Week 3: Discovering Hidden Gems
Welcome to the "Around the World in 80 Strings Challenge"! This month, we'll embark on a global musical journey, exploring classical guitar compositions from various countries. The only rule: Don’t play a composer from your home country. Let’s make this a truly international experience!
CHALLENGE TIMELINE
- Challenge Start: Kick-Off on May 15th
- Duration: May 15th - June 24th
- Watch Party: June 24th
ACTIVITIES
- Choose Your Piece: Select a new piece of music to work on. Share your choice in the thread below and inspire your fellow musicians!
- Video Submission: Submit a video of your practice this week. Highlight your favorite passage from the piece that showcases the origin of this piece!
GET INVOLVED
Let’s kick things off with enthusiasm! Share your progress, encourage others, and explore new musical horizons together. Can’t wait to see what everyone chooses!
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Leila-Leila and Gol-e-gandome (June 1)
I think both of these are coming along relatively well, and I wanted to try recording them together in one take. I am still needing the score for Leila-Leila, but I’ll try to get it memorized for my next post.
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Eric Phillips sheer joy just to listen to these melancholic songs and harmonies at this very moment (“I cover the waterfront, watching the sea”- Mediterranean under setting sun). Incredibly beautiful, these pieces!,
Your harmonics in Leila Leila are fabulous. My favourite, though, is Gol-e-gandome. Your tempo management, timing is great.
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joosje Thank you for your kind words, Joosje! I am very glad to have given these pieces a try, and I probably wouldn’t have done so were it not for this challenge.
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Eric Phillips Soooooo beautiful Eric. Bravo
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I missed submitting a video in Week 2. Hopping back on the Challenge with this submission.
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Spare Machine Great work, Mark This getting much better.
I didn't notice what chords you are moving from and to, but a couple of things to try are:
1. see if there are any common fingerings to use as a guide. ie; if a finger stays on the same string from one chord to the next. You can keep that finger on the string as a guide.
2. If not, or even if so, I will isolate a complicated shift and carefully map out how each finger moves so that the movement is minimized. I then practice these shifts very slowly - sometimes just each finger separately.
Your doing great one this piece, and it is lovely.
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Spare Machine Great work! Jacks advice looks very good. Any chance you could show me the score at the part you are asking about? Or just attach the entire score and tell me the measure number.
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Eric Phillips from bar 6 to 7 is the spot I’m referring to. Thank you!
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Spare Machine Here are my thoughts. Sorry about my quiet voice. My wife and daughter are in bed, so I was trying not to talk too loudly.
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Spare Machine I'm not at my guitar so this recommendation is purely theoretical,
Try the second 'chord' use the 2nd finger on 6th string and 4th finger on 1st string.
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Eric Phillips how kind of you to record this for me! It will definitely be a big help. The fingering you have for that last chord in bar 6 is different than I’ve been playing it, and I can see how it sets up bar 7 now. Thank you for taking the time to show me that and for playing too!
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Spare Machine I looked back at your video, and in measure 6, it seems to me that you are not playing the A in the middle voice. Hopefully you can figure out my fingering by watching my video. From the fifth string to the first string, I’m playing: F#, A, D#, B (open string), C# (melody note). I think that not only sounds better, but it makes the transition to measure 7 easier.
Also, I forgot to say that my guitar is tuned downed a half-step, so my pitch probably won’t match yours. Sorry if that was confusing you at all.
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Eric Phillips "my guitar is tuned downed a half-step" - I thought I recognized a Hendrix influence in your playing style.
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Eric Phillips thank you for having me return to the score. I was definitely not playing the right notes there and I was playing the open d bass string where I should have been playing the open b string as a sort of pedal note.
sound so much better when played right and it makes more sense to my left hand fingers. Thank you!
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Spare Machine really nice. It sounds beautiful now. You’ve got some great advice from Eric for this difficult chord change. Take it very slow first, following the rule: play slow but move fast- prepare the next chord with LH before you pluck it .
For sustaining the low B a little longer, I think I’d prefer to play the second B on string 1 with 2nd finger, then slide back to A, and follow as Eric suggested. (I can only play this when my LH nails are super short)Its a great piece to work on. Enjoy and keep us posted…
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Jack Stewart
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Eric Phillips
That's the ticket.
You should hang that in your classroom.I'm waiting to see you play with your teeth - perhaps using your tongue for the harmonics?
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Spare Machine Very nice Mark.
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I enjoyed listening to some very fine pieces posted here.
As I’m on holiday now and don’t have best facilities for practicing let alone recording, Im a bit shy to participate.My Greek piece is not ready, anyway, I don’t think I will have it in shape before the end.
Now, here is a short piece from Italian Francesco Corbetta (1615-1681), who worked at the French court of Louis XIV, as Francisque Corbette. He was the teacher of Robert de Visée.
prelude of the Suite en La mineur.i may try some other parts, or wait till I’m back home.
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joosje Beautiful, Joosje! Your slurs are executed very well.
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joosje That was beautiful, Joosje. I love its delicateness. I agree with Eric that your ornamentations were excellent. Thank you for taking the time to record and present this.
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joosje Don't be shy to participate Joosje. It is always a pleasure to listen to your recordings.
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Alexandre Tansman, born in Poland, wrote this Suite in Modo Polonico, for Segovia. I had he score but never really got to work on it.
This challenge brought it back in my mind, and I decided to take it with me in my holiday collection for practice. The first Kolysanka seemed a nice piece to start with. It features some interesting harmonies. Slurs and secure timing present quite a challenge though….
I hope to continue work on it next week, but first prepare my ‘exam’ next Monday with two other pieces: Barrios (Aconquija) and Kruisbrink (Ahimsa).
so here is a first recording of Kolysanka No.1 Berceuse d’ Orient. Apologise for poor video and sound quality - background noise from garden (birds and traffic.
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joosje This is a very beautiful piece Joosje. Thanks for sharing
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joosje I have never heard this before. What a wonderful piece!
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joosje This is fascinating, Joosje. I don't recall ever hearing this before, even though I am well aware of Tansman. You play this beautifully, especially considering this is a first recording. Thanks for sharing another great work.
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