WEEK TWO: The Musical Voyage!
Welcome to the Main Thread for the second week of the Sergio Assad Community Challenge!
- Make sure you've read the guidelines before replying (← click)
- Watch the Kick-Off-Livestream on July 16th to get an overview!
- Download the scores for Assad's Etudes here (← click)
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 the etude!
- (Optional:) questions
↓ Reply below with your assignments and questions! ↓
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Hi Martin , in sketch 2, I follow your advise about achieving better finger alteration by playing chords. And this time I also follow you in the other point, which is to not play apoyando anymore :) Here is my take 2 of sketch 2 :) Many thanks for your helpful video personallized for me :)
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Khiem Nguyen Oh yeah, sometimes it's one additional layer that mixes things up again! This is why I am always arguing to practice a piece with different rhythms, it is like looking at a beautiful gem from different angles and it will feel different for your hand each time! Keep up the good work!
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Khiem Nguyen Nice work! I'm not sure if you intended to "roll" the double stops, for example the octave Gs, but I actually like that effect. Keep it up!
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Well, I here goes nothing!
My first attempt at sketch 2. Don't be too hard on me!
What I found easy: Having fun clowning around
What I found difficult: the notes
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Steve Pederson Hahaha, lovely background!
It's amazing to see the speed with which some of our users *cough Eric Phillips cough* are exploring and discovering the intricacies of these studies 
But those Sketches are here to stay, so don't worry if you don't make it through all of the Sketches over the course of this Challenge (heck, I won't be able to post a video on every piece as well). Thank you for sharing your first contact with that piece, it's great to see that you don't hesitate to show a work in progress (which I don't find embarrassing at all by the way :), because it will make us appreciate the effort behind a practice update even more! Great that you already took so much care of the hanging notes on beat 3 on each bar!
I really did enjoy the talking as well, it's great to meet our users on a more personal level
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Steve Pederson I love that video (and yes, I watched it all)! First of all, it made me laugh, which is always appreciated. Also, we got to see the first steps of you turning those blobs on a screen/page that we call a score into actual music in your hands. For what it’s worth *cough Martin cough*, I am hitting a brick wall on number six.
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Steve Pederson Hi Steve - great post, I really enjoyed it (and the chat). It's a lovely sketch and I think your tone is so well suited to it. Well done.
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Eric Phillips Oh yeah, No. 6 is a tough one! While the shapes always change, at least the rhythm stays consistent!
I'll dive into the later Sketches on Saturday and show practice approaches and some little details I've recognized in them! Sketch No.7, bar 52, three against four, that was fun, phew...
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Sketch V Day 4.
As per Martin's wonderful and helpful input, I'm playing Sketch V again, this time trying to articulate the melody better, especially in the B section. I'm not sure how successful I was, so let me know what you think.
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Eric Phillips hey... you're just sounding better and better each time... I really enjoyed you playing this sketch, and the B part sounds just great... just a minor thing, bar 24 - 3rd beat, the E is flat as in the first chord of the bar.
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Blaise Laflamme You are right!!! I can't believe I missed that! The natural sign on the E in the next measure should have alerted me. I just played it with an E-flat and it sounds better. Thank you so much, Blaise.
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Eric Phillips you were playing this sketch so well that I could not «not» tell you, that way you'll play it perfectly :)
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Eric Phillips Just foud the week 2 thread - I was wandering where it was! Well this certainly worked for me, I though the melody came though beautifully and the phrasing was excllent. Well done Eric!
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Ron Thank you so much, Ron. Glad you found us here in week 2! Now you can add some video updates!
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Eric Phillips I agree with Blaise! I like the direction you're heading to, you're doing always better
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Daniel Beltrán Thank you, Daniel!
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Eric Phillips Wow, such an improvement, the line gets more clear and dramatic like that! In German I'd say that it feels a little bit "verkopft" now, meaning I can feel and hear you concentrating about seperating the voices, but that takes time and WILL improve. The classical guitar is just such a hard instrument when it comes to polyphony! But honestly, this is a wonderful improvement!
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Eric Phillips This was actually my first exposure to this sketch. I haven't even heard Sergio play it yet. I could definitely hear the melody come through nicely. I think you did a wonderful job with it. You've inspired me to want to play it!
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Sketch VI Day 2.
What was easy - Drinking my morning coffee!
What was difficult - I just have no feel for this music or what it should be sounding like. I've listened to Assad play it, and he's obviously better at executing it than I am, but when I go to play it, it's like I'm not even playing the same music. It just feels like I'm going through the motions of playing the notes on the page, and not really creating anything. To be honest, I kind of want to move on, but I know the music just gets harder after this!
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Eric Phillips haha... the brick wall... you really made me laugh! Again what an improvement over your first try of this sketch. You're doing more music that you think in this sketch, because of your natural musicality!
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Blaise Laflamme Assad's markings are so precise in this one, even down to metronome markings for the accelerandi. I find it very difficult to execute such precise indications, especially when I don't have a "feel" for it. I wonder if he knew that the concept of the piece is a bit like an exercise and so went wild on the the dynamic and expressive indications.
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Eric Phillips well, I think you're demolishing that brick wall little by little, Eric! you got a strong head haha. Liked that contrast between the major seveths and the octaves
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Daniel Beltrán Thank you, Daniel. Recording them separately helped me to bring out the contrasts (although there could be more contrast).
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Eric Phillips Oh, that IS a great improvement! I definitely can see a light at the end of the tunnel and start to hear the natural phrasing! Excited for your next update (which is already there, I'm just catching up right now!)
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Eric Phillips Bravo! I stuck with you through the whole thing! I have not heard this peace yet, and judging by those chords, I don't think I'm going to rush into it! I'm pretty sure I can get those open "Bs" and open "Es" right, though!
I thought it was pretty musical. I guess, with any material, you have to make it your own. -
Steve Pederson Thanks, Steve!
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End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
