Lesson: String Squeak by Matthew McAllister

Matthew McAllister gives a lesson regarding string squeaks and buzz on guitar. This comes via the excellent Siccas Guitars and their fantastic YouTube channel. Siccas always have their visitors play on in-shop guitars, here a Armin Hanika 58 CC 2016. Matthew is a fantastic performer and down to earth guy. Above all, Matthew is always super musical so I love his well-rounded lessons. If you’re looking for a technique book you can check out my review of classical guitar technique and exercise books.

String squeaks are part of the instrument but can be greatly reduced and often eliminated completely with practicing and care. Great video angles and descriptions of finger releases. Take care to put his two-stage release into practice. You need to make it part of your muscle memory and your active listening. He demonstrates using the allegro from Barrios’ La Cathedral.


Video Link & Source: https://youtu.be/qY8LzKms59o

Bradford Werner
Bradford Werner

Bradford Werner is a classical guitarist and music publisher from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. He originally created this site for his students at the Victoria Conservatory of Music but now shares content worldwide. Curating guitar content helps students absorb the culture, musical ideas, and technique of the classical guitar. Bradford also has a YouTube channel with over 94,000 subscribers and 13 million views. He taught classical guitar at the Victoria Conservatory of Music for 16 years and freelanced in Greater Victoria for 20 years and now dedicates much of his time curating content online and helping connect the classical guitar community. See more at his personal website.

3 Comments

Ask a Question or Leave a Positive Comment

  1. What a wonderful lesson from Matthew McAllister, I really like his idea of “taking care of the end of the note.” Thank you for posting it!