Classical Guitar

I am a guitarist and teacher with over 30 years experience, specializing in:

Classical Guitar

Beginning Flamenco Guitar

Renaissance Lute

French Baroque Guitar

Spanish Renaissance Vihuela

 

  • Learn to read music
  • Improve your technique
  • Play beautiful pieces
  • Make the switch from tab to reading music
  • Prepare for your college audition 

 

1/2-hour ($30) and 1-hour ($55) lessons are offered weekly or biweekly.

Bimonthly Guitar Nights: Socialize and play for other guitar students

 

Are you an adult beginner or perhaps returning to the guitar after many year’s absence? Whether you’re an advanced player or a dreamer whose guitar has been sitting in the corner gathering dust, I can help you achieve your musical and artistic goals.

Adult students only, please.

CONTACT me at: katharynbenessa16@gmail.com

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Recommended books for my classical and flamenco guitar students:

For my beginning students, or students moving from tablature to notation, we’ll start with the Sagreras Method: Guitar Lessons, Books 1-3 by Julio Sagreras

After a month or two of lessons, we’ll want to work on developing your technical skills. These three books are standards in every classical guitarists library. Learn to love them! 

Diatonic Major and Minor Scales by Andrés Segovia ; Slur Exercises, Trills, and Chromatic Octaves by Andrés Segovia; Pumping Nylon: The Classical Guitarist’s technique Handbook by Scott Tennant and Nathaniel Gunod

Eventually we’ll want to add some etudes. An etude is the Italian word for a “study” or a “lesson,” which is a composition that focuses on a certain technique. However an etude can also be a beautiful piece of music! I introduce my students to etudes by Sor, Carcassi, Giuliani, Aguado, and Brouwer.

20 Studies for the Guitar by Fernando Sor, ed. Andrés Segovia; 25 Melodic and Progressive Studies by Matteo Carcassi; Etudes Simples (Estudios Sencllos) by Leo Brouwer 

Anthologies (collections) are terrific sources for getting a large amount of music at your fingertips to explore and practice sight-reading. You can’t go wrong with the Frederick Noad Anthologies (Hal Leonard Corp.). The material is graded from easy to difficult, and each anthology includes information on the style period and composers, techniques, and ornamentation. Plus, you get a ton of music for your dollar.

The Renaissance Guitar; The Baroque Guitar; The Classical Guitar; The Romantic Guitar

For my beginning flamenco guitar students, these two books will get us started:

First Lessons: Flamenco Guitar by Gohar Vardanyan; El Arte Flamenco de la Guitarra by Juan Martín

 

 

Classical Guitar Lessons, Fort Collins, Northern Colorado