Fingerstyle guitarist El McMeen and I have had an ongoing discussion regarding what I feel is a glaring absence of interpretive sensibility among steel-string acoustic guitarists. My own roots are in the folk and classic guitar traditions and naturally, I believe the classic guitar offers the most opportunities for expression and dynamic and timbral variation. No matter what style of guitar you embrace, those who only play the notes clean and fast without variations in tone quality or dynamics are not doing the music justice, or moving your listeners as you might. What is it about music in general or a particular musician that really grabs our ear? With few exceptions, all of us could stand to improve by developing a greater awareness of our own musicianship.

Variations in time are perhaps the easiest element that can be used to add drama to your playing, as no technique changes are required. Just slow the music down where appropriate. Any nylon or steel-string guitarist can apply rubato or other tempo variations, but most just plow ahead with even eighths at the same tempo throughout a tune. This approach works well with a drum machine or Band in a Box but there is so much more to be communicated with music that lives and breaths.

About living and breathing- all instrumentalists should acknowledge their singing voice as their primary instrument. It's by emulating the human voice that guitar players, woodwind, brass, and string players can move a listener the most. Even untrained singers like me gain a sense of where to hold a note and where to rest and take a fresh breath. For example, it's obvious that you don't take a breath in the middle of a musical phrase; then too, it takes breath support and a certain dynamic level to hit a high note spot-on.

Most untrained singers don't know how to develop vibrato or where to apply it, but they instinctively learn to vary the tone quality of their voices in rendering a blues tune or a ballad. Pushing this concept a little further, in the recent PBS biopic, John Denver: A Song's Best Friend, it was revealed that after years as a consummate recording artist, Denver learned from Placido Domingo that it made musical sense to vary the timbral quality of his voice to suit the lyric being sung. Denver said something like, "When you sing the word 'steel' your voice should have an edge to it." Why shouldn't a guitarist approach a tune in the same fashion, at least as an arranger?

Most guitarists know that a more metallic tone can be achieved by playing somewhat closer to the bridge, and likewise, a mellow or round tone can be obtained by playing over the upper parameter of the sound hole. Those who play nylon strings have the option of playing with rest or free stroke for even wider variations in tone quality. By using selective dynamics and applying rest stroke, it's possible to make the melody stand out from the bass line and accompaniment, but you have to think about it in practice and apply it in performance.

For fingerstyle and classical players, the general shape, condition and length of your fingernails dramatically influence the sound you get from your guitar. Stephen Bennett goes so far as to credit his acrylic "nail lady" on his albums because she helps form an integral part of his sound.

For me, as the guitar has a narrow dynamic range, executing a passage with graduated dynamics is the hardest technical challenge. You can practice by playing one, two and three-octave scales from soft to loud as you ascend or vice-versa but, as we guitarists really have very little to work with, other means of expression and variation should be used in tandem with changes in dynamics. Jim Caudill has written about these techniques in his recent articles in the "Classical/Flamenco" column of Guitar Sessions. Jim also notes that it's probably not the guitar that is responsible for a given player's shortcomings in musicianship; it's the guitarist him or herself.

So let's make a deal! With or without that stylish digital recorder we did or didn't get for Christmas, let's all listen to ourselves with a positive but critical ear. What are we doing right and what can be done better? How can we better connect with our instruments and our listeners? Let's resolve to improve our musicianship in 2006.

Best wishes in the New Year,
Stephen Rekas
Guitar Sessions Editor