Here’s a cool piece you’ll learn in Classical Guitar Secrets.
It’s not too difficult… Check it out:
Villano by Gaspar Sanz.
In this piece there are several sections that you
need to damp the base notes, the open strings.
For example, when there’s an A ringing, we’re
talking about the second line and it’s the second
line after the double bar. You have an A in the
bass and then a D. Well, when you play the D,
we have to get rid of the A.
And how do we do that? There are two techniques
for damping.
One is that after you play the D, you put your
thumb back on the fifth string and this will
stop the A string from ringing. Otherwise, it
gets muddy and it’s undefinable what the base is.
Another technique which is more advanced is this,
that as soon as — first you play the A and when
you want to play the D, you push your finger,
your thumb, between the two strings and stop
the A string at the same time playing the D,
like this.
In this case, though, we can use the first
technique. Why?
Because our third note is also an A. So it would
be very convenient to put our P back on the fifth
string. So we have… And that prepares our thumb
for that note. So basically this is what we have.
Again.
Now, anytime you see an open string ringing in
the base, for example, you might see an E and an A.
As soon as you play the A you have to stop the E,
otherwise it gets very muddy.