New Mastercalss, "Up Where We Belong", Sainte-Marie/Nitzsche/Cocker

Renato Bellucci teaches "Up Where We Belong", From the Motion Picture "An Officer and a Gentleman" sang by Joe Cocker, composed by Sainte-Marie/Nitzsche. One of the first technique challenges that "Up Where We Belong" poses is avoiding left hand string squeaks.

Get this in your head once and for all: String squeaks are unbearable and they are one of the reasons why classical guitarists are often not considered real artists or at least artists to be taken seriously. Just think about it, string squeaks are ugly and they detract from the beauty of the music you play. In order to get rid of them you must first becomevery aware of their presence and come to hate them with all your strength. This will be the starting point of a life long battle that will become second nature to your playing. I can assure you though that as soon as you become aware of the squeaking and acknowledge that it is a problem to be dealt with, you will have achieved half the victory to overcoming the problem. Imagine that you were playing for an audience and that someone in the public made an annoying noise with his mouth every few seconds. I am sure you'd stop and ask that person to "please stop". As a matter of fact, Maestro Andres Segovia did just that in a concert I attended in Bari, Italy. Well, it is exactly the same thing we do to the audience whenever we throw in a string squeak. It is terribly annoying and the only reason we can stand them is because we become "selectively deaf" to them. Read More on avoiding string squeaks. Visit the Mastercalss

Technique Highlights: Avoid String Squeaks

Technique Highlights: Presentations of the Left Hand