Leo Brouwer's Estudios Sencillios!
Welcome to our next Study Group — a collaborative, peer-led dive into a beautiful piece of music over the course of two weeks.
This time, we’re diving into the methodical riches of Brouwer’s Estudios Sencillos 1–10!
This is not a course or a class — it’s a space for mutual exploration, discussion, and shared progress. I’ll be learning the piece alongside you (again — it’s been a while!), and I’m excited to discover new things together.
🗓️ What to expect:
Over the next two weeks, we’ll focus on:
🎯 Fingerings and technique
🎯 Methodical background
🎯 Interpretation and expressive choices
🎯 Your own questions and perspectives!
We’ll also meet for two live Zoom sessions to share progress, chat about challenges, and nerd out over all things Brouwer.
✅ How to participate:
Sign up through the Forum
Grab your score of the Estudios Sencillos
Introduce yourself below!
Join the prompts and discussion
Share your thoughts, ideas, or a clip of your playing
📅 Live Zoom Calls:
🗓️ Dates: July 28th – August 8th
📫 Sign-Up
421 replies
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Hi everyone, I just wanted to say that I am really enjoying the discussions here, and this is one of the things that I was hoping to get out of Tonebase. Looks like we have some great momentum thanks to Uncle Leo. (Hello!)
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Hey Tonebuddies, here's a quick take of Estudio #5 for sharing technical and interpretation ideas! Forgive the rough edges and missing notes, I need to polish it more and I'm running out of time, but I wanted to share the character and articulations that I like to do! 😅Let me know your ideas!
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ha! The bendig... nice!
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An idea from my former teacher, hard not to do once you've heard it! A bit harder with these new strings, I'm used to lower tension, then easier to do!
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you reminded me of Michael Fox in "Back to the future" when he goes solo in "Johnny be good". I don't quite understand why... Hahaha. Nice energy.
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Haha... nice reminder... at least it's not the opening scene when he breaks up the amp! 😅
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Excellent, Blaise! Really nice energy. See, that whammy bar we were just talking about would come in handy after all, lol.
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Well, we should bring back that symbol to #5! 💪
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Great! Nice energetic direction.💪
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Michael J. Fox actually was playing that cherry red Gibson-345. Very sad about his Parkinsons. What a great movie!
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indeed!!
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Thanks Barney, yeah sad story for M.J. Fox :(
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Whoa !!! That bend !!! Tres nickel !!!
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Hehe... a nice trick!
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I love your interpretation of Brouwer V. You bring out a different feel to each of the rhythms -- nice contrasts. And I'm going to have to try out bending the notes in m9!
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Thank you Jane, I'm glad you like it and that it gave you some ideas to try!
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What kind of recording setup are you using? The audio quality and the volume are great. When I try to record myself, either with my MacBook's built-in mic or with an external Zoom H2N mic, I never get that kind of "up-close-and-personal" sound that you are getting. Are you sitting very close to the mic? Are you using any kind of condenser mic that is attached to the guitar?
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Hey Marc, it took me some time to find a good setup for doing shareable quick videos, I like and I'm used to a more elaborated setup for my YT audio & video productions (Thanks to Martin!). I think it would be possible for you to get something similar with your H2N, but in my case I'm using the MiCreator System Set (Simple Audio Interface + Studio Microphone with USB-C connection), by Austrian Audio, the set also has a satellite unit (for stereo recording), and they provide a great sound for this purpose. I plug to my MacBook Air and record using Quicktime with my iPhone as the camera (with the Continuity Camera feature), I sit in front of my computer, a bit on the left to side-face the camera and microphones, and they are about an arm's length from me. I could also just plug the audio system to my iPhone and record, but I always find it more convenient to process on the computer, I'm old! 😅
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That is some setup! I would love to be able to replicate it, but my wife says that if I bring one more piece of music-related stuff into our small apartment, she will toss everything out the window.
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😂Well... You'll have to get rid of other gear then!
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You mean my wife? Done !!!
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😂... I hope not!
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Beautifully played, Blaise. The piece starts out mellow and sweet and then suddenly takes these mysterious turns. You evoked those feelings in me.
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I'm glad you like it, well with these kind of short-micro pieces we have to find ways to quickly build contrasts, also part of what makes them challenging!
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That's a very insightful and interesting perspective. I'll remember that and try to bring it out in my own playing. That's the wonderful thing about this forum, we can learn so much from each other. Coincidentally, lately I have been trying to really focus on dynamics, something of a weak point in my playing. Focusing on technical details, can sometimes takes us away from the musicality and beauty of it all. So, thanks.
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