WEEK 1: Exploring Carcassi's Etudes
Welcome to the Main Thread for the first week of the composition challenge! This is the place to post updates for the first week.
- Make sure you've read the guidelines before replying (<- click)
- Watch the kickoff livestream for help with the first section!
- Get the Scores 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 it!
- (Optional:) questions
↓ Reply below with your updates and questions! ↓
-
Working on No. 18
I used to play this one, and am having fun getting it back under my fingers.
The challenge for me is to balance free and rest strokes for the melody.
I'm trying to bring some musicallity to the piece by varying tonal colors.
Thanks for listening
-
david robinson Bravo!!! very nice
-
Martin Thanks Martin! I haven't found a way to avoid cross-string movements with triplets. I sometimes find i-a alternations to be a better solution than i-m. Was happy to see you agree in your comments to Eric. I started playing classical at 40 years old, and have always atributed my weak i-m alternations to my late start. I appreciate your feedback1
-
-
Hello everybody! these are my videos of my attempts at number 7, and no. 2 after 4 days of practice. I wanted to play them slow and safe and somehow my tempo increased after the first couple of measures in number 7. Big mistake.... recording myself is still very hard for me, so these will have to do.. I will keep practising them along the new ones but and I need to move on onto new Carcassi treasures and for that I need to post these 2. Viva the challenge!!!
Easy: nothing really, first sight reading to say one
Difficult: This study is full of little traps... Changing patterns, achieving fluidity, the sound of my a finger sometimes too metalic spoiling the melody, and then when you master it, changing the colour and giving it the musicality it has.
-
Emma Very nice tone!
-
david robinson Such a beautiful performance, it was warm and touching
-
SULTAN BAMUKHIER Thanks for comments!
-
Emma good job Emma! Experts always say gaining control is more important than speed. Then you are already in the right direction. I can see that you have very good control of your movements in both hands at the video. I want to avoid giving you a tips from my side because I am afraid I might give a wrong piece of advice. I think Martin will be able to suggest the next step to you. But I think you already have it under your hands at the moment, and it is just a matter of time, you will be soon improved easily, although it is a difficult piece for both hands in the end. My last remark is maybe you can try out the dotted rythm practice, you will likely see improvement very quickly in terms of control and speed. :)
-
Emma Nicely done. These "allegro" etudes played slowly allow for more expressiveness I think and give it an different character. Looking forward to the zoom this Friday on this one.
-
Emma great playing Emma. Very musical and such a lovely tone!
-
Emma EMMA! Good to have you back! That was a beautifully controlled interpretation, I see that you took special care in controlling your left hand position in the slur passage, good job!
Maybe you can make it to the next interactive livestream on August 27th , we can talk about this slur passage in depth and if your comfortable with that maybe even present that passage? 
-
Martin thank you!!! I will be there for Friday’s lesson! thank you all for your comments, very encouraging!!!!
-
Emma You are very welcome, looking forward to Friday's session with y'all!
-
Emma Very nice tone!Brava!!
-
Emma bravo Emma! Nice control
-
-
And this is number 2!!! Please don't fall sleep, it is very slow. Will increase speed each few days. I will keep practising along the new ones.
Easy: The first sight reading
Difficult: The main one, not cutting short the last note of the second and fourth beat of each measure. Also I have been practising for these beats the pattern m a m a which sounded worse than the pattern i m i m, I need to improve my attack with the a finger. And then translating from my head to the video that wavy sound that I imagine for this piece
-
Emma sound good and peacefully,
-
Emma These we’re both lovely, Emma!
-
Emma brava! Very good Emma. It sounds zo sweet and secure.
-
Emma Bravo! You are challenging yourself with the right tasks with this one! Performing it at a slow speed will make you extra aware of the connections between different chords!
-
Emma Brava!!!
-
Emma wonderful Emma! Nice musicality! It's good to have you back
-
Emma That sounds so lovely!
-
Emma very legato and well controlled Emma! Very nice tone also!
-
-
Hi All, thanks for some excellent performances and great comments/insights to these wonderful Etudes. This past week I have focused on three Etudes, #2, 3 & 4. These are old friends that I studied years ago and it was fun to get reacquainted. Much has been said about Etude #2 & 3 so I will only add a couple of comments.
For the famous Etude #3, I would say that the key to playing this for me, is to bring out the melody line with the “a” finger. To do this, I use a technique that I learned from Maestro Abel Carlevaro. When Carlevaro wants to bring out the melody line with the “a” finger, he initiates the string attach with a slight movement of the right arm. This same technique can be used to bring out the melody in Etude #4.
Another area in Etude #3 in which Carlevaro’s technique was useful to me was when making contractions with the 4th finger of the left hand in measures 7, 12, 13 & 20. I found these contractions can be easiest done by keeping the 4th finger of the left hand somewhat passive and move the left arm slightly forward away from the fret board. Again, this is a classic Carlevaro technique in which he uses the arm to initiate contractions and shifts rather than the fingers alone. For those interested in learning more about Abel Carlevaro's technique, I would refer you to his School of Guitar book.
-
Dale Needles Thank you for your comments! About #3 and the right arm movement, could this be similar to what Sabrina is doing in Etude No.16?
I am happy to announce that we will have Alfredo Escande talking about Carlevaro Technique coming for a Livestream September 17th after your recommendation!
-
End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
