Group 1
Attention Classical Guitarists: Introducing the "Two Week Intensive" with Eduardo Inestal on "Interpretating Spanish Repertoire"
Hola tonebuddies and fellow guitar aficionados!
We are absolutely thrilled to announce an exclusive opportunity for our community of classical guitarists: a "Two Week Intensive" course on "Interpreting Spanish Repertoire" with the world-renowned guitarist Eduardo Inestal!
This unique course is designed to provide in-depth insights into the heart and soul of Spanish guitar music. Throughout the two weeks, Eduardo will share his immense knowledge of Spanish idioms, techniques, and interpretation, enriching your playing and enabling you to truly understand and convey the passion behind this beautiful musical tradition.
During the course, participants will be immersed in the rich history and cultural context of Spanish guitar music, while receiving personalized guidance from Eduardo himself. This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for classical guitarists looking to enhance their repertoire and expertise.
Don't miss out on this incredible opportunity to learn from a true guitar maestro. We can't wait to see you at the Two Week Intensive with Eduardo Inestal!
Happy plucking, amigos!
Details
- Sign-Up: May 11th - May 14th in an extra thread!
- Course Period: May 15th - May 26th
- Optional check-In via Zoom: tba
All Courses by Eduardo on tonebase here!
Assignments
In the assignment videos, you will:
Discover the rich tapestry of Spanish music and journey through five centuries of its history, from the Spanish vihuela school to today's contemporary compositions.
Immerse yourself in the passionate era of Spanish romanticism and nationalism, exploring the profound changes in music during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Understand the profound influence of popular music and folklore on classical music. Dive into the works of great composers like Gaspar Sanz, Scarlatti, Aguado, Llobet, Falla, and more contemporary authors.
Feel the rhythm and power of flamenco as you examine its influence on the classical guitar. Master the "rasgeado" technique through the music of Joaquín Turina, Joaquín Rodrigo, Ángel Barrios, and Regino Sáinz de la Maza.
Identify and interpret the typical elements of Spanish music on the classical guitar, including recurring motives and the "Cadencia Andaluza". Discover how popular song has left its mark on these timeless pieces.
Unleash the Spanish "fire" in your playing, embodying the unique character and spirit of Spanish music. Appreciate the importance of understanding the mentality of the people to truly capture the essence of their music.
This immersive course is designed to not only educate but also to inspire, as you delve deep into the soul of Spanish music and learn to interpret it on the classical guitar with authenticity and passion.
Assignment 1 - Introduction and Rasgueado
- Watch Eduardo's Introduction about Spanish Music!
- Learn about Eduardo's approach to Rasgueado (starts at 6:00)
- Share a video with Eduardo's Rasgueado Exercices with the regular Rasgueado (ami) and with the additional index finger (ami i)
- Find a piece where you can use that Rasgueado (the most famous piece for guitar for example ;). Also feel free to share great examples of Rasgueado!
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Eduardo Inestal
Hello Eduardo, I’m glad to learn from you again. Here is the first rasgueado exercise using ami and ami i. I could identify the famous piece Leyenda from Isaac Albeniz that contains a part that uses the rasgueado.
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Raul Guzman Vidal Hey Raul, great to see you again!
Very nice how you do it. I have a couple of suggestions:
1) Try to get a more percussive sound (not to slide the finger, but to hit the strings with a dry, fast movement of each finger.
2) as you do this movement, only the finger moves, not the wrist.
show it to me again when you have a chance!
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Eduardo Inestal Here is my scale exercise. I am looking forward to practicing a new Spanish guitar piece that contains the scales and rasgueado elements. Gracias por todo Maestro!
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Raul Guzman Vidal I have to say that the first 2WIC on Scales worked for you! It is very nice to see you playing that. Everything seems very relax!!
The only thing I´d say, is: When you shift position, try that the 4th finger jump directly intro the new fret. You tend to slide with the 1st finger and for that reason, 4 comes a bit late.
Next thing you have to do now, is increase the tempo and fly!
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Eduardo Inestal Thank you for the observations. Yes, definitely the first 2WIC on scales helped me a lot to improve my position and scales. Thank you again for all your help in this past two weeks!
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Great topic, Eduardo. This is something I've always struggled with and I've actually avoided pieces because they had rasgueado passages, so I'm glad to be able to take this on.
My biggest challenge has always been when I've tried things like Rodrigo's Pequena Sevillana where I have to switch back and forth between rasgueado and plucked passages. The strummed parts seem to be much louder.
Any tips on controlling volume?
Thanks in advance.
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Steve Price Hi Steve,
That´s true what you said. There is a balance problem when we play rasgueado and then a melody. That means that it changes from having several notes played with power simultaneously to one note in the melody. Of course chords are going to sound louder than the melody, but in order to keep the balance (and not to have a great difference of volume between then), we would need to adjust both. Meaning: Rasgueado not sooo loud, and melody forte (I am talking about the case of Rodrigo´s sevillana). But, dont worry that rasgueados sounds louder... that is also the intention.
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Steve Price I would suggest, send a video where you play it and I could advise you better. First bars would be enough :)
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Hi Eduardo,
Thank you for taking time to share your knowledge. I look forward to learning more about this topic as it is foundational to so much music.
Rodney
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Rodney Hi rodney, thank you for your video. It sounds great. Only one small thing: I have the feeling that you dont have absolute control of the movements of your fingers when you play rasgueado. I have the feeling they are release without much control. Try to practise it slowly with metronome controling when each finger (a, m and then i) hits the strings. And then, progresivly increase the bpm. Control is key!!
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I agree, thank you!!!
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Hola Eduardo, nice to have you here giving your best advice / tips on spanish repertorie.....See atached my rasgueado test.... your indications on how to aproach to rasgueado are very helpful......
I played rasgueado over the tipical Andalusian cadenza ...... thanks for your feedback
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JUAN ALONSO
Hola Juan!! my pleasure! Thank you very much for your video! it sounds very good. Just a small detail. In order to be more precise hiting the stings and getting a bit more percussive sound I suggest you to use your Thumb as a releasing part of the rasgueado. I just attached a video where I explain it, because it is just what you need to be perfect!!
Try this tricks and show it to me when you have a chance!
cheers!
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Thank you for the feedback Eduardo Inestal . Here is my second attempt perfoing the rasgueado exercise. I will try working on isolating the finger motion from the wrist movement.
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Raul Guzman Vidal
Raul! Thank you very much for your videos!!
Just a small detail. Often happend while playing rasgueado that we dont use the thumb. In order to be more precise hiting the stings and getting a bit more percussive sound I suggest you to use your Thumb as a releasing part of the rasgueado. I just attached a video where I explain it. Practise it, also without guitar and you are going to see the results!!
Looking foward seeing your improvements!
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Eduardo Inestal Thank you for the advice. I started practicing using a water bottle. Here is my progress thus far.
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Raul Guzman Vidal Hi Raul, you can see improvement!! some of the repetions were very clear. Dont forget that the main goal here is the percussive element of the rasgueado, so we need to be able to identify every single hit of the fingers in the strings. For instance, the fingers have to move ver fast and avoid to "slide" thought the strings. Sometimes you are a bit to slow moving your finger and sounds a slide-wise percussion instead of a hit. So my Advise: Metronome! start slowly and increase tempo step by step always controlling the hit!
But I am very happy with your improvement!
P.S.: There is still some movement on your wrist... dont forget the movement is done by the fingers!
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Eduardo Inestal Thank you for the feedback. This time I have been practicing with the metronome.
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Raul Guzman Vidal Raul, cómo estás!! Gracias again for your interest.
There is an improvement, but there is more room for that.... so lets do it:
1. the rasgueado is too fast according with the tempo you chose, that means, your fingers hit too fast the strings. Try to sing the rhtym and imitate it. I would say, play just the first 2 bars until you feel sure the rhtym is ok, Then try to add the 3rd bar, and play 1-2-3 bars. Once you get that, the rest has exactly the same rhtym.
2. Dont worry about the chord shift. It will come once you feel confident with the rasgueado and the rhtym.
3. LF moves just awesome!!
4. We all struggle, but the trick is not to let them know. Dont show it to me with your face. Try to keep your face, specially your mouth as relax as possible.
I´d love to see it again!! keep going Raul!
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Hi Everyone, here a small explanation video with a couple of tricks:
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Eduardo Inestal thank you, this is very usdeful.
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Calin Lupa Great to hear that!!!
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Hola, Eduardo (and fellow ToneBuddies)!
Thanks so much for taking the time to share with us your expertise during this TWI!
My name is Jared and I would consider myself a novice classical guitarist. I have a couple of years of lessons under my belt but with the addition of my new Tonebase membership and the community here, I have already learned so much and improved my skills! So exciting!
I have always been in love with Spanish Romantic era classical guitar (Llobett, Tarrega, etc.) and more recently I have also become very interested in Flamenco music and guitar techniques, so this course is exactly what I love to learn about!
Please review my video below and feel free to provide me with any critique or advice as you see fit. I think I am getting the hang of rasgueado but my main question is in regard to the right-hand angle. With the use of apoyando, tirando, and rasgueado it seems that all of those right-hand techniques require a slightly different angle of the hand in order to strike all strings properly and get that percussive sound. If you have any tips about my right-hand angle I would greatly appreciate it!
I have shown my rasgueado video to also have my pinky included (at the end) as I can usually reach the strings on all four fingers of my right hand, but please let me know if this is not a good idea at this time. Thank you so much!
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Jared Hi Jared!! nice to see you here! thank you for posting your video. I do not see any problem in the position of your RH whatsoever. It looks just perfect!
Regarding rasgueado, when you play it slow, I can hear perfectly and clear the 3 hits of each finger, but it became a bit more unstable at the moment you increase the speed. It sounds a bit more messy, and we have to seek the precision on the percusive element. Despite of the speed, we need to be able to hear cristal clear every finger.
So my advise for you: work with metronome, increaseing the bmp step by step.
Pinky Finger: Just great. In Flamenco they use it a lot. So same thing, practise it with your new best friend: Metronome :)
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Eduardo Inestal Fantastic! Thank you so much for your feedback, I really appreciate it! Yes, the metronome should become my best friend, even my guitar teacher tells me this all the time. I will be sure to practice with the metronome as you suggest and work on removing any messiness from my rasgueado in order to keep it more precise on the percussive element. Thanks again for taking the time to help me, I look forward to trying this out tonight when I practise. Can't wait to hear more from you and join the Zoom check-in on Monday. Saludos!
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