User:NelsonB33/sandbox

Technique
The fingerstyle is used fervently on the modern classical guitar. The thumb traditionally plucks the bass – or root note – whereas the fingers play the melody and its accompanying parts. Often classical guitar technique involves the use of the nails of the right hand to pluck the notes. The benefits of playing with nails include increased volume and clarity, and improved accuracy, speed, and tone. The technical reason why playing with nails can increase volume has to do with the direction the strings vibrate in relation to the body of the guitar. When nails are smooth and shaped well, the string slides along the end of the nail as it's plucked. The rounded end of the nail causes the string to move away from the tip of the finger as it slides. This result is that the string not only vibrates in the direction it was plucked, but also in the direction the finger was pointing when it was plucked. This causes the string to vibrate towards and away from the body of the guitar more than it would otherwise, sending more sound waves inside the guitar where they are amplified. The benefits to accuracy, speed, and tone come from the fact that the smoothed edge of a nail can be much smoother than the skin on a fingertip. This helps ensure the string doesn't get snagged and that it is released smoothly after being plucked which improves tone and makes it easier to play with speed and accuracy.

Body
The body of a classical guitar is a resonating chamber that projects the vibrations of the body through a sound hole, allowing the acoustic guitar to be heard without amplification. The sound hole is normally a single round hole in the top of the guitar (under the strings), though some have different placement, shapes, or numbers of holes. Some classical guitar makers add a small sound hole, about an inch in diameter, to the side of the guitar pointing towards the player. This is meant to let the player hear what they would sound like to someone standing in front of them while playing.

Performance
The modern classical guitar is usually played in a seated position, with the instrument resting on the left lap – and the left foot placed on a footstool. Alternatively – if a footstool is not used – a guitar support can be placed between the guitar and the left lap (the support usually attaches to the instrument's side with suction cups). (There are of course exceptions, with some performers choosing to hold the instrument another way.)

Some players choose to play with a skin-tight sleeve on their plucking hand forearm to let them change their hand's position more easily. Some players also use thin, flexible rubber pads where their thighs and the guitar body meet to keep the guitar from slipping.

Alternation
To achieve tremolo effects and rapid, fluent scale passages, the player must practice alternation, that is, never plucking a string with the same finger twice in a row. Using p to indicate the thumb, i the index finger, m the middle finger and a the ring finger, common alternation patterns include: Less common alternation patterns such as p-a-i-m are also used depending on which strings the notes of an arpeggio or scale are played on. Advanced players might use multiple alternation patterns during a single passage for the same reason.
 * i-m-i-m : Basic melody line on the treble strings. Has the appearance of "walking along the strings". This is often used for playing Scale (music) passages.
 * p-i-m-a-i-m-a : Arpeggio pattern example. However, there are many arpeggio patterns incorporated into the classical guitar repertoire.
 * p-a-m-i-p-a-m-i : Classical guitar tremolo pattern.
 * p-m-p-m : A way of playing a melody line on the lower strings.