Week 1: Etude Entrée!
Welcome to the Main Thread for the first week of "Etude Extravaganza" practice challenge!
- Choose an etude from a composer that captures your interest. It could be a soothing Sor etude, a technical Giuliani masterpiece, a Carcassi finger exercise, a harmonically rich Brouwer composition, or a rhythmically challenging Villa-Lobos piece. You're encouraged to experiment with pieces from composers you're not accustomed to or push your boundaries with a technically demanding work.
- Commit to regular practice and share your journey with the community. Aim to practice daily and upload at least two videos per week to showcase your progress. This will not only aid in keeping you dedicated and motivated but also enables you to share your musical journey with our tonebase family.
- Share your favorite etude or recording that epitomizes the concept of "Etude Extravaganza." Your submission will serve as inspiration for others and construct a vibrant repertoire of potential pieces for fellow members to explore.
↓ Happy Sharing! ↓
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Ernesto Garcia de Leon - Luciernagas Op 50 No 18
I really enjoy this set of twenty studies. This particular one speaks to me because it is dedicated to Fernando Sor, and clearly is written with Sor's Op 31 No 19 (Segovia 10) in mind. My hope is to work this one up to a performance level first, and then to tackle the Sor study.
I decided to alternate p and i for the repeated figure running through much of the piece. If I am up to it, I may work on a variety of RH fingering for it, just to improve my RH control (as de Leon suggests).
The section that needs the most work is clearly the slurs (mm 16-25), especially the slurs to open strings from higher up the neck. Those are so hard for me to control. William Kanengiser has a video lesson on the piece here on TB, so I will have to watch that part closer to get some tips.
And naturally, I need to bring the tempo up eventually.
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Eric Phillips great start on this Eric! I'm happy you bring back this composer to the challenge.
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Eric Phillips Great start. I have the impression that you start playing new pieces with such a high fluency already! I love the dissonance in this piece. So beautiful!
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Fernando Ruiz Diaz Thanks, Fernando. If a piece is not too technically demanding, I seem to be able to get it to the playable stage pretty quickly. My challenge is getting it beyond that, which requires much more patience, attention to detail, and hard work.
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Garcia de Leon – Luciernagas (June 7, later)
I’ve been working on this for much of he evening, so I just wanted to record it again. I have it memorized, but this is one of those pieces that you can memorize without trying. The slurs are still the weakest spot, but I think they are a little bit better than before. I’m playing it in a little over two minutes, and the score says it should last 1’45”, so I still need a faster tempo if I want to follow Garcia de Leon’s intention.
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Eric Phillips I really love this piece. Thanks for sharing!
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Eric Phillips You're off to a great start with this, Eric! It's certainly an interesting study, and as you say, it makes obvious reference to Sor's repeated note study. The two together (as you seem to be planning) will certainly make for an interesting pairing! I agree that those slurred figures are what make this piece tricky - I find it particularly difficult to get the 3 + 2 grouping of pull-offs to sound like a single gesture. (You're managing this very well, though!)
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David Krupka Thanks, David. Ultimately, the slurred figure should have the same "feel" as the repeated note figure, with the accent on the last note, falling on the down beat of the next measure. Getting there.
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Eric Phillips Great improvement Eric! From the first take this sounded like a very ambitious piece, but by this take you already seem to have it mastered and look easy! In addition to the slurs, what technique do you feel like this study is helping you develop?
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Eric Phillips You're quite right! Perhaps I should have said, the difficulty is getting a 3 + 2 grouping to sound like a 4 + 1 grouping. In any event, the problem is getting the appropriate accent on the slurred open string. It's a good example of a technical challenge that is apparent only (or mostly) to the performer. The effect isn't virtuosic, but it demands a very high level of technical control. You're practically 'there' already!
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Steve Pederson Thanks, Steve. The repeated figure and the arpeggios develop right hand technique, particularly if I use the multiple options for the them. In terms of left hand, I’m finding it develops that “spidery” agility. I am also seeing that it demands that I get right up on my fingertips all the time just to make the right notes ring out. So, I think it works on a lot of techniques.
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Eric Phillips Nice!
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Eric Phillips I agree with Steve, great improvement!
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Eric Phillips what a nice piece. Well played too. You will be able to handle Sor’s study as well, with some practice.
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joosje I just read through the Sor piece and I'm not so sure anymore. It's harder than i thought!
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Another awesome challenge.
I really learn a lot from the last 2 challenges. As I am still learning the classical guitar with a teacher, I will often learn a piece with fingerings and some direction then move on to another piece. It is ok metronomically but it is never something that is good enough to perform. So these little challenges allow me to revisit old pieces and really work on them musically.
Regondi Etude 1
I actually learned this piece Jan this year. I'm surprised my fingers kinda remember the first section but I totally forgotten section 2. I suspect is because I kept playing the first section whenever I'm watching youtube or when something loads on the screen and I have my guitar on hand. Anyway here's section 1 and I will work on it and the other sections in the next 4 weeks.
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don that's a beautiful etude and you're doing great... but I want part 2!! As you said if you play it in front of YT you have kept the 1st part in memory the easy way, but I'm sure after a couple of reading you'll have part 2 in no time.
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don If part 2 is anything like part 1 this is gonna be amazing! Can't wait to hear it!
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Steve Pederson Blaise Laflamme thanks! I did work on part 2 and it is slowly coming back. The funny thing when I look at it again and I cannot remember why I made those markings and some weird fingering choices. Lesson learn this time is to improve on making notes.
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don
Regondi Etude 1 - Part 2
work on it a bit and it is slowly coming back. It is really much easier to relearn it this time. Will work on the last part over the weekend and work on musicality over the course of the challenge.
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don
managed to work on the whole piece. Some mistakes here and there but generally no more changes to the fingering. The last section can be a bit tiring to play and doesn't help when I practiced quite a bit before I record.
Will focus and switch to spot practice for this piece.
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don
Great progress Don. This is a difficult piece that you control quite well. Thanks for sharing your progress
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Sor Op 6 no 11
One of the two Sor pieces that I know. First time I heard it was on youtube performed by Park Kyuhee and after listening to so many different versions, I still like hers and Maestro Pierri 's performance of this piece the best.
I think I played this in one of the previous challenge before. other than the first few bars, I've forgotten the entire piece. But here's the first section.
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don again a beautiful one from this set, and you're right master Pierri plays it like no one, he has this ability to move voices and harmony in perfect motion and legato.
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Blaise Laflamme Are you guys talking about Alvaro Pierri (aka John Lennon), your former teacher, Blaise?
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Eric Phillips
right on Eric that's him... his look in the 90'!
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End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
