill explanation and demonstration here...

I hope Guitar Lesson 2 has been of interest and help to you!

You can download a copy of Galop in PDF form here...

Just right click and "Save Target As" for windows or click on the link and print the lesson 2 PDF file in the new window. There is both normal notation and tablature for those that want/need it.

Although this lesson is good, if you want more than just this Guitar Lesson 2 click here...

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