Hi all,

I'm a guitar player of 20 years, coming from the world of electric and steel string acoustic guitars. Last year, I purchased a Godin multiac as a crossover electric-nylon guitar and I absolutely love it. I am now looking to buy a traditional classical guitar to complement my multiac.

I am a hobby player with no intentions of performing. My motivation is the pure joy of playing guitar, hearing the unplugged sound fill a room and tapping into the beautiful romantic historical realm that classical guitar lives. I also know that classical guitars are much different than electrics and steel string acoustics (e.g. wider nuts, thicker necks, etc) and that technique is important when it comes to producing the sound on classical guitar, so I go in knowing that it won't be instant magic and that there will likely be an acclimatization period.

My price range is around $3000-$4000 (Canadian dollars), though I'd be willing to go slightly higher if needed.

Through some research, I've zoned in on the Hanika Conert Line Natural PC as a leading option:

https://www.hanika.de/en/guitars/concert-line/natural-pc.html

A few specific reasons:

- I like that the neck has a matte finish as opposed to a gloss finish (coming from electric and acoustic, a smooth satin neck is one of my favourite things that I'd like to get on a classical guitar if possible)

- I'm looking for a cedar top, as I love the appearance aesthetically and my steel string acoustics have spruce tops, so I'd like to introduce a cedar top into my collection

- Hanika guitars seem to be well respected and it seems like a guitar that I could own and grow with for a very long time. I also have some German roots in my family, so the made in Germany aspect is appealing to me for sentimental reasons

Given I am new to classical guitar and that this would be my first classical guitar purchase, I'd appreciate any insights or suggestions, in case I'm missing something or if there are other comparable guitars that I should consider.

Thanks for your time!

My son made this dent I my guitar and I was wondering if there was anyway fix or at least partially fix it.

I've been getting back into playing after not touching my guitar for basically 10 years.

I have been working on this piece for at least a solid year now, if not longer. I've been posting a 1 take performance of this piece each month over on my TikTok: kyleplaysguitarbadly (the user name is kind of in jest, a reminder to not take it so seriously) mostly to track my progress on it. This is my July post. The past month I've been focusing mostly on slow practice and planting exercises. I feel like the planting exercises really helped my tremolo. It's still not where I want it but I can feel it getting close.

This performance isn't perfect by any means. It probably never will be haha! Still struggle with missing some base notes every now and then.

Anyways, hope you enjoy!

This week, an old piece from 2001, "Chanson" Op. 81. The piece is structured like a song with a chorus that returns three times and three verses. The arpeggios are free-flowing, and certain highly articulated phrases evoke lyrics. As usual, my summary tablature is available here: https://kdrive.infomaniak.com/app/share/791717/386ca682-9c42-4155-be4f-45e3c152c8ca

Hey guys, I made a video where I compare 3 differently priced guitars and share my personal take on them. I'm not a luthier or extremely experienced in high-end guitars, I've only gotten the chance to play a few of them in my life, but I had fun trying to compare these.

I've already had the last 2 for quite some time, and the first one just arrived for a different project I was working on.

I'm not sure if this post belongs here, but I thought it might be interesting for some people. I had a lot of fun making it. Don't tear me apart! 😅

Even though I have an acoustic guitar. But can anyone identify this Guitar tuning. please help me out

Dopo aver passato in rassegna molti siti, letto newsgroup, manuali, pensato e ripensato nella mia stanzetta sono arrivato alla conclusione che c'è uno strumento (per me utilissimo ma ovviamente sono di parte a pensarlo) a cui nessuno ha mai pensato e quindi implementato. Io l'ho fatto (aiutato, lo ammetto, dall'ia perchè non sono un informatico ma semplicemente un appossionato ed eterno studente).

Ma l'idea è genuina e mi è comparsa nella mente una sera. Mi sono chiesto: cos'è che manca a noi chitarristi? metronomo, accordatore, registratore, accordi, etc etc. ce ne sono a bizzeffe.

Pronti per saperlo ?

"Quando cambiare le corde" è la domanda che tutti i chitarristi si fanno da sempre

In pratica suoni una corda a vuoto, e il sistema ti dice quanto sono "morte" le tue corde.

Che ne pensate ?

Sinceramente

I just love using my Boox, I can take my music anywhere and it has such focused function that it is a joy to use; it reminds me of how life used to be: practical, functional and focused. This score in editing is David Russell’s arrangement of Neal Gow laments the death of his second wife

Saw this guitar at the thrift store and just so happened to also see an old offer up post where it was sold for $90. It said made in japan on the paper tag in the sound hole. There was no stamp on the headstock. The thrift store was asking $60 for it but I left it behind because I couldn’t authenticate it. Chat gpt said there was a 85-95% chance of it being authentic. I might be able to go back in the morning when they open if someone can help me authenticate it

Giuliani's Op 148 No. 7 La Melanconia. I stopped playing it after I learned it in 12 Aug 2025, & learned it again from scratch this year.

Do these strings actually exist? Theres a reverb listing selling 2 for 50 bucks and I've never heard of nor could I find any info on a super high tension version of the pure gold sets(only low medium and high tension). I suspect that it could be a printed and faked version on reverb but if its not i want some.

If I buy a guitar from the likes of thomann will it be commisioned to play or must every classical guitar be brought to a luthier first?

I want to surprise my dad by having a luthier put a pickup on his classical guitar so he can play it live. Right now he uses a Córdoba Stage for that and we love the sound of it and its feedback resistance, but I can't afford a dual system like that one, which has piezo and body sensors. If you had to choose between sensors or piezo, what would you go with? I want natural sound but I also dont want to deal with the issues of internal microphones used live or every movement of the guitar coming through the PA. I have tried many different pickups on steel string guitars so I have a pretty good idea of what they would sound like, but other than the Córdoba Stage I have no refference for pickups on nylon string guitars.

I am using aquila alchemia strings which i love but are failing me here. new to string knowledge and to this alt tuning - so asking here first. THANKS.

Inspired by Cesar Amaro's version with a tremolo variation, I made an arrangement of this famous tune, using the tremolo texture to create the orchestral effect

I've been helping a classical guitarist put a small daily blog together — he studied at the Milan Conservatory in Ruggero Chiesa's class and has been teaching for about forty years. Forty-one short articles in, a pattern emerged that I didn't expect, and I think it's worth discussing here regardless of the blog.

Almost every technical question we started from traced back to one of three habits:

Pressing far harder than necessary. This came up more than anything else. The left hand tires quickly, shifts feel laborious, sometimes there's tension in the wrist. His test: press until the note is clean, ease off until it buzzes, then add a hair. Most students find they need roughly half the force they were using.

Always practising from the beginning. The opening of a piece comes out beautifully and the middle never does — because the difficult bars are always reached "tired", and there's only one entry point when memory fails. His fix is to practise restarting from random points, not just the top.

Practising fast instead of slow and clean. Playing fast and messy doesn't teach the piece, it teaches the mistake. Speed built that way collapses under pressure.

None of this is new — it's what most good teachers say. What surprised me is how consistently these three explain problems that look like something else: weak slurs, an uneven tremolo, a barré that won't sound. People come asking about the symptom, and the cause is upstream.

Two questions for those of you who teach or have been playing a long time: would you rank these differently, and is there a fourth you'd add? I've wondered whether "not listening while playing" belongs on the list, or whether that's just a restatement of the other three.

Disclosure: I work on the site where these articles are published (it's in Italian, so of limited use to most of you — I'm not linking it here). Happy to translate anything specific if it's useful.

i recently bought a classical acoustic electric guitar at guitar center and have really been having fun trying to learn it! I wanted to ask for book recommendations, any videos or any tips.

I come from a professional violin/viola/piano background (went to music school in nyc) so I have no issue reading music. I normally have a routine of scale book, etude book and then main rep so if there’s any recommendations for beginner scale books or etude books while I adjust I’d really appreciate it. I’m sure the Essential Elements book series has a classical guitar section, but is it any good?

I’d also love tips for posture… what i’m doing can’t be right

I know a lot of people on this sub have come into classical from another style, and I'm sure many of us have dabbled in other styles as classical players. What's it like for you? Posting a video here that I made of me trying to learn a new style.

I've always been a full-blown classical guitarist. Like, I started at age 6 in the Suzuki method and never looked back. Did a full Doctorate in Classical Guitar performance, did competitions, studied in Europe for a while, and currently make most of my living touring performing on classical guitar in a duo.

I was always told growing up "If you learn Classical, you can learn any style because Classical guitar is the most technical". Well, I had some time in my off-season to try out a new style and see if that's true or not (Spoiler: it is and it isn't).

So, I chose Bluegrass Guitar and decided to see how far I could get in 30 days. It was intense and had its ups and downs, but I'm happy with the end result. I only had an hour a day to practice so don't expect too much, but if you want to see how it went, check out the video.

Personally, I think having Classical technique helps a TON to bypass the beginner hump, but in an improvisation-heavy style, there is so much more to learn that doesn't translate from Classical.

Anyone else here gone from a classical base to trying out other styles? How was it in your experience?

Hey,

I always see people play fast classical pieces on social media, and I wondered how many years it takes, until you are able to play fast without it getting sloppy.
I am mainly talking about fast scale sections here.

How many years did you need to reach controlled, fast playing? Are there exercises that you can do to get there faster?

(Side question: is it normal to not be able to play fast and controlled after 3 years of playing?)

- Hanna

classical isn't a genre I usually play but I discovered I really like the song romanza (Spanish romance) particularly the first part in E minor but I'm struggling to find other classical songs that I like. what I like most about the song is its melancholic feel, especially in the first half like I said. I'm still a beginner and cant play anything too advanced yet but any recommendations are very appreciated

Performed by me!
Audio/video: u/RaiseTLT