Week 2: "Brazilian Rhythms Rendezvous"
Welcome to the Main Thread for the second week of "Villa-Lobos Voyage" practice challenge!
Select a mesmerizing piece from Villa-Lobos or a composer connected to his Brazilian heritage. Whether it's a soulful Villa-Lobos composition, a rhythmic Brazilian-inspired work, or a piece by another artist inspired by the Brazilian musical tradition, the choice is yours!
Commit to regular practice and share your progress with the community. Strive to practice daily and upload at least two videos per week to showcase your musical voyage. This not only keeps you motivated but also allows you to share your artistic journey with our tonebase family.
Share your favorite performance or recording that captures the spirit of the "Villa-Lobos-Voyage Challenge." Your submission will inspire others and create a vibrant collection of potential pieces for fellow members to explore.
↓ Happy Sharing! ↓
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HVL Etude #5 1st half Very Rough Draft
I am finally beginning to get a grip on this, though it may not seem so on this posting. I am nor consistent yet, but I can play the first half with fairly decent control and voice separation. It is difficult to hold together but I can play any particular section reasonably well.
It took me a long time to separate out the voices.
The fingering was a real challenge. Watched Blanco TB lesson this however, I have a lot of fingerings that are different than his. Generally his sustain the note value better than my but, at this point, I can't manage them.
There are many sections that are a real challenge to play in context, especially when it goes into the upper registers and walks down.
So now I start the 2nd half while still trying to refine the 1st. There is still more than 2 weeks to go. So, maybe?
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Jack Stewart Good start on this wonderful Etude. When I see you on Saturday I will give you a copy of Carlovaro's fingering.
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Dale Needles Thanks Dale. Great, I am always happy to see other alternatives.
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Jack Stewart great start Jack. It takes some time to settle in. I remember working on this piece over a longer period with intervals. (I’m not the fastest learner.) The notes look like not too complicated, but separating these three voices and keeping them flowing and breathing is not an easy task. Looking forward to hearing you progress and (hopefully) enjoy.
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Jack Stewart great start to this Jack. Your own composition is much harder than this, 2 weeks should be more than doable. Great job on this.
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Jack Stewart good work on this Jack! This is indeed not as easy as it looks, out of studies 4-5-6 this one is harder IMHO (at least to me). The voicing, legato and flow is hard to combine and maintain, and you're doing a great job. Hmmm... are you saying that on mesure 10 you don't keep the upper B and don't use Bianco fingering on the last beat!
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Blaise Laflamme Thanks Blaise. Yes, that is exactly what I am saying! At this point in my frustration I felt it was a small sacrifice so that I could move on to new challenges (re: frustrations).
Btw, Dale sent me Carlevaro's fingerings for this Etude and he has the same fingering there as mine.
Btw2 I believe there is a mistake in the TB Bianco's score in mm39. It shows an f# on beat 2 but I am pretty sure it should be a g#. That would maintain the ostinato from the previous meal. and mm 40 indicates the 1st beat g is notated as a natural. Also, Eschig also has mm39 beat 2 as a g#.
Btw3 Eschig also has a mistake in mm 10 beat 1. It has an e on the 2nd half but it should be a b to maintain the ostinato.
I think I just ran out of steam - I am still on my first cup of coffee.
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Jack Stewart I don't have Bianco's version at hand, I'll download it from his lesson to take a look at. What Eschig version are you working with, mine is 1953 and bar 10 seems to be ok?
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Blaise Laflamme That is interesting! Here is my edition's version, I can't find any reference to which edition. I've this edition since the 70's.
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Jack Stewart weird... definitely a mistake here! Don't you have a copyright at the bottom of the page? I'm using this book I bought in early 90'... it's 1952
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Blaise Laflamme My cover is a plain manilla cover with red lettering. It does have a 1953 copyright but no edition indication. Yours is obviously a later edition. Mine was obviously the budget edition.
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Jack Stewart haha... no I still have some other pieces like the Choros with the plain cover with red letters. I thought they've been using the same versions as those and just compile them in a book, perhaps they have fixed some errors at the same time.
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Villa-lobos Chôros No 1. Part C... with the report and the attacca to the Part A.
I'm happy how it is coming back to my fingers!
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Ernesto You got it Ernesto! Feels good, doesn't it?
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Ernesto Sounding very good. Looking to hearing you put it all together.
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Ernesto What a commanding performance, Ernesto! you have really captured the feel of this piece. Great job!
The only thing I would suggest is a bowl of fruit on your head (a la Carmen Miranda)
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Jack Stewart :)
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Ernesto that sounds good Ernesto. Nice tone, clear voicing and great rhythm.
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Ernesto very nice and you really looked to be enjoying it too and it gets translated into the music!
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Ernesto great work Ernesto, can't wait to hear all 3 parts together!
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Here is a first recording of Prelude No.1 , part 1. I learned this piece long time ago, and this is an opportunity to revisit it and work on difficult passages to see if I can bring it to a better level.
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Calin Lupa great job, Calin. That’s coming along beautifully. Looking forward to the continuation….
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joosje Thank you, working on it... :)
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Calin Lupa It sounded like it never left your fingers at all. And it sounded really good already, looking forward to hear the final version.
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Calin Lupa it is clear this is not a new learning and we hear very well the pleasure that you have to play this work, can't wait to hear it all!
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Calin Lupa This is sounding really good, Calin. Your phrasing of the opening theme/ baseline is very powerful and effective. Great job.
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End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
