Free Classical Guitar Lesson #9 - Minuet by Henry Purcell

Minuet by Henry Purcell

Baroque For The Classical Guitar

Henry Purcell was an English Baroque composer. He has often been called England's finest native composer. Purcell incorporated Italian and French stylistic elements but devised a peculiarly English style of Baroque music.

Although he was a Baroque composer (who wrote for the lute) there are several, quite useful and varied, lessons for the classical guitar player contained within this minuet. For instance the Use of the closed "b" on third string, fourth fret, is useful for developing the use of the little (often weaker) finger.

It also allows for the re-enforcement of fret note knowledge. Also when using the thumb on the bass notes you need to make sure the note is plucked sufficiently hard enough to last a dotted half-note, or entire bar in other words.

You need to be aware that you're not cutting a note off too soon, which affects the quality of the piece in terms of "voicing" and harmony.

Another very good lesson for the beginner to intermediate player is the quick transition to and from a barre chord in bars 19 and 27. Not having to hold the barre down for an extended period of time means your fingers won't get too fatigued or sore but you'll be able to play a barre chord in context.

Additionally, while on the subject of Chords, you might want to play a chord roll in bars 20 and/or 28 if you deem it appropriate, just for the fun and practice of it. Be careful though as too many chord rolls, especially in baroque music, can tend to sound too amateurish.

There are also small shifts of position as in bars 17 and 25. If you think about it before hand, as you're approaching the shift, your playing will become a lot smoother and legato in sound and you'll be much less prone to making mistakes.

If you practice this little minuet slowly and carefully it won't take long to work up a pleasing performance for your friends, family or guitar group. It's quite an easy, yet satisfying piece to play.

Here is a video of the minuet by Henry Purcell (Note: Press "play" button then pause it so it loads properly. Then press "play" again when fully loaded. It should take several minutes to load)...

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