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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I decided to visit some Renaissance music for this challenge. I have not played music from this era in decades. Last time was as a beginning guitar student, where the pieces assigned from this era were very simple. This Fantasia is more advanced and a bit tricky in some spots that need attention.
This transcription is by Alirio Diaz, and I believe in his recording, he used a Capo at the 3rd Fret. I don't own a Classical guitar Capo, so if anyone can suggest the best one available for Classical guitar , I would appreciate it. The last time I used a Capo was on Electric guitar for a part in The Eagles song Hotel California.
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Eric Phillips I checked and did not see "Tapping" skills (for Eruption) mentioned in Sor's method book; it must be in a supplement.
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Barney Wow Barney, that was beautiful. The music flows very well and great color accents. I want more!
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Barney Yes, the supplement includes tapping, pinch harmonics, pick scraping, and whammy bar dive bombs.
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Eric Phillips Frankly, I thought his discussion of chicken pickin' was a bit weak, and he hardly even mentions string bends. And then, to top it off, he just glosses over pedal boards like they don't even exist. I mean, what's up with that!?
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Blaise Laflamme Thanks Blaise!
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Eric Phillips Yes, all relevant for Eruption and other Van Halen stuff...
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Barney stupendous! great performance, Barney, the piece was almost finished! Thank you!
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Moyses Lopes Thanks Moyses!!
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David Krupka Sorry for my delayed response, but I think this will help clarify some of the omissions in Sor's Method Book.
He actually didn't have much experience with chicken picking. As you probably know, chickens were quite expensive back then. His financial situation did not allow him to have enough chickens to actually develop much technique.
I don't know if he actually used pedal boards but I found a picture of Sor using a proto Waa Waa pedal. He was quite disparaging of the earlier Meow Meow pedal and Woof Woof pedal.
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Bogdanovic Monk-a ning Complete rough draft
This is a complete, reasonably intact, posting on Monk-a-ning. Well, I say complete - I did not play the repeat of the first section. I felt it was too precarious to go for a second round. Kinda muffed the beginning and end of the middle section but with some imagination you can probably imagine how it was supposed to sound.
This is much rougher than it should be. I have been overwhelmed with fingernail issues so I have decided to try playing without nails. I don't like it (at this point). I can't control the tone and feel very disoriented with my right hand. I don't know if I will be able to post again for this challenge. It will take me some time to adjust effectively to no nails. We are leaving next week for a 2 week road trip so I won't be able to practice during that time. I will keep following everyone else's progress and will be back home before the watch party.
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Jack Stewart Love it. Very quixotic! I really hope you keep working on this piece. It suits you well and I look forward to hearing it the next time we get together.
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Jack Stewart This song is a riot! I love it! And, I appreciate that you're going for it despite the challenge with your fingernails. Enjoy your trip!
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Dale Needles Thanks Dale. I will definitely keep working on it. Hopefully I will learn to negotiate nailless playing more successfully over time. Maybe by our next get together I'll actually be able to play something.
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Steve Pederson Thanks Steve. Our trip will take us to visit some cousins that I haven't seen in years. Should be nice.
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Jack Stewart That is awesome, Jack! It really swung! If you had told me that was something by Joe Pass, I would have believed it completely.
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Jack Stewart Great piece, Jack! It looks like a real workout for the left hand, but you're pretty much nailing it. As for the right hand, it does take a bit of time to re-orient its position to accommodate a nail-less attack. But if you are willing to persist, it will feel perfectly natural in time. Or so at least I have found.
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Eric Phillips Thanks, Eric. Bogdanovic is a pretty amazing composer. It's like Joe Pass playing Thelonious Monk.
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David Krupka Thanks, David. I have finally got it mostly under my fingers but the right hand is going to take time, as you said.
"...it will feel perfectly natural in time" - That's great to hear, because my playing has never felt natural before.
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Jack Stewart This is really nice, Jack. I love how a lot of his work rides that line between accessible and not. So good.
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Jack Stewart I am not very familiar with Bogdanovic, but from the few pieces I have heard (like yours), I am amazed by the breadth of styles he incorporates.
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Steve Price Thanks Steve. It seems the Balkans are something of a hot bed of classical guitarist and composers. Atanas Ourkouounov is another interesting composer from that region.
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Jack Stewart Great Jack, thank you for sharing this, you remind me how Bogdanovic and Ourkouounov are amazing composers! I'm with you about nails, I can't play with any great dynamics or colors without them, it's such a pain.
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Jack Stewart Great choice and performance, Jack! This piece is really like you, with a great sense of humor, you played nice, even without nails...
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Jack Stewart that is impressing!!
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Moyses Lopes Thanks Moyses. I'm hoping I'll find some solution for my nails issue. Until then, I guess I'll I can do is roll my eyes and laugh.
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End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
