Study in C, Op. 60 No. 1
Matteo Carcassi · Italian, c. 1852 · solo guitar
Techniques
C major scale in the first position
bars 1–8 →The study opens with running eighth notes. Alternate two right-hand fingers on every note and keep the left-hand fingers close to the strings.
Shifts to the seventh and eighth fret
bars 9–10 →The scale climbs higher here. Slide the hand up on a single string and come back to the first position without a gap in the rhythm.
Arpeggios on first-position grips
bars 29–36 →The middle section breaks the chords C, G, E7 and Am into arpeggios. Put the whole grip down at the start of each half bar and keep it until the chord changes.
Key and harmony
C major. The scales carry no chords; the middle section passes through A minor and E7 before the arpeggios return home. The shading on the circle of fifths shows how many of the 43 bars use each chord.
Chords and positions
Practice plan
Four steps, about a week each at 15 minutes a day. Each link opens the player at that bar and tempo.
-
STEP 180 BPM
The opening scale
Play the first eight bars slowly with alternating fingers.
Open bars 1–8 at 80 BPM → -
STEP 2100 BPM
The shifts
Learn bars 9 to 17, where the scale moves up the neck and back.
Open bars 9–17 at 100 BPM → -
STEP 3120 BPM
The arpeggios
Set each grip before you play it, then work the arpeggios up to tempo.
Open bars 29–36 at 120 BPM → -
STEP 4160 BPM
The whole study
Play all 43 bars at an even pulse.
Open bars 1–43 at 160 BPM →
Related pieces
Tab by easytabs.studio from the Mutopia Project edition #13, typeset by Jeff Covey (public domain).