December 1998
Volume 2 Number 4

Letter from the President
San Francisco Guitar Quartet by Arnie Williams
Helpful Hints by Lawrence Ferrara

Letter from the President

Dear Readers:

Once again, winter is upon us. A perfect time to sit by the fire, have a cup of tea, listen to some music or, better yet, play some, alone or with friends and family. How special it is that we all have the opportunity to come together each month to hear each other play the guitar at the First United Lutheran Church on 30th and Geary, even without a fireplace. I hope most of you have been able to participate with us, as listeners or performers, and have enjoyed the wonderful programs of the last several months. For a listing of upcoming SFCGS programs, see our Calendar of Events
on Page 3.

Many thanks to those of you who responded to our plea for volunteer help in our last newsletter. Senses of panic are resolving as a result. Still, if any of you is even considering the possibility of helping out, just leave a message on our phone or e-mail us.

I am pleased to welcome Arnie Williams as the new editor of the San Francisco Classical Guitar Society newsletter (starting with this issue). He will also be supporting the Guitar Society as its new Public Relations Director. Arnie lives in Petaluma where he is a first-year guitar student and has the privilege of studying with John Stover. He commutes to work in San Francisco and is the editor in chief of CADENCE magazine, a monthly trade publication for architects and engineers who use computer aided design software.

Arnie also has a background in corporate communications, public relations, and news reporting. Browsing through this issue you may note that he has already become an active contributor to the newsletter. If you are interested in writing reviews, articles, or comments, you may phone him at 415-278-5288, email him at awilliams@mfi.com, or meet him at the front receiving table when you arrive at one of our upcoming programs.

Another exciting and long-awaited addition to the Guitar Society newsletter is a regular Question and Answer column by Larry Ferrara, "Helpful Hints". As many of you already know, Larry teaches at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and City College of San Francisco and has published a series of excellent learning materials (including CDs) of intermediate and advanced repertoire through Guitar Solo Publications. Larry also performs locally, nationally, and internationally, and we are honored to have him perform with Tom Leisek in the Ferrara/Leisek Duo at our February monthly event.

On behalf of the San Francisco Classical Guitar Society, I would like to thank Alice Rowan for her fine work as Managing Editor of the Society's newsletter since its inception. Because of personal business demands as copy editor for her own business, RowanTree Editorial Services, Alice was unable to continue the demanding task that Arnie is now taking over. Thank you, Alice for your support and hard work over the last two years.

With best wishes to everyone for a happy and healthy holiday season,

Frances Kalfus, President

San Francisco Guitar Quartet
By Arnie Williams

Those who attended the October meeting of the San Francisco Classical Guitar Society were treated to an evening of exquisite music flawlessly executed by the fairly recently formed San Francisco Guitar Quartet. Comprised of members David Dueñas, Christopher Hanford, Martin Pramanik and Sharon Wayne, the quartet gave its second formal concert since the group's founding about one year ago, featuring favorite works such as Cuban Landscape with Rumba by Leo Brouwer, Introduction and Fandango by Luigi Boccherini and Baião de Gude by Paulo Bellinati.

Meeting two to three times per week for lengthy practice sessions, members of this musical group take their enterprise very seriously and draw upon a wealth of musical talent. David Dueñas began his study in Guam, where at the age of 12 he entered the Guam Academy of Music. At a time when many of his contemporaries were favoring "pick" instruments for rock jamming, David was being led in a different direction by his first teacher, a Filipino guitarist who introduced him to fingerstyle and flamenco. "From the beginning, I developed this eclectic interest in music," says David, who earned a B.A. in Music from Cal State Hayward and an M.M. from the SF Conservatory, where he worked with Dusan Bogdanovic. Along the way, he supplemented his study of classical guitar with the more oral tradition of jazz. (David will be performing solo at May 7 monthly meeting).

Sharon Wayne started out playing folk music, being self-taught for about six years before starting classical training at age 14. She did her studies at USC with William Kanengiser and James Smith, earning both bachelor's and master's degrees. Sharon now teaches guitar at the University of Santa Clara and privately.

Chris Hanford also began studying guitar at age 14. By the time he had graduated from high school, he was figuring he'd play nylon string guitar in a pop setting, but then a friend convinced him to move out to San Francisco, which led to a brief stint at San Francisco State University before he moved over to the SF Conservatory, studying under David Tanenbaum for five years and earning both B.M. and M.M. degrees. Martin Pramanik began studying violin in Berlin. His first experiments with the guitar were less than pleasant. "I had a horrible guitar teacher at first," he says, but eventually Martin entered Berlin University and studied with Carlo Domeniconi. He came to the U.S. some eight years ago and is the newest member of the SF Guitar Quartet, replacing Tom Leisek, one of the original Quartet members.

As Martin Pramanik points out, the group began as a collection of solo artists who played together, almost as soloists. But the dynamics of group study have affected each member in profound ways. "It frees you up," says Sharon. "When you are playing solo, you have a lot of pressure to carry the whole thing forward. Ensemble playing presents a different kind of challenge. You have to listen in order to be sure you're in sync with everyone, but you don't have as much technical pressure on you, and you can be more expressive."

David notes that ensemble playing has improved his solo playing as well. "It has taught me to listen more," he says. "It's given me a sensitivity to other people, not only in an emotional sense, but also for interpersonal communications among people."

Communications is indeed important. Since no member acts as group conductor, all members have to be ever mindful of what others are doing. "Sometimes a part will dictate the tempo for a passage," says David, "and we have to follow the lead of the person who has that part." Members also cue one another by a nod, a subtle glance or a changing timber.

Meeting three or four times a week regularly and cramming before concerts, each member has made a serious, long-term commitment to the Quartet. "One of our key goals is getting into the recording studio," notes Sharon. The group figures they will themselves finance their first CD by laying down one or two tracks at a time, unless, as happened with Sharon's first solo CD, a record label rep hears them in concert and volunteers to back them.

The SF Quartet includes pieces by Brouwer, Boccherini, Bellinati and others that were written for four guitars as standards in their repertoire. Chris has also contributed transcriptions of pieces by Beethoven and others that were not originally written with the guitar in mind. "If a piece has passages that depend on long sustained notes as a key part of the music--the way a cello might build its dynamics, for example--then it probably isn't suitable for guitar transcription," says Chris. "But Beethoven and others are full of active, short note rhythmic pieces, and these usually work quite well on guitar."

Other members also transcribe pieces for the group, and the Quartet recently commissioned their first work--5 Pezzi Brevi by Carlo Domeniconi--now a key part of their repertoire.

In addition to concert performances such as the one presented to the Guitar Society in October, the San Francisco Guitar Quartet has its sights on playing guitar festivals, such as those in Portland and Sacramento. You can also catch them February 23 at Sonoma State University where they will present a noon recital (see this issue's Calendar of Events).

You are well advised to keep an eye out for this talented bunch. They are a group on the rise.

Helpful Hints By Lawrence Ferrara

Q: What is the best way to learn the upper positions?

I would start with a systematized approach of learning short pieces in which most of the notes focus on one particular area of the fretboard. Make sure that the piece or pieces you choose are not too difficult to play; remember, the purpose is to become familiar with a certain fretboard area, not to master a special technique. Such pieces can be found in anthologies, repertoire books, method books, and collections of studies. Very often the position you wish to learn is indicated by a Roman numeral above the staff. If you are really determined to learn a new position, choose to work on a piece that falls naturally into that position because of the key in which it was written. Keep in mind that you may have to learn the piece with new fingerings to accommodate the new position. The fingering should be characteristic of a typical guitar fingering for that position. Following are good keys for each position to keep in mind when looking for works to teach you those positions:

*2nd position: D major, A major, B minor, F# minor
3rd position: Eb major, Bb major, C minor, G minor
*4th position: E major, B major, C# minor, G# minor
*5th position: F major, C major, D minor, A minor
6th position: Gb major, Db major, Eb minor, Bb minor
*7th position: G major, D major, E minor, B minor
8th position: Ab major, Eb major, F minor, C minor
*9th position: A major, E major, F# minor, C# minor
*10th position: Bb major, F major, G minor, D minor
11th position: B major, Gb major, Ab minor, Eb minor
*12th position: C major, G major, A minor, E minor

*typical guitar keys

Note that the 12th position keys are the same keys that fit into the first position because every note repeats itself an octave higher. Besides learning easy pieces in new positions that accommodate these keys, you can also learn the scale to the keys. Be sure to finger it in a way that is consistent with its key and position.

Another approach to learning the upper positions is to take any single-line melody in monophonic texture from any source, not just guitar music, and play it in at least three different areas of the guitar fingerboard. After three playings, move on to another melody to avoid learning it by ear. It won't be necessary to choose a convenient key in this approach, but be aware that you may have to cheat and move slightly in and out of position by one fret higher or lower. Ensemble music is good to use for this approach because the parts tend to be less contrapuntal, and moving around to new positions often makes the music easier to play and in certain situations more expressive.

Finally, don't underestimate the value of written exercises or visual aids worked on away from the guitar. A good source for such exercises is the recent GSP publication Guitar at Sight by Charles Duncan, or John Duarte's Fingerboard Teacher. One of my favorite visual exercises that I used when learning upper positions was to take a particular fret number and cross the strings high to low while saying the note names and visualizing their location on the staff. For example, as you cross from string 1 to 6 at the 10th fret you get the following:

String 1: D
String 2: A
String 3: F
String 4: C
String 5: G
String 6: D

As with many other techniques, learning the upper positions is a gradual process. Learning the higher positions along with repertoire, technique, and theory will give you a balanced approach to mastering the guitar. In the long run, it will decrease the amount of time it takes you to learn new works, it will make you a better sight reader, and it will increase your overall enjoyment of the guitar.

You can send your questions about classical guitar technique and performance to Lawrence Ferrara via email at lferrara@aol.com.