Week 1: Rhythmic Revelations 
Welcome to the Main Thread for the first week of "Song and Dance" practice challenge!
Choose a piece that is inspired or transcribed from a song or a dance. It could be a lively south-american danza, a passionate tango, a serene romantic lied, or a poignant aria transcribed for the guitar. You're welcome to explore pieces from unfamiliar composers or challenge yourself with a complex work.
Commit to daily practice and share your journey with the community. Aim to practice every day and upload at least two videos each week to illustrate your progress. This will not only help you stay committed and encouraged but will also allow you to share your musical voyage with our tonebase family.
Share your favorite piece or recording that embodies the theme of "Song and Dance." Your submission will serve as an inspiration to others and create a vibrant pool of potential pieces for other members to delve into.
↓ Happy Sharing! ↓
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I decided to throw into this challenge with a Scherzo which is by definition 'A lively piece, often humorous, in triplet time and used for the third movement of symphonies and sonatas.' I guess you could dance to it.
Scherzino Mexicano by Manuel Ponce I have a video of the first 16 bars played very slowly, very slowly and spotty with a few clams here and there, I included comments about the trouble spots I'm working on. Next week I should have this much better along with the 'B' Section. Did notice I need to focus on fretting the notes closer to the frets. Guitar may be out of tune also.
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Michael Shirk You are doing really well with this piece, Michael. Looking forward to your progress.
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Michael Shirk I really like this. I 've not explore Pounce before. Thanks for sharing.
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Michael Shirk You’re off to a good start. An interesting combo of 6/8 and 3/4 rhythms. Great piece!
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Hi all, a great challenge theme indeed! So many wonderful dance guitar pieces out there.
Posting my practice of Cuban Dance by Anatoly Beldinsky. It seems to be difficult to find more info about this composer, appreciate if anybody has some info to share.
Working currently on the tempo, color, also stopping unwanted sounds is a challenge...
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Calin Lupa That's really nice. Such a fun piece and the variation you used in articulation really made it sound great. Well done.
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Calin Lupa Love it! Very lively and great selection for our challenge. Thanks for sharing.
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Calin Lupa That was great, Calin! I have never heard of the piece or the composer, so I can't be help there.
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Calin Lupa Nice energetic performance, Calin! Beldinsky was a Soviet guitarist, born in 1927. He founded a guitar academy in his native Lugansk, a city in the news for less happy reasons these days. He was not a professional musician, and in fact only began learning guitar as a young adult, after meeting the Russian maestro Ivanov-Kramskoy. (He was an engineer by trade, and apparently a rather distinguished one.) The 'Cuban Dance' you present here was apparently composed in the 1960s, a time when Russian-Cuban relations were no doubt very strong. Beldinsky seems to have died about five years ago. For those who read Russian, further details (as well as a number of scores) can be found at:
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Calin Lupa Wow, your music is really on fire! I could feel the passion and energy you poured into it. Thanks for sharing it with us!"
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Calin Lupa That's a cool piece of music, well done.
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Calin Lupa Well done Calin.
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Calin Lupa Calin that's very good - you really capture the mood of the dance - well done!
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Calin Lupa cool! Nice Cuban feel. You play it so well, Calin. David Krupka thanks for the link, I’ll have a look.
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Calin Lupa Wow, Calin! This is an exciting piece and you play really well. Great job.
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Thank you all!
Thank you David for sharing the link. Using google translate: Yes, Anatoliy Vasylovich Beldinskyi, Ukraninan amateur guitar player and composer, was "a mechanical engineer by education, long-term leading designer of the Luhansk Diesel Locomotive Plant" . Quite interesting! Fun fact, when attending Bucharest university ( I studied physics) , I also took guitar lessons from an engineer by profession , as classical guitar was not very popular at that time, and teachers were hard to find.
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Calin Lupa wow very nice. Such a energetic piece. Really enjoyed it.
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Calin Lupa Wow! That’s a fun piece! And you play it with such joy!
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Sor - Valse Op 47 No 6 (May 17 update)
Last time, I recorded this in three sections, and now I am able to put it all together. The C section (measures 17-24) still gives me the biggest problems (shifting to the wrong fret, hitting the wrong bass string, executing the slurs poorly).
This is definitely not the kind of piece that comes naturally to me. The fast tempo (for me), with practically no moments to take a breath and regroup, makes me feel very anxious when I am playing it.
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Eric Phillips Sounds good, sound very challenging tempo wise. For me these are the types of pieces that can have the tendency to start to fast and then half way through it you realize, 'oh crap I'm done for'.
. Also, tension is really a killer for me in fast tempo pieces. Something I am constantly working on now. -
Michael Shirk Yes, the opening sixteen measures aren't too bad, and I can definitely play them a bit faster. But when measure 17 comes, I'd be toast.
Here's a performance of this piece by Jeffrey McFadden that is ridiculously fast. (And how about that painting on the CD cover!)
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Eric Phillips This is just fantastic Eric. Bravo
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Andre Bernier Thank you, Andre!
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Eric Phillips What a delightful waltz. Although I'm familiar with a lot of Sor's works it's not one I've heard before. There certainly seem to be some tricky bits but you play them so well. Bravo!
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Ron Thanks, Ron. One of the things I like about Sor is that his body of work is so vast that there is always something new to discover and play.
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Eric Phillips very nice. The more relaxed tempo works okay in this piece.
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