John Williams (guitarist) - Thoughts On Guitar Education and Teaching

Thoughts On Guitar Education and Teaching

Williams has expressed his frustration and concern with guitar education and teaching, if it is too one-sided, e.g. focusing only on solo playing, instead of giving guitar students a better education including ensemble playing, sight-reading and a focus on phrasing and tone production/variation. Williams notes that "students preoccupied with fingerings and not notes, much less sounds"; some are able "to play difficult solo works from memory", but "have a very poor sense of ensemble or timing". He notes that students play works from the solo repertoire that is often still too difficult, so that the teachers often put more "emphasis on getting through the notes rather than playing the real substance of each note". To encourage phrasing, tone production and all-round musicianship, Williams arranges for students to play together in ensembles, choosing works from the existing classical-music repertoire, such as the "easier Haydn String Quartets".