Week 4: Etude Extravaganza!
Welcome to the Main Thread for the forth 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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Regondi Etude 1
Had a hip injury so my playing time in the last 2 weeks have been really limited as I can't sit for too long. But the good thing is I find myself more focused in my practice knowing I have very limited time to practice.
Anyhow here's my last take on this. Still some mistakes here and there but nothing good old fashion practice and hard work cannot fix.
Will try to work on the Sor Etude over the weekend if I can.
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don Wow Don, this is really great! There’s a lot of notes here, and you seem to be just ripping them off effortlessly. Doing that with an injury is amazing! Bravo!
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Steve Pederson thank you Steve. You are too kind!
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Carcassi - Larghetto Op 59 No 37
This comes from Carcassi’s method. To be honest, I find most of the pieces from this opus to be rather dull. This Larghetto, however, caught my eye. I like to play it with a very dolce tone, and lots of vibrato.
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Eric Phillips Well done, Eric. I am afraid Carcassi is not my cup of tea.
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Jack Stewart So, when you saw that there was a Carcassi Mini-Challenge, you didn’t start to drool with excitement?
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Eric Phillips We’ll played Eric. Nice vibrato and sweet tone.
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Eric Phillips ... really superb playing sir! I love the lilting romantic quality in which you express this piece! Your RH form is very stable and your LH is moving fluidly through some challenging positions and movements. I'm not very familiar with the Carcassi etudes, so I'll leave commentary on specific details to others. I truly enjoyed listening to your very musical rendering!.
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HVL Study No 8
With several others playing some HVL studies, I thought I’d throw my hat in the ring. Generally speaking, most of the HVL studies are too difficult for me. This one, however, seems like it may be within my grasp. This video shows where I am at after maybe two hours of practice. There are many rough spots, especially measures 48-58. I’m not sure if I can get it up to a decent level by the end of the challenge, but I will try.
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Eric Phillips Great start with this beautiful Etude. Already sounding good.
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Eric Phillips This is very good, Eric. You never cease to surprise and amaze.
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Eric Phillips beautiful! I admit I've not heard it before. I think I only heard of Prelude 1, 3 or Etude 1. But this sounds really good man. You are like a walking classical guitar karaoke machine. I've no idea how you pull up all these pieces in such short notice and immediately get it to such level.
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Jack Stewart Welcome back! I hope you had a great time in New York.
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Eric Phillips Great start, Eric. I’ve decided you can play anything you want. You have an amazing skill for tackling new pieces. When you encounter difficulties it’s just a matter of isolating them. Everything is digestible if you take a small enough bite, and plan a delicious meal. Some things just take longer to bake in the oven.
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Here is another chord study, Estudio #5 Homenaje a Villa-Lobos by Abel Carlevaro. This Estudio is part of a set of five Estudios in homage to Villa-Lobos. I like to pair Carlevaro's Estudio #5 with Villa-Lobos' Etude #6 which I posted earlier. You can definitely see in this study the influence that Villa-Lobos had on Carlevaro. As I have noted in previous posts, Carlevaro studied with Villa-Lobos in Brazil when Carlevaro was a young man.
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Dale Needles That was wonderful playing Dale. your precision and command of this piece is very impressive.
I have to admit this is not my favorite Carlevaro piece. It seems harsher than most of his other works.
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Jack Stewart Thanks, Jack and welcome back. Look forward to getting together and hearing about GFA conference.
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Dale Needles This is just as impressive as the Villa-Lobos before it, Dale! This is like Carlevaro meets HVL meets Metallica. And you’re right, it pairs perfectly with HVL 6. Just for fun, you could end the set with something like Brouwer’s Estudio 9.
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Dale Needles I'm really enjoying your submissions, Dale! This chord study is long and looks like "relaxation" plays a key role in performing it along with several other Carlevaro principles. Excellent!!
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Dale Needles Fun with chord shapes! Definitely an homage to Villa Lobos. Thanks for sharing. This was new for me.
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Marilyn Blodget Barney Eric Phillips Thanks. Yes, it has some fun chord shapes, and not only does it work out those chord shifts, but it also has a great Uruguayan candombe rhythm which is fun to play.
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Dale Needles Wow, watching how you lifted your fingers up while changing positions with such speed and accuracy is truly impressive, Dale! Your left-hand movements are both technically flawless and musically expressive!
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Wai Thanks, Wai. I have worked a lot on my left hand, and appreciate that you noticed. I now need to focus on strengthening my right hand. BTW, how is Microestudio 13 coming along. I really like that study and look forward to hearing you play it.
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Dale Needles beautiful Dale, so clean and fluid... definitely a study I'm interested in. Thanks for sharing Carlevaro's works here!
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Dale Needles wow, you play it so well. And it’s hard to do this and make it sound light and clean, the way you do. Impressed.
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joosje Blaise Laflamme Many thanks again. This is my favorite of the Carlevaro's five Estudios in homage to Villa-Lobos. However, I do like all five of the Estudios and hope to work of some of them over the next year. When I studied with Carlevaro, I worked on Estudio, #2, #3 and #5 but only currently play #5. Blaise, have you had a chance to look at Estudio #1 by Carlevaro?
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End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
