WEEK 4: Homenaje a la Guitarra 
Welcome to the Main Thread for the fourth week of our musical Journey to Spain!! This is the place to share submissions of the fourth week! 
- Make sure you've read the guidelines before replying (<- click)
- Watch the kickoff livestream for help with the first section!
If you want to describe your process (optional), feel free to use the following template.
- Things you found easy:
- Things you found difficult:
- (Optional): a video of you performing it!
- (Optional:) questions
↓ HAPPY PRACTICING, HAPPY SHARING ↓
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As we come to the close of a month of great Spanish and Spanish inspired music, I have really enjoyed the challenge to study Manuel Ponce's Variations on a Theme of Cabezón. As I previously mentioned, this work was Ponce's last known work, completed in February 1948, a couple of months before he passed in April of that year. The work is inspired by an unknown theme of the Spanish renaissance composer and organist, Antonio de Cabezón, who was born in Burgos, Spain, Thus, the reason for all the photos of the great Burgos Cathedral, built 1221. The piece consists of a theme, six variations and fughetta, lasting a little under seven minutes. There were a few additional variations that were discovered in 1952, and while they are attributed to Ponce, they were not included in the original score, so I have left them out. It is a beautiful and haunting piece, akin to a dirge song. With that in mind, I dedicate this post to the brave people of the Ukraine - No War! No Guerra! нет войны!
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Dale Needles thank you Dale. That’s wonderful and comforting!
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Dale Needles an interesting piece and very well played. And I agree with your sentiments. No guerre!!
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Dale Needles That was a wonderful piece! I didn't know that piece, thank you for introducing me to this one! Ponce has so may beautiful pieces , this one is another one for the bucket list!
And biggest support for your dedication for the Ukrainian People, no more war!
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Martin Thanks. While maybe not up to the complexity of Ponce's Variations on "Folia de España" & Fugue, nevertheless, a very nice piece, and with a little more work on the Fughetta, it will be a nice addition to my Latin American repertoire. Considering how popular the Music of Spain Challenge has been, maybe we should do a Challenge of the Music of Latin America. Just a suggestion.
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Nora Torres-Nagel Jack Stewart Eric Phillips joosje Derek Thanks for all your positive support. I really enjoyed learning this piece via the installment plan and with a little more work, it will be a good piece to add to my Latin American repertoire. It was also a fun challenge and I really enjoyed everyone's posts and getting to hear some excellent music, some known and some unknown. See you all around Tonebase!
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Dale Needles this is so so beautiful. a beautiful project for this challenge, and your sound is so beautiful...
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(Dear Community, I was a little confused about the date of watch-party. In the fist description it was 4th of March ...so deadline for uploading will be today ? - I am confused again. ..
) FINALLY THE WATCHPARTY WILL BE ON 2TH OF MARCH ! 8:00 PM !
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Olli Hi Olli, yes, because of Sanel's Masterclass we needed to reschedule the watch party to March 2nd! I'll update all the posts!
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Martin Dear Martin, yes - I already know - (Friday is my lesson with Sanel
). I just wanted to make sure that everyone noticed the change of watch-party-date again ! -
Olli Thank you
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Today’s pieces come to us from two students of Francisco Tárrega. Both of these pieces use music to express grief. I offer them today as a way of expressing my own sadness and grief over the violence in Ukraine.
Miguel Llobet – El Testament d’Amelia
This piece needs no introduction to any of you, I am sure. I love the way this music brings together beauty and tragic pain so poignantly and powerfully.
Emilio Pujol – Becqueriana
This piece is completely new to me, and I suspect it is to many of you as well. It is a homage to Gustavo Adolfo Becquer, a late 19th-century novelist who influenced the Romantic nationalist movement in art, literature and music. It is short, intense, and full of pain and beauty as well. I am so glad to have found this music!
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Eric Phillips At first glance, I thought the name of the second piece was "Barbeque"
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Wai Close!
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Eric Phillips Dear Eric, you play with so much ease - this is unbelievable. Thank you for uploading so much great ( and also great played) music.
Yes - Ukraine War is a horrible thing - I watch the news as often it is possible. Putin should be stopped. We are one world - and we all have the same blood and the same DNA...
Hopefully the war stops as soon as possible
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Olli Thank you, Olli. It just doesn't make sense that so many lives are lost or put into utter chaos and upheaval over what seems like nothing, some imaginary lines on a map.
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Eric Phillips I 100% agree with you. It is not only territorial - it is a decision between our western freedom in democracy or eastern dictatorship
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Eric Phillips beautiful yet again Eric. Those harmonics in the Llobet piece are quite tricky
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Eric Phillips well said and well played.
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Derek Thanks, Derek. They are quite tricky. I get dizzy whenever I play them. It's so hard to focus my eyes that high on the fingerboard.
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Steve Pederson Thank you, Steve.
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Eric Phillips wow
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Campanas del Alba / E.Sainz de la Maza
Dear Community - this is my last piece for the challenge. I thought back and forth for a long time, if I should already record that piece.
(I know how much work I`ll have to do till it sounds the way I want it)
My tremolo gets better week to week and my personal goal is to play killer tremolo at the end of the year
. If you find it boring - set the speed to 1.25
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Olli That was just wonderful, Olli! I thought the speed was fine, and not boring at all. I like that this is a tremolo piece that we don't hear very often, and it is really beautiful, with such interesting harmonies. I especially like the opening and closing sections, which I assume are intended to sound like bells, given the title.
I also like the return of the pizza!
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Eric Phillips "The Return Of The Pizza" - this is really a running gag
Thank you again and again for your heartfelt kindly words !I did exactly what Bo told me in last Live-lesson. Practicing at a boring speed of 80 MPH - but it is really unbelievable how much control and uniformity that way of practicing achieves - with really lightness in both hands... It really is no problem to speed up to, for a short period of time - some bars, 160-180MPH.... that is really crazy . With this lightness in mind I now have to mention: I always thought my right hand is limiting the speed.... no !!! It is the left hand ! I can speed up really fast, and at that point I only have to think about my left hand, how to go on in the piece - BEEEEEP-Memory lost....to less Brain-RAM installed...!!!
I will go on and on, practicing a very long future time with the low speed metronome settings and get a perfect programming of both hands and the music flow into my rabbit brain. Then in autumn I will switch on Autopilot in and hopefully...... - playing killer tremolo
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Olli sehr sehr wonderschon Olli. I think the speed is just right. You manage to put a lot of emotion into this. This piece is on my to do list, if I play it half as well as you I will be pleased!
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End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
