Week 4: Harmonic Heights 
Welcome to the Main Thread for the fourth week of "The Transcriptions" practice challenge!
- Make sure you've read the guidelines before replying!
- Watch the kickoff livestream!
Pick a transcription that was originally composed for another instrument, like piano or violin. Don't be afraid to choose a challenging piece or explore works from composers you haven't played before.
Commit to practicing daily and share your progress with the community. Aim to practice every day and post at least two videos per week showcasing your progress. This will help you stay motivated and accountable, and also allow you to share your transcription journey with others. Whether you're tackling a complex piece, refining your skills with a piece you already play, or experimenting with new playing techniques, the community is here to support you and celebrate your achievements.
Share your favorite piece that you would like to see transcribed or your favorite recording of a transcription. This will not only inspire others in the community but also provide a rich resource of ideas for everyone to explore. Plus, it's a great way to celebrate the creativity and artistry involved in adapting music from one instrument to another.
↓ Happy Sharing! ↓
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Lascia Ch'io Pianga (From "Rinaldo") - George Frideric Handel
I've been practicing this piece for a week now. Although it's not too technically difficult, I still kept making mistakes, hesitated, and experienced memory slips. Nonetheless, I wanted to share my progress with you all, and sorry for ruining this beautiful piece.
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Wai I really enjoyed this Wai. I’ve never heard this arrangement before. It’s beautiful! Please don’t apologize. I’m sure for all of us there is usually a disconnect from what we intend and what we do. Playing the guitar is a lesson in humility. Thanks for adding a moment of beauty to my morning!
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Wai this Handel piece is transcribed very well to the guitar. And great playing Wai!
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Marilyn Blodget Thank you for your kind words, Marilyn. I was feeling a bit frustrated because many of the mistakes only appeared when I recorded the video. I hope that I'll be able to share a better version in the near future.
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Khiem Nguyen Thank you, Khiem!
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Wai This is great, Wai. I have never heard this in any version. Thanks for introducing this to us.
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Jack Stewart Thanks, Jack. I found this piece in a Japanese guitar book, the name of the arranger is Michiwo Tashima.
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Wai I love challenges like this as I get to discover new music. I've never heard of this piece before. This works so well on guitar, very grand. Honestly I can't tell any mistakes, played really well.
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Wai lovely playing, Wai. It’s well done, also this arrangement. nice discovery.
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Wai Very nicely done!
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don Thank you for your kind words, don. Have you heard the singing version of it? It was absolutely sublime!!
Here is the YouTube link of it: https://youtu.be/EKo_EmfEPWs -
Wai wow. I am normally not the type to listen to opera but this really nice. especially with headphones on!
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Rameau Allemande II 1706
This piece has proven to be really difficult for me. I continue to have trouble establishing decent tone controI. I am also having a lot of difficulty playing this piece w/o a lot of mistakes. I removed the original posting because I was so embarrassed by it. I will try to get a better recording in the next couple of days.
I've also included my transcription w/ fingering (though I have just changed some as you can probably tell by the video.)
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Jack Stewart was this originally written for lute? It is shaping up really well already.
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don Thanks Don. This was originally written for keyboard (Clavecin).
I listened to this again this morning and I have to admit that I am really embarrassed by this recording. I am going to try to get a better recording. So far, I am not able to have much tone control w/o nails but I should be able to eliminate most of the blunders.
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Jack Stewart Think 4 weeks is really not enough to master a piece. This is already shaping up nicely just need more time. Thanks for sharing, I discover another nice piece of music thanks to you!
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Mahler's Symphony no 5 - Adiagetto
This is what I can learn up the the tremolo bits. There are still portions especially during the crescendo and harmonics that needs more work to it. The biggest challenge I have with this piece is that it is really slow and there are times where I accidentally speed up or forgot what I'm suppose to do next.
Thanks to this challenge too. Had it not for this challenge, I would never have pick up this piece to learn because of the tremolo portion.
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don This is coming along really well, Don.
I would have thought that Mahler would have been the last composer that could be transcribed for guitar (well, with fewer than 50 strings), much less one of his symphonies. However this works really well. Great job.
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don I've also found that slower pieces can be particularly challenging to play on guitar because it's difficult to maintain a smooth, legato sound. We have to hold each note for its full value, which leaves only a small window for smooth transitions between notes/chords. Of course, faster pieces also have the similar difficulties, so they're no easier for me either.
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Jack Stewart That's why I love the guitar, we can play so many types of music.
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I realise I’m actually too late in this challenge, but I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to present some pieces in a totally different style. Also inspired by Wai and Steve in the Spanish mini Challenge. But these are not Spanish. The early Baroque composer Michael Praetorius. These pieces are from his ‘Terpsichore Musarum’, a set of (about) 300 dances for instrumental consorts. The transcriptions are by an Uruguayan maestro Jorge Oraison (living in the Netherlands, I had lessons with him, long long ago.). The fingerings are not easy. I wanted to learn these pieces for a long time, but there are some stretches and position changes that make it quite hard to keep the phrasing legato and the rhythm dancing,… keep trying and hope to have them more fluid by next winter (for our Xmas home concert).
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joosje Really beautiful pieces. Great addition to the challenge. Thanks!
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joosje These are really nice, Joosje. When I was at the University of Maine I played in a Renaissance consort of sorts - we mostly used modern instruments, and we played some Praetorious. Thanks for the memories.
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joosje Those are really lovely Joosje! The last one reminds me of Saltarello credited to Vincenzo Galileo (father of Galilei Galileo-inventor of the telescope) from Chilesotti’s Six Lute Pieces from the Renaissance.
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joosje Your playing was always so musical and beautiful, joosje. Thank you for sharing.
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joosje very beautiful playing! Thanks for sharing!
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