Performing on Acoustic Guitar in the Fingerstyle Technique: Historical and Methodical Aspects

• Main Authors: Victor A. Odoyevsky, Nataliya V. Korchagina
• Format: Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: Moscow Pedagogical State University, Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education 2020-06-01
• Series: Музыкальное искусство и образование
• Subjects: acoustic guitar; fingerstyle; musical performance; pedagogy of music education; performance technology; performing technique
• Online Access: http://musart-edu.ru/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/2020-2-124.pdf
• ISSN: 2309-1428; 2309-1428

The article analyzes the theory and practice of acoustic guitar performing in the fingerstyle – a special technique of playing simultaneously conducting several parts (solo, rhythm and bass). This style, turning the guitar into a kind of “orchestra in miniature”, significantly expands the range of expressive possibilities of the musician-guitarist, allowing him to fully reveal the content of the performed works. Along with a discussion of the prerequisites to the emergence of an acoustic guitar as a musical instrument and show its evolution in the development process, authors provide a brief historical background on the origins and causes of fingerstyle, characteristics of sound and sound production methods, activities of its developers and popularizers, the content of the tutorial for the fingerstyle guitarist. Special attention is paid to the characteristics of the original author’s methods of performing this style. Among them: a complex reception from a pinch and a slap and a “phantom pick” for the thumb (without using the “claw”). The necessity of their application is justified, the technique of performance and the achieved results of these methods of sound extraction are described in detail. The article describes the possibilities of using electric sound amplification in the performance of fingerstyle on an acoustic guitar, analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of using various types of sound amplification equipment in a concert performance. Authors emphasize that the connection of these devices when performing fingerstyle creates a number of additional opportunities for enriching the sound, allowing to increase the artistic level of interpretation. The conclusion is made about the prospects for the development of this style. Recommendations are given for solving specific technological problems for guitarists who use fingerstyle in concert practice, both with and without sound amplification equipment.