Guitar recommendations

Where can we purchase a guitar from?

Guitars can be purchased online or from music shops, such as “Muzica”, “Yamaha”, “Senia”, etc.

What types of guitar are recommended for specific ages?

For those between ages 6 and 12, a children’s guitar would be recommended, as they come in smaller sizes, adequate to the physical development of the young students; such a guitar may be size ½ or ¾. For students over 12, the recommendation is purchasing a standard sized guitar. With respect to the strings, the best choice would be nylon ones, while the riff should be wide.

What type of strings is recommended?

Our recommendation is Addario strings. These are attached to a classical guitar by using knots, as classical guitar strings do not have ball-ends, as do western or electric guitars.

What gadgets are recommended for those studying guitar?

It is recommended that every guitar player always keep a back-up strings set at hand (strings should be changed as soon as oxidation marks become visible on the three bass strings – E, A, D). Also, in order to sustain a correct body position, it is necessary to use a foot rest; the guitar foot rest is used for supporting the left foot, the standard position in playing a classical guitar being with the left foot lifted on the foot rest and the guitar being held on the right foot. It is also very helpful to those taking guitar lessons to use an electronic tuner for tuning their guitars; nonetheless, tuners should not be used at all times, as this might restrain one’s development of musical hearing. For beginners, tuners are highly recommended, but the students must subsequently learn to tune their guitars by use of their musical hearing.

In what contexts does a pickup become necessary?

A pickup is used in case there is need for an amplified sound; this is actually a unidirectional microphone that is attached to the guitar and transmits the sounds from the guitar’s body through a cable to the amp system, the sounds then being rendered by the cabinets. There are electroacoustic guitars that have built-in pickups, but there are also separate pickups to be attached to acoustic guitars that don’t come with this type of built-in system.

Which are the optimum maintenance conditions for a guitar?

These conditions should respect a medium temperature and humidity (both very high and very low values should be avoided), keeping in mind that any exceeding of these values could damage the guitar’s sound quality. The guitar should be wiped with a soft cloth, while special waterproof cases should be used for transportation. Hard cases are highly recommended for transportation, as they not only protect the instrument against weather conditions, but also against possible impacts.

How to do technical guitar practice, what type of practice should it be and how long should one study per day?

One should foremost practice the left-hand technique (columns in various finger combinations and rhythmic combinations); also, practice should include the right-hand technique, extensions – in order to develop one’s dexterity -, major and minor scales in different rhythmic combinations. The right-hand technique will help obtain various rhythmic structures by using all five fingers of the right hand, P, I, M, A, X (P – thumb, I – index finger, M – middle finger, A – ring finger, X – pinky): I M for binary rhythms, A M I for ternary rhythms, etc. The time recommendation is for every student to constantly practice.

Which are the recommended guitar methods?

Matteo Carcassi; Bogdan Constantin; Adrian Andrei; Greg Koch – “Guitar clues: Operation Pentatonic”; Greg Koch – “Lead Licks”; Greg Koch – “Rhythm Riffs”, etc.