If you are discouraged with small hands.....

First, a disclaimer: I am in no way detracting the the awesome display this young lady shows. Just incredible!

With that said, I find it interesting that almost every time I see/hear something from a very young child that is incredible techincally, I seem to feel that the music itself isn't very "musical", if you get my meaning. I assume that it's from more and more experience giving feeling to the music. It it just me?

I dont really get that. Its a classical piece and none of us know how Paganini himself played it, so all we can do is read the music and play it the way we see it. That is what classical guitar is all about. Besides, whenever classical guitar players variate on a piece of music, it is seen as sacrilege (unless it is a very accomplished player).

That girl is very very talented but adding her own touch or "giving feeling" to a Pagannini would be a piece of artistic license that she is not yet allowed. That is just how classical guitar is Banre. Youre not supposed to add your own topping unless you baked the cake.

How does she do that bit where she uses both hands on the fretboard?...She isnt doing any kind of tapping that I know. It creates different octaves, except u hear both the lower n higher octaves, unlike any octave tapping I do on electric.

Her fretting hand is playing an octave... then her picking hand is using three fingers: two pluck the strings (the thumb on the lower note, the middle or ring finger on the upper) while the index finger touches one string an octave above where it's fretted. That gives you an artificial harmonic on one note.

Ah ok, very clever. But how does she get the high octave to ring out? Is she hammering on the string with the fetting hand? If she was, it didnt look like she was putting the force in i would have thought neccessery, on an acoustic...

If you are discouraged with fewer fingers on your fretting hand http://blogfiles.wfmu.org/KF/2006/02/django.mov
Gypsy/jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt. This is a quicktime movie of him playing. Plays pretty good for a guy with only two fingers that work on his fretting hand. I guess the overall idea is to work hard, keep practicing and don't let yourself tell yourself that you can't do something. (small hands,no fingers etc.) :)

First, a disclaimer: I am in no way detracting the the awesome display this young lady shows. Just incredible!

With that said, I find it interesting that almost every time I see/hear something from a very young child that is incredible techincally, I seem to feel that the music itself isn't very "musical", if you get my meaning. I assume that it's from more and more experience giving feeling to the music. It it just me?

Nope, I get what you're saying. I haven't watched this video yet but I often see it on those internet 'prodigy' clips: great technical skill but little musical maturity, in a way. As if they don't fully understand what the piece is all about and are just doing a bunch of tricks after each other. I believe that's a normal part of growing up and doesn't mean anything bad for their future. If these talented kids keep on practicing the real feeling will come with time.

Compare it with 9-year old kids playing the blues: it might be technically correct but no way such a young kid can really express how it is to be an alchoholic sentenced to death for killing his wife. The kid's not to blame, atleast he learned the physical part well. If we're lucky the originality and true creativity will come later.

Compare it with 9-year old kids playing the blues: it might be technically correct but no way such a young kid can really express how it is to be an alchoholic sentenced to death for killing his wife. The kid's not to blame, atleast he learned the physical part well. If we're lucky the originality and true creativity will come later.Hey, it's in the Rules: "6. Teenagers can't sing the blues. Adults sing the blues. Blues adulthood means old enough to get the electric chair if you shoot a man in Memphis." ( http://www.billyrhythm.com/blues.html )

--
Doug C.
(AKA Deaf Kiwi Eisenhower) 8)

Oooo her playing makes me melt :) Especially that strumming part.

She's very good, far better than I am...but I guess I'm missing the part where her hand size is a factor. :lol:

She's got a great stretch, but my 9-year-old son (who's a pretty small guy) can almost reach that far on a full-sized guitar...and only "almost" because he's only been playing for a couple of months and simply lacks the physical skill at this point. I give him another half year before he's kicking my ass on the guitar. :D

At any rate, that's still a great video. She may be playing it very technically, but that's the way kids are taught to play any instrument. As Arjen said - the feeling and emotion come with time and experience. :)

I agree with everyone in a way on this topic...She did amazingly and I agree that there are more "feely" types of music that only experience can provide but the piece she played didn't sound particularly sterile or lacking in any feeling. It was straight up paganini which isn't exactly a feely piece to begin with. Pretty awesome...It makes me think "Hmm...if I quit school and become a hermit devoting 18 hours a day to guitar maybe in 15 years..."

edit: dern spelling

It makes me think "Hmm...if I quit school and become a hermit

So I'm not the only one who wants to become a hermit then. Whew :lol:

Ah ok, very clever. But how does she get the high octave to ring out? Is she hammering on the string with the fetting hand? If she was, it didnt look like she was putting the force in i would have thought neccessery, on an acoustic...

No hammers required.

Think of a natural harmonic - you're just touching the string over the 12th fret. Now think of the left hand as providing the 'nut' by fingering the string - the right hand has to touch the harmonic node 12 frets up (using the index finger) while also picking the string (with the middle or ring finger).

As to the 'musicality' comments of others....

There are a lot of ways to judge classical music performances. Adherence to the composer's melody is a given, and following the general directions (dynamic marks, accents, tempo, phrasing marks, etc.) is also a given. Some folks say that means classical musicians need less creativity than say, improvisors.

But it's not about 'creativity'... it's about 'interpretation'. There are many, many ways to approach a classical score, all of which are 'technically' correct - but the resulting performances will have very different feelings to them. Teachers (myself included in my younger days :oops: ) will tell their students "make it more... musical" in an attempt to express what can't be put into words.

I've tried to eliminate 'more musical' from my vocabularly lately. I think the correct term is probably 'playing with maturity'... interpreting a score requires choices, and having a broader understanding of where those choices lead = maturity. Nothing to do with age; little to do with experience - mostly to do with the depth of understanding that comes often enough with age and experience to be associated with them.

The performance on the video is technically very good. For the same piece 'with maturity' - from another young female classical guitarist - give a listen to Nicola Hall's interpretation on the Decca set "Essential Guitar: 33 Guitar Masterpieces".

Nicola was in her early 30s when that was recorded. Very young for an outstanding classical guitarist.