General structure of Method.

The theoretical part

it touches the training and the culture of the musician: musical formation; analyse; history of the music; encouragement with the listening of various repertories and going to the concert,the knowledge of the instrument: organology, physics of the instrument, systems of notation, effects, theoretical knowledge of the fretboard. All of this is the primarily the subject of volume I.

The practical part

Pujol recommends in its article a technical progression working on preparatory exercises. The mechanism of the fingers must be actuated by means of exercises using all the instrumental processes,an invitation to discover repertory, references, suggestions etc . The ensemble music and the sight reading are encouraged but we can finds in his method only three pieces for two guitars.
The constant indications of the author justify the name of the method "course theoretical and practical" given to volumes II, III and IV. The fifth volume filed the emptiness on an ethical and teaching reflection regarding with the fields of interpretation, the composition for guitar, pedagogy and esthetics. However there remained unfinished.
The first volume will appear in 1934 at the editions Romeo & Fernandez (acquired by Ricordi Americana in 1940) volume II 1935, volume III 1954, volume IV 1971.

 

I

Volume(Book) I

It describes in detail the guitar, analyses the location of the notes on the fret board, the posture and the position of the hands. The writing, the notation and of the councils for daily work are also approached. This volume rather has the form of a treaty. We can finds examples, sketches there, but not exercises or studies. Certain details have a value today either historical: price of the guitars, marks cords (in bowel). The author made there state of his musicological research. The first volume show us the spirit to work correctly. it has its place in the whole of the method as a complement of following volumes (it contains 229 paragraphs).
Three following volumes go gradually from the basic technique to virtuosity. Each volume II, III and IV is divided into two "theoretical and practical courses" every course constituting one year of a good work.

 

2

Volume(Book) II

Course 1: Approach to the essential points of the technique: tuning of the instrument, position and Rest-stroke attacks(apoyando), scales, accords, free-stroke (tirando),bare on the first four positions. it is composed of 39 lessons.

Course 2: Simultaneous attack of the finger P and the fingers a,m,i. Playing the melody Rest-stroke(apoyando), with free-stroke (tirando)accompaniment, acords and arpeggios of 4 sounds, Use of hammer-on and pull-off (Legato, slurs) without extension for the left hand, natural harmonics, references to opus 35, and 31 of Sor, the method of Carulli and the duets which it contains, with studies of Aguado, Coste, Tarrega. The course contains 21 lessons and 13 studies.

 

3

Volume(Book) III

Course 3: The correct movement of the left hand by playing on the same cord the scale corresponding to the open string taken as tonic (as at Sor), extensions of the left hand, extensions with large bare, scales in thirds, sixths and tenth, arpeggios; it comprises 20 lessons.

Course 4: same but more complex subjects : independence of the fingers of the right hand with a different rate/rhythm with the "p" finger and the "i","m","a", other formulas of arpeggios, hammer-on and pull-off (Legato, slurs) with a fixed finger, new elements: ornaments, vibrato, artificial harmonics, fingering; there are 35 lessons and 27 studies of the author.

 


4

Volume(Book) IV

 

 

Course 5: It is a kind of inventory of all the possibilities to work your guitar, with difficult exercises of swiftness and synchronization. All the used effects (at its time) are approached. There is little text and a a lot of exercises in 50 lessons and 31 studies.

  • theoretical and detailed explanation of the gesture to be carried out (errors to be avoided, councils) on the basis of simplest and adding more complex elements thereafter.
  • exercises of application (there are of them 560 in the whole of work) development of the force, elasticity, the precision, independence, synchronization, the swiftness and the saving in movement.
  • studies enough technic in Volume II, it becomes more expressive thereafter and makes a call to the musical culture of the pupil. Pujol makes a general presentation of the studies in the third book (but not of those of the second, which testifies to the evolution of the author). It also returns us to this presentation for the studies in the fourth volume. There are 70 studies on the total which are referred to technical items discussed in a lesson. Some are of popular inspiration (`` vidala' ' Volume II; `` bolero' ', `` zortzico' ', Volume III); others refer to the old music (``villancico' ', Volume III). Some are transcriptions (``Etude 1 '' of Chopin, variation in arpeggios of the `` Chaconne' ' of Bach, Volume IV) or variations (``15 variations on a topic of Aguado' ', Volume IV). Each study of volumes III and IV are accompanied by a comment.

Pujol says to us: "the constant evolution of the music involves the evolution of technique"

"Escuela Razonada de la Guitarra" is a teaching option among others, it became a reference work of the guitar of the twentieth century offering a broad range of knowledge and applications. Pujol made a successful work with multiple functions. The material presented is always effective, but it must be distilled for each pupil according to his level and its progression.

Many of academies usually use "Escuela Razonada de la Guitara" today.