WEEK 1: Dóbroje útro (Good Morning)!
Welcome to the Main Thread for the first week of the Nikita Koshkin challenge! This is the place for the Week 1 Submissions!
- Make sure you've read the guidelines before replying (<- click)
- Watch the kickoff livestream for help with the first section!
- Get the Scores Here
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
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Well, I was pretty happy when Martin announced that this would be the next challenge, since I've been working on the studies since they were released a few weeks ago. Here are videos of the first four studies.
Study One: I hope this doesn't sound offensive, but this one feels a little like playing something by Sor or Carcassi, but with a bunch of wrong notes. And then there is a somewhat Latin syncopation in measure 9. I think it's a blast to play, and a great way to start the series.
Study Two: Really beautiful music here! I wish my playing were a bit lighter. There are some challenging fingerings to make it legato.
Study Three: This one feels a bit "herky jerky" to me, but in a good way. Also really fun to play. The parts in duple meter (starting in measure 24) don't feel quite right the way I play them here.
Study Four: This was a pretty big step up for me, technically. My sixteenth notes seem uneven when I listen back. Making the barres and slurs clean was challenging. Measures 7 and 18-21 were rather tricky.
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Eric Phillips Thank you for kicking this off early! This is very useful to me as I've just started working on 1-3 but hope to complete 4 before the challenge is over, although it seems like a huge leap in difficulty between 3 and 4 (especially if played at tempo). My favorite of the series is #10, curious if anyone will tackle that one but they all are so interesting. Can't wait to see more of your videos and from others. I'm all-in on this challenge (no piano distraction this time!).
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Brett Gilbert Awesome, Brett! #10 is pretty amazing, but I doubt I have the chops for it. Musically, I think #9 is so gorgeous. It sounds like it might be doable for me, but I haven't really tried it at all. I also love #5 and #7. I guess I'm drawn to the slower ones.
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Eric Phillips Wow, what a head start! That should give you plenty of time to focus on the later ones! I hope you can somehow make time for the Interactive Class with Marina Krupkina!
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Brett Gilbert No.10 is very challenging, I personally look forward to Marina's very own insights on that piece on actually performing it (I consider that one to be on Competition Level) in the aforementioned Interactive Class with here!
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Martin I'd love to be there, but I will be teaching a class myself at that time. Like I said though, if Tonebase could just pay me to participate in these things, I could quit my teaching job!
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Eric Phillips Wow Eric, you're on fire again! I can't wait to see and listen to your progress during the challenge
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Brett Gilbert #10 is indeed a great one... and yes I'll tackle it!
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Martin I hope we'll have the chance to listen to your version of #10
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Blaise Laflamme Missed you last challenge, looking forward to your videos. I just ordered a pair of CM4s from Sweden to up the quality of my recordings, inspired by you and others. Also discovered the whole recording challenge that took place months ago with so much useful info. Good luck with #10, that will be impressive.
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Brett Gilbert yeah me too I missed you (and others) and to be part of the previous challenge... I did practice a few of the studies and was near posting some videos but back to work and being sick for more than a week totally changed my plans
. I'm sure you won't regret the CM4s, can't wait to listen to the sound improvement they'll give you, those are a nice suggestion from Martin! -
Eric Phillips Haha, still figuring out how we can pay our community challengers
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Blaise Laflamme
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Brett Gilbert Awesome, you got yourself some great mics! They work nicely on piano as well as they are not super directed as regular cardioid mics! Congratulation, hit me up with recording-related question if you need any help!
The Recording Activity was even something cooler, it was our tonebase Academy Recording Course, an in-depth 4-weeks course with workbooks specifically made for that occasion!
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Blaise Laflamme Hope to have you on board for this one
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Eric Phillips Wow!! Eric this was wonderful.Y our phrasing was very well done. I have read thru the first 4 but they are in bits and pieces. You have all 4 nailed down. Great job!!! You are an inspiration ( I hope your students think so also.)
Btw, I really like how you change outfits for each piece - sort of like a Lady Gaga concert
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Jack Stewart Thanks Jack! I’m not sure my students find me to be an inspiration, especially when I give them homework and tests. As for my outfits, if I’m wearing a new one, it must have been recorded on a different day. My wife and kids get mad when I don’t change clothes every day!
I’ll let them know that I’m being compared to Lady Gaga, though. -
Eric Phillips It's so fun to hear you play #1 so effortlessly. You make it look so easy! I really like the unexpected "wrong note" sounds of this piece. That syncopated part sounds really cool to me and I know it will be a challenge for me. My goal for this is just to make it through #1 in three weeks.
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Elizabeth Uyehara That's a perfect goal! You can do the syncopated part I'm sure, just slow it way down at first. The notes are pretty easy, it's just getting used to the syncopation in the thumb. And trust me, nothing about this is effortless. I'm finding all of these challenging, as it is a musical language that is very different for me.
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Eric Phillips hello wow! I am preparing no 3 and 4, it sounds so easy when you play them. This number 4 of yours is so so good. Martin and Eric Phillips how should we do the first 2 bars? Note A with m and then amip for the arpeggio? Preparing the right hand? And spot on the harmonics with the left hand, will do that too! It is so interesting that Mr Koshkin finds that the challenge here is the barre! For me is more the slurs, the speed, the harmonics in place. you are playing the slurs so good and strong, they can be heard so well.
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Wow I am participating but only started to look at the scores today! Well done Eric!!! An inspiration indeed
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Emma Thanks, Emma! They are a lot of fun to play.
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I will definitely participate in this challenge, I really enjoy the kind of music that Koshkin writes even if I never played anything from him before. Another great set of studies commissioned by Tonebase, thank you again for contributing to the enrichment of the classical guitar repertoire!
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Blaise Laflamme Fantastic, looking forward to your fantastic submissions!!!
We will have Marina Krupkina for an Interactive Masterclass on these studies, maybe you can participate and get her insights! -
Martin yes I'm interested in this interactive masterclass!
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End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
