Segovia Scales And Their Hinderances

More effective fingerings and practice.

No name brings more to the classical guitar conversation than Andrés Segovia. Many consider him to be the ultimate teacher and student. Others question whether he hurt or helped a generation with homegrown techniques and advice. Certainly, he achieved his main life goal of bringing the guitar to the concert stage. Here, however, discusses the benefit, or lack of, of studying his fingerings for scale practice (known as the Segovia Scales). The fingerings given in Segovia’s 1953 publication on scales are highly impractical. They create an unmusical effect when transferring the movements to the actual repertoire. Much of my thought process must be attributed to my working with Christopher Berg and his directions in learning and thinking about learning the guitar.

Background On The Segovia Scales Fingering Choices

First published in 1953, the Diatonic Major and Minor Scales by Segovia became the bedrock of many guitarists’ technical studies. Unfortunately, other works, such as Julio Sagreras’ Técnica Superior (1922), presented a more deliberately thought-out method behind the choice of fingerings and practice approach. However, Sagreras’ work was not available to most of the world outside of South America until after the widespread use of Segovia’s publication. Hence, the popularity and influence of Segovia allowed the acceptance of his fingerings for scales without much thought to their effectiveness for practice.