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
112 replies
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Hey !
In this video, I take a close look at Estudio No. 1 by Leo Brouwer — the gateway into one of the most iconic etude cycles in modern guitar repertoire.I’m using the beautiful edition by Frédéric Zigante (though there are others like the Eschig or Leo's own Espiral Eterna editions). For this video, I focused on just the first study, which already opens up a whole world of right-hand technique and Cuban guitar school methodology.
🔥 What I cover in the video:
The fingering choices I personally use
Why I don’t think this piece should be turned into a “play it as fast as possible” challenge
How this etude is meant to be accessible — Leo Brouwer himself said he was delighted to see children playing it as intended!
I’d love to hear:
What fingerings do you use for this etude?
Did you follow a particular edition, or create your own approach?
Any tricky spots where you made deliberate changes?
Let’s compare notes! Always fun to see how different players approach the same piece 🎶
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Hi, all! I'm new to these studies. I'm going to try out 5.
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For #1, I'm curious about interpreting the dynamics? Should they be applied to the melody and accompaniment or just the melody, keeping the accompanying notes at the same level throughout the piece?
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and study group participants, here's a quick take I've done for Estudio #1 (as you can see I wanted to share my computer screen via my soundboard! 😂). I mostly only changed the fingering in the middle part (before the opening part is back), I'm using the one Martin doesn't like (instead of moving parallel 1-3) and I really enjoy how it flows. I'm not playing it as fast as it could be but also not too slow... I'm not really following the indicated dynamics, I'm flowing more with the sound and use some agogic on specific notes to enhance the phrase a bit, and I feel it more fluid and legato than marcato and strong. Let me know your ideas!
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Perfect timing! My teacher asked me to learn these. Ive actually never really attempted any of this. I may not join the zoom cos of the timezone but ill definitely be active here.
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I would love to do this. unfortunetly I have had left hand surgery for Duputren's contradtor and a middle "trigger finger ". been only practicing arpeggios for right hand. Thanks for the invite and hope to join later.
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I look forward to being part of the study group. I've worked on the 10 etudes and am currently focusing on 8, 9, and 10.
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Hey Tonebuddies, as we're already on day two and the discussion about Estudio #1 seems to slowdown a bit, here's a quick take for Estudio #2 for sharing technical and interpretation ideas! In this one, like the scores says, I think about it as a choral writing and also as voices, I could easily imagine a Gregorian-like chant with men's voices. My main focus is about homogeneity and legato of sound for the upper voices, that act as a block, and a supporting bass, a little further back. Although not yet perfect, to achieve this effect I had to use the technique of "swigging freely" as opposed to planting, an amusing reference in a recent Tonebase reel! 😅Let me know your ideas!
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Hi , and All following this interesting thread! Nice rendering, Blaise! I was following course and this estudio came up and I, as sometimes happends, diverge a little bit from some fingerings in a sort of interesting way, so i posted a video on the General Discussion part of the forum. You are welcomed to watch it if you are interested (link below)
My fingerings were motivated by my desire to keep the basses all the same duration and later on I followed my desire to eliminate the open strings in that GBE chord in the development.
I understand how these fingerings may make things a little harder but I am always under the impression that the pieces we have known for a long time are the most fun playgrounds to take chances and fool around a little so that we may find something new and beautiful in between the things that we already know. This Choral, as Rene says, is one of the most beautiful studies. So I'd go to any lengths to make something special of it.
I think the basses are a very special sound material (I think of them as bells and hence my right hand goes always to the middle of the string to play them). I think the legato is extremely difficult to achive and deserves a very careful right and left hand synchronization work. What Blaise mentions about not being able to "plant" and prepare the right hand is something to work on too!