🧗 The piece just out of reach
Most of us are carrying a piece we are not quite ready for, the one that sits a level or two above where we are and keeps pulling us forward. Some chip away at it in private for years, some wait until the technique catches up, some dive in and let the piece itself do the teaching. And sometimes the hardest part is a piece we learned long ago with mistakes baked in, now asking to be taken apart and rebuilt.
💬 What is the piece you are reaching for, and how do you handle it?
- Do you work on a stretch piece before you are ready, or hold off until the fundamentals are in place?
- When the music is above your level, what do you actually do, learn it in fragments, simplify it, or shelve it for later?
- Has a piece that once felt impossible ever come within reach, and what got you there?
Reaching pieces are where ambition meets patience, and no two players negotiate that the same way. Let's trade the ones we are chasing.
8 replies
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Historically I become infatuated with a piece, buy the music, try to play it, give up in frustration. I have had a hard time with compound meter and rhythm. So I find the music of Bogdanovic particularly attractive and frustrating.
Bought "Mysterious Habitats" probably 25 years ago, tried playing it and gave up in disgust. I recently dusted it off and started working on it with my teacher. I'm determined to NOT give up, and it's coming along.
It's clear I could benefit a lot by becoming more patient. -
I have loved Duartes English Suite since I was 14. I have long used it to pick out issues with both my technique and musicality. It is a source of perfect joy when I listen to vinyl Segovia and remember why I struggle with this wonderful instrument. Now I’m approaching 75 I’ve decided that it’s too late to wait until I’m good enough or at the right stage for a technicality difficult piece.
I try to identify the key phrases and target those wherever they appear in the work. I never expect nor particularly want to play for anyone other than those I love… just hope they are honest when they say I play well.
Just love the music and play whatever while time is still on your side.
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One that comes to mind for me is Sor’s Variations on a Theme of Mozart. I love Sor so much, but the last variation and coda of this beloved piece are simply beyond me. If I’m being honest, the penultimate variation is a bit too fast for me, but I might be able to eke it out a little slower than tempo.
Oh, and another one would be Bach’s Prelude in E major BWV 1006a. The little part from the beginning to the end is just too difficult! 😄
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I try and avoid pieces that are out of reach I have baked in too many bad habits chasing them years back. I am working on my tremolo and do want to play Recuerdos which is currently out of reach so aiming to do regular tremolo practice plus some separate practice on the recuerdos melody.
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Un Sueno en la Floresta by Barrios is the one that trips me up. Constant tremolo combined with intense left-hand stretches, not to mention a modified tuning - I eventually find myself moving on to something else, only to try again a year later. Lately I seem to be sticking with it a bit longer so maybe this time I will break through.
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My bucket list has a number of pieces that are probably out of reach, that I've unseriously dabbled with, but never buckled down. I'm having that feeling these days that "you never know unless you try." So...Torre Bermeja, here I come, and it may be quite the comedy!
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I started learning guitar as a high school boy 50 years ago purchasing a self-teaching course called "Guitar for Everyone" consisting of two levels. First was a mixture of basics, classical, pop, folk, bass guitar, second level was only classical guitar. I mastered to some degree the first level with pieces like Adelita or Spanish Romance (jeux interdits) in the end only half way mastered. Main pieces were recorded on vinyl singles and it was the first time that I heard Recuerdos de la Alhambra, Prelude No. 1 by Villa-Lobos, and Asturias that were meant to be practiced and played at the end of this second level. I was mesmerized by these pieces but life went its way (university, family, job, …) and guitar was collecting dust in the cellar.
Fast forward 45 years, one year before my retirement I decided to start practicing again, purchased a new guitar and after finishing off the pieces I left half way through in my youth I delved immediately into Recuerdos which were way beyond my skill level. Right hand, chords, transitions, slurs, everything. But I was so motivated by the beauty of the piece that I kept practicing for year only this (plus a few pieces from the first level to add some variety). Three years later my practicing sounds a bit like music but there are still many rough edges to polish. After a year I added Asturias to my practice and 6 months later Prelude No.1. They presented new challenges, also far beyond my skill at the time. But the beauty of the music as played by accomplished guitarists kept me motivated all the way through. I guess I would have quit if I had to play pieces at my level at the time to build skill gradually that I would find boring.
Now I am not adding pieces to my practice by jumping skill levels anymore. And the one piece waiting for adequate time to come is Mario Parodi's adaptation of Franz Liszt Liebestraum (Love Dream) No. 3.
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Hi, Martin and everyone. From my perspective of the music world, the music we loved to play is depend on the music arrangement made by arranger or guitarist and not by the composer. If you are a great music arranger and improviser, the complex or difficult music can be arranged in more simpler way to play according to your ability. Performing or playing guitar music and other musical instrument is about CREATIVITY and Not rigid set of rules to restrict our ability to create your own music and arranging the music. We always believe only ONE WAY of PLAYING MUSIC or DOING THING. Thus, music conversatory and music colleges taught us to perform and interpret music according to the professors ideas , maestro or teachers teaching is not creative way of learning music. A guitarist is always not a complete musician because they lack of improvisation, music theory and contemporary music composition. New era of contemporary guitar music needs creativity and new perspective of music composition. We always got STUCK IN LISTENING AND PERFORMING the BORING CLASSICAL GUITAR MUSIC REPERTOIRES ALL THE TIME. Well. we should start TO CHANGE BY CREATING NEW MUSIC OR TRANSCRIPT OTHER MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS MUSIC INTO GUITAR MUSIC. Some examples from classical period were Mauro Guiliani and Fernando Sor who had composed music for opera singers and chamber music which we rarely know or listen.
SOONER OR LATER, THE CLASSICAL GUITAR WORLD IS ALREADY DEAD BECAUSE WE NEVER CREATE NEW MUSIC TO SUIT THE YOUNGSTER LISTENERS AND YOUNG GUITARISTS. NOW WE NEED GUITAR MUSIC ACCOMPANIED BY VOCAL LINES. Therefore, in America and in Europe, we can clearly observe that young people not interested attending guitar recital or concert or take classical guitar as a career choice. However, if I look and observed that music scene in China, there are a lot more youngster and children taking up guitar lessons and some Chinese guitarists or players choose the classical guitar as their career and become the world class guitarist at the world stage. Look the Reality Show, AMERICA GOT TALENT (AGT) season 21 today, the ASIAN talent from Phuket, Thailand took the world stage of rock guitar music by the biggest thunder storm. Her name is Nene Royal, age 16 had won AGT season 21. She was growing up in Phuket and learning guitar at 7 year old, to performing at local markets, competing in Thailand, building a huge online following, and eventually taking the AGT stage, this is the story behind Nene Royal’s rise. Please follow her inspiration on Youtube videos. She is the true musician who is passionate about learning, listening, playing guitar and learning to sing well. Kudos to Nene Royal, a music pordigy from ASEAN countries. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iowCf1LQ0Fs