Week 3: Show your Flowers! 
Welcome to the Main Thread for the third week of the "Music YOU Love" practice challenge!
- Make sure you've read the guidelines before replying (<- click)
- Watch the kickoff livestream!
↓ Happy Sharing! ↓
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Here is my final contribution to this month's challenge, Abel Carlevaro's beautiful prelude, "Ronda." Ronda is the fourth prelude in Carlevaro's Preludios Americanos series. The complete set of five preludes was premiered in 1963 in Montevideo, Uruguay and published in the 1970s by Barry Publications. This prelude starts off with a simple little round and then takes you unexpected places. BTW, if you are interested to learn more about Carlevaro music and school of technique, check out the new Carlevaro Discussion Group in the Forum.
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Eric Phillips Thanks, Eric. I feel the same about listening to your interpretation of Sor.
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Dale Needles Bravíssimo! This is a dense piece of music, and you played it in a beautiful way. The contrasts are stupendous, and your tone is great. Thanks for sharing and for spreading Carlevaro's compositions!
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Moyses Lopes Thanks! Ronda is one of my favorites, taking a simple melody and making it so rich and dense as you say. I also posted this in the Carlevaro Discussion Group - Composition Thread. Hopefully some folks will venture over to the Carlevaro Group and check out more about Carlevaro's school of technique and compositions.
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Dale Needles Really enjoy listening to you playing Carlevaro music, Dale. The music sounds interesting and distinctive. For me, modern music like this is hard to interpret, but you played it so well and beautifully, thanks for sharing.
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Wai Thanks, Wai. I also like your interpretation of Carlevaro's Microestudios. Any chance you could post some of them on the new Carlevaro Discussion Group on the Composition thread?
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Dale Needles Yes, I would love to practice more Carlevaro studies/music, but recently I am practicing Bach and Sanz music, and I only have time to practice one piece at a time (Don't know why, really love those early music). If I made any new practice videos of Carlevaro studies, I would definitely post it on the Composition thread.
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Wai I totally understand. I was thinking you could post some of the Microestudios that you already recorded from your Practice Diary. No need to record anything new, just select a few that you already recorded and are the happiest with. I think you could be an inspiration for others to try out these great Microestudios. Just a suggestion.
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I wasn't able to get much farther with Rodena since I last posted because life has been somewhat too busy and stressful for me to tackle it. Maybe I'll record what I have so far by the end of the month, but I picked up another song this last week and it's somewhat addictive to play, so I've been able to work through it quickly. I could use some more slowed focus on hand positioning and technique, but I felt like sharing what I have so far because it's just a very fun piece to learn. Here's Sons de Carrilhoes by Joao Pernambuco.
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Austin Flemming Wow Austin! That sounds great, and it's such a fun piece. I see you are really enjoying it, and that's what guitar playing is all about...
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Austin Flemming Awesome, Austin! You probably already know this, but Stephanie Jones has a great lesson on this piece here on TB.
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Austin Flemming Your joy in this piece is infectious, Austin. Great job and thanks for the inspiration.
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Barney Eric Phillips Jack Stewart thank you for the kind comments. Someone else told me about a good video on here, I have yet to check it out but I intend to soon!
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Austin Flemming Such joy!
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Austin Flemming Great!! Such a nice performance! Obrigado!
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Austin Flemming Nice Austin. Such a cheerful song and I thought you really brought that out.
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Sor - Minuet Op 11 No 4
I will take one more stab at this one before the challenge ends. I'm not sure if I'll have time to work on number 5 any more today.
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Eric Phillips Sounds wonderful Eric! Such great dedication to Sor's pieces. (I love Sor, as Sor and Carcassi were my very first serious study books...).
Your left hand/arm gestures look very smooth and relaxed, great!
btw, Is that the Tappert Ergoplay support you are using, and do you like it? (I have one, but not sure it's set up best for me yet...)
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Barney Thanks, Barney. Yes, it is an Ergoplay Tappert. I got it about a year ago. The only other guitar support I've owned was something called an A-Frame that I bought about 30 years ago (not sure if they even make it anymore). The Ergoplay is definitely a step up from that in terms of stability. The foam padding that rests on my leg did lose it's adhesive and come up a bit, but I have held it down with black duct tape. It's not the most attractive thing when seen up close, but I don't really care about that. Other than that, I'm pretty happy with it. One nice thing about my old A-Frame was I could fold it up and store it in the case, under the headstock. I can't do that with the Ergoplay, which is less convenient, but it seems very few guitar supports offer that kind of easy portability. I'd recommend the Ergoplay, but I haven't really tried any others. A lot of people seem to really like the one with the magnets (I forget the brand name).
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Eric Phillips I think this your best yet, Eric. Your other postings were very good, but you seem to have completely relaxed into this piece. Very impressive.
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Jack Stewart Thanks, Jack. I definitely feel more confident about it now. I'd like to get to that point with #5 as well, but it's just not there yet.
Will we hear some more Bach from you before the challenge ends?
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Eric Phillips I was wondering if the Troster model of Ergoplay would be any better, but worried it might bring the guitar up too high (I'm not tall). Ashley Lucero likes her Troster.
Anyway, as long as it feels stable and puts the guitar in the right position for you , great!
I also use a Dynarette cushion which is quicker and easier to grab and play, but not as stable...
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Eric Phillips I am trying... I posted a complete version of the Courante but it was so bad I pulled it. I have it such that I can play it but I can't really control it and it sounds horrible. I still have hope though... so we'll see.
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Jack Stewart I am certain that you are not fully appreciating your own playing. I love hearing you play Bach, and the “mistakes” really don’t take away from how well you play.
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Eric Phillips Careful! I may repost my last video and make you eat your words
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Eric Phillips FYI- I just posted the Courante. I'm afraid I am not very happy with this one either but it is better than the one I took down.
I will continue to work on it though.
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End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
