Week 4: "Samba Strings Showcase"
Welcome to the Main Thread for the last week of "Villa-Lobos Voyage" practice challenge!
Select a mesmerizing piece from Villa-Lobos or a composer connected to his Brazilian heritage. Whether it's a soulful Villa-Lobos composition, a rhythmic Brazilian-inspired work, or a piece by another artist inspired by the Brazilian musical tradition, the choice is yours!
Commit to regular practice and share your progress with the community. Strive to practice daily and upload at least two videos per week to showcase your musical voyage. This not only keeps you motivated but also allows you to share your artistic journey with our tonebase family.
Share your favorite performance or recording that captures the spirit of the "Villa-Lobos-Voyage Challenge." Your submission will inspire others and create a vibrant collection of potential pieces for fellow members to explore.
↓ Happy Sharing! ↓
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HVL Etude #5 - Final submission - probably
This is a pretty good version except for an extended stumble right after one of the high points and then another stumble at the end. I have spent the last 3 days practicing and recording this over and over. Trying to figure out which take to use was always weighing 1 botched segment against another. I really should learn how to digitally splice. The takes between recordings were always the best. The fish that got away were always the biggest. So it goes.
I am leaving for a month Spain, Portugal and France on Monday. I should be able to follow whatever is going on but I won't be able to submit anything.
So Martin - don't come up with any enticing Challenges or Livestreams over the next month. A couple of suggestions - The role of the Classical guitar in detergent commercials Livestream, The Ice Cream Truck Transcription Challenge.
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joosje Thanks Joosje. 'You learned it in no time. " - It sure didn't feel that way!
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For my final submission, here is HVL Estudio 4. I have been working on this for a few weeks and while it is close, there are a few areas that still need a little polishing. The challenge with this study is to play the "acordes repitidos" (repeated chords) precisely and rhythmically for four plus minutes, making all the shifts cleanly and with as little squeaks as possible (still some work needed here) and to instill in it dynamic and tonal variety. I would also like to increase tempo ever so slightly, while keeping it Andante.
While I used the Eschig Edition, it included Carlevaro's edits and fingering. I also have a copy of the original HVL score which I referenced as well. It also should be noted that there are a couple of errors in the Eschig Edition regarding a few notes. The first error can be found in the 9th measure. The two inner notes of the third chord of that measure should be G natural and E flat. Additionally, on the second page of the Eschig Edition, when the initial theme returns in the second line marked "A Tempo," there is an error in the fifth measure of the second line. The inner B in the first chord of that line should be a B flat,
Maestro Carlevaro wrote the following about this Estudio, "The original manuscript of this study, which Villa-Lobos gave me (to Carlevaro) in Rio de Janeiro indicates 'aproveitando sempre as cordas soltas' (always taking advantage of the open strings). and its marked "Andante" rather than 'un peu modere' as indicated in the published edition."
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Dale Needles What a beautiful performance of this study! Your playing is clean and precise with nice tonal and color touches, bravo!
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Dale Needles wow! That was really impressive, Dale. Your control and precision were spot on.
Villa Lobos certainly had a penchant for being relentless. Etudes 1, 4, and 5 (among others no doubt) certainly fulfill that description.
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Dale Needles very impressive, it looks like a very difficult piece and you made it looked so easy, very clean and precise. I can hardly hear any squeak at all. What a great study.
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Dale Needles Excellent performance Dale! I never worked on this HVL Estudio #4, but if ever in the future, I will certainly refer to your recording and notes for guidance. It is a model for the rest of us. Thanks for posting it!
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Dale Needles This is really fantastic Dale! Especially when you get up towards the highest frets. That would've been the deal-breaker for me, but you nailed it! Way to go!
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Steve Pederson Barney don Jack Stewart Blaise Laflamme Thanks all for the supportive comments. I was pretty pleased with the posting, but after listening to it again, there are definitely some places to work on. However, as has been mentioned in other posts, HVL needs time to mature and develop under your fingers, so I will keep working on this.
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Dale Needles beautiful Dale. Great technique. And musically captivating.
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joosje Thank you, Joosje.
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Prelude 5 of Villa Lobos has long been one of my favorites. We've got to dust these treasures off from time to time, or they sink into the tarpit of ex-repertoire. I've almost memorized it
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Marilyn Blodget Beautiful Marilyn!
I agree about bringing out the old favorites. It's interesting and fun to see how our interpretations changed over time and vary.
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Marilyn Blodget beautiful! Beautiful tone as usual. Sometimes it is worthwhile to pull out old favorites as during practice we might forgot why we fell in love with the piece in the first place and there are the added bonus of discovering something new..
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Barney Thanks Barney! Yep- we’re all in this together.
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don Thanks Don! I totally agree about revisiting the oldies but goodies! If we live long enough we get a lot of those with a little rust along the edges. You inspired me to give this one a go.
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Marilyn Blodget This is really beautiful Marilyn! Way to give such sweet character and nuance to each of the voices! And, you have a very lovely smile to start and end the show!
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Marilyn Blodget Very nice, Marilyn. I thought that you played the A Section particularly well with your beautiful tone standing out.
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Steve Pederson Thank you so much Steve.
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Dale Needles Thank you Dale!
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Marilyn Blodget Beautiful, Marilyn. You play this with such feeling and tone.
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Jack Stewart Thank you Jack! Again have a wonderful vacation!
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Marilyn Blodget There is somewhat related live stream by Rafael Aguirre (at the 1hr 07 min mark) where he shares a story about a piano Maestro advising his students to mark down their emotions when they first fell in love with the piece so when they revisit them again, they can remember those emotions. And sometimes it is better to leave a piece than to overpractice and lose sight of what makes it so attractive. https://app.tonebase.co/guitar/live/player/rafael-aguirre-how-to-practice
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don That is so true! Thank you so much for sharing! I have fallen in love with so many pieces over the years and I find there is a sweet spot for reviewing them. If I wait too long it’s so much harder to bring them back.
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don And that initial emotional connection is the “hook” that inspires us to dive into a piece. That may change over time and experience.
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Marilyn Blodget very nice, Marilyn.
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End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
