Week 2: Pack your Bags! 
Welcome to the Main Thread for the second week of the "Guitar Music of the World" practice challenge!
↓ Happy Sharing! ↓
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Londonderry Air (Danny Boy) arranged by Toru Takemitsu. This is my first Saint Patrick's Day since Ancestry informed me that I'm 8% Irish. All four of my grandparents emmigrated from Norway. But we were Vikings, so it makes sense.
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Marilyn Blodget That's beautiful Marilyn. Such a full sound. I love his work. And perfect for this challenge... an Irish tune arranged by a Japanese composer on a Spanish instrument. Well done.
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Steve Price Yep! That covers a lot of bases—and played by a Norwegian!
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Marilyn Blodget Beautiful Marilyn, calm, clear and fluid.
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Blaise Laflamme Thank you Blaise!
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Marilyn Blodget Norwegian, really? I've been working on a short piece by Grieg that I might post for this if I have some free time before the end of the month.
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Marilyn Blodget Beautiful, you sound so great!
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Steve Price I’d love to hear it! What is it?
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Moyses Lopes Thank you so much Moyses!
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Marilyn Blodget It's one of his piano pieces from eg 104. I'm heading out of town for a few days, but I'll have it up when I get back. Those Scandinavian composers like Grieg, Sibelius, and Nielsen are my favorites so it's a shame they never wrote for guitar, but it seems some of it sits on the instrument pretty well.
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Steve Price Great! I look forward to it! I love Grieg as well. I grew up playing his concerto theme, and many duets with my violinist father. I visited Trolhaugen, and the associated concert hall on multiple trips to Norway. My daughter’s Suzuki piano teacher had the students perform an all Grieg recital. It was superb!
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Marilyn Blodget so fine!!!I hear the words in my head as you play the song!
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David Krupka ja!
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Stefanie Mosburger-Dalz Great! Sing along!
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For this challenge, I will continue my exploration of the music by Abel Carlevaro with one of his early folkloric pieces, based on the Afro-Latino candombe rhythm which is very popular in Montevideo, Uruguay during Carnivale. I was fortunate to have experienced Carnivale in Montevideo on three different occasions in the 1980s and it was truly amazing to hear the candombe groups playing throughout the city during the month of February. Carlevaro wrote this piece in the early 1960s under the pseudonym Vincent Vallegos.
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Dale Needles Very nice Dale! Love that cool rhythm. Thanks for sharing it!
What kind of padded cushion are you using on left leg under the guitar (looks comfy, haha)?
I use a guitar support (Ergoplay Tappert). Do these type of supports (like mine) put the guitar in a position that would be acceptable to Carlevaro, and work with his concepts and movements?
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Dale Needles That is a really fun piece, Dale. Great playing.
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Jack Stewart Thanks. Have a great trip and talk with you when you get back.
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Dale Needles beautiful Dale, another one from Carlevaro I was not aware of. Are those pieces published somehow or you got manuscripts from him directly?
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Barney Thanks. Yes, the Candombe rhythm is very cool. I am working on another Carlevaro piece, "Tamboriles" which also uses the Candombe rhythm but infuses it with more syncopation and Carlevaro's tonal pallet. Hopefully, I will have it ready to post by the end of the Challenge.
Regarding the padded cushion that I use. It was designed by Carlevaro and actually made by his wife Vani for some of his students. Its main purpose is to mold the guitar to the leg so that it can be positioned at a slight angle so that the right shoulder is not forced forward. In any case, I would suggest checking out the Carlevaro Masterclass Youtube Video which has a section where Carlevaro talks about his approach to sitting position and explains the rationale behind his padded cushion. He also has a Chapter in his "School of Guitar" book on his recommended sitting position and the use of the cushion. Additionally, as far as the Ergoplay Tappert and other types of support, I have not used them, however, I do know that Blaise Laflamme uses a guitar support and also employs Carlevaro's technique.
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Blaise Laflamme Thanks. This piece was never published but was meant to be part of a project of folklore music that was to accompany an album he did under the pseudonym Vincente Vallegos. I got this piece and the one from last month's challenge from the Carlevaro online Library that Alfredo Escande put together in conjunction with Carlevaro's widow, Vani.
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Dale Needles Barney Dale is right, I started using guitar support around 2005 when the chiropractor discovered that my hips were out of alignment. I can't remember if I read something against guitar supports in Carlevaro's SoG, I don't see why he would have been against them. At least, for me, I've never encountered a limitation while using a support that prevented me of using any of Carlevaro's technique, exercices or concepts.
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Dale Needles Ok great, yes I know this site and it has a lot of great material!
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Dale Needles Blaise Laflamme Thanks for the information Dale. I look for to your next performance posting. I really enjoy wonderful playing!
I started reading the "School of Guitar Book". I read the first section, then jumped to the Left Hand part. I will circle back to the Right Hand section next. I have not done any exercises yet, and not sure if they will be performed correctly without someone trained to check.. (Should I just look in a mirror and hope I'm doing it correctly?) I'm going through this slowly.
I read the section on sitting position, but his right leg is placed behind and using footstool. Using the guitar support places both feet flat on the ground and in front. (That's reason for my question).
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Blaise Laflamme Great!! Thanks Blaise.
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Barney Great news you're looking at Carlevaro's SoG, don't be shy to post your questions and share anything you want some guidance over there. As for the footstool vs the support, just ensure you get the same guitar position and angle than if you were using the footstool, in the end the important thing is the stability of the body, leg liftet or not, and the guitar position in relation to the body.
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End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
