Hi, I’ve only got an acoustic guitar and no money to buy a classical. Can I play the acoustic like a classical? What problems may I have to keep in mind? One more question: Anytime I push down to play a string or chord(especially barre) when I lift my fingers back up to move to another string it always make a sound and this distorts what I’m playing sometimes. What can I do to stop this?
First of all, the fingering , the chording, the techniques are basically the same for electric, acoustic, classical with the difference that on a classical guitar, you do not use picks but rather, the thumb and 3 fingers of the right hand. As long as you are arching the first joints properly and the palm is parallel to the finger fingerboard, those are the basics and very important. The fingers act like little hammers when fretting the notes.
Secondly, always play directly behind the fret to get the purest sound and thirdly, make sure the thumb is bent at the firt joint to allow you to add and control pressure to get the notes to sound good. As far as playing it like a classical guitar, it might be a little hard on the right hand and I suggest putting clear finger polish to strengthen the nail. Most flamenco and classical guitarist use it and it is especialyl made for that and can be purchased anywhere.
As far as the odd sound you get is because, you need to use your fingers as mute and once you have played a chord, keep your fingers close to the strings which will prevent the string from sounding. You are lifiting your fingers too high. You need to lift them and mute the strings by lightly sliding over the strings when doing changes.
Note that I am referring to the left hand. You don’t mute with the palm of the right hand like electric guitars.
So basically, you need to sound teh chord and then, lift your fingers while still touching the strings and do your other chords. That’s it.
