Week 4: "Samba Strings Showcase"

Jack Stewart thank you  for posting Mircea's annotated score. I remember that livestream , Mircea showed so many ways of practicing the etude: doted rhythms, bursts,  with/without  planting,  accents, quite eye opening. I also practice the dotted  and bursts rhythms as part of my regular warm-up . I still find it difficult to accentuate only a finger,  I should follow your example and work on that, as it should definitely improve  finger independence and articulation. 

Calin Lupa Barney Per Carlevaro description of playing HVL Estudio #1, he recommends playing first arpeggio with the flesh of the thumb (remember keeping the thumb "laterally displaced, attacking forte with the muscular aggregate") In Carlevaro language, this means the thumb is straight and uses the strong muscle which attaches the thumb to the wrist in actuating the stroke.  The i,m,a should be played forte using Toque 2 (fingers slightly arched).  When repeating the arpeggio piano, the same flesh stroke of the thumb is to be used but with less force.  For i,m,a, he recommends Toque 1 (free stroke), which is an attack in which the fingers are completely relaxed. This is described in his Master Class edition on HLV Studies.  Nevertheless, if you are new to Carlevaro' School of Guitar, this can all seem a bit overwhelming or confusing.  It takes time for this all to make sense but given the effort, the results can be amazing.  In any case, you are playing this Estudio extremely well, and may want to focus on making more of contrast between the forte and piano arpeggios and later on, as you learn more about Carlevaro's various Toques, you can begin to apply them if they are something that you like.  I hope this helps.

Dale Needles thank you for the detailed explanation, it does make sense. Now applying this to my playing ... a different story :) , it will take time indeed.  You clarified an important point, which I misunderstood previously,   which is that the thumb with flesh can be used not only for piano but also for forte,  therefore I assume thumb with nail can also be used for playing both piano and forte, and the other Toques too , each giving though a different color to the sound.  Is my understanding correct? 

Calin Lupa For the most part, you are correct. For each of Carlevaro's "toques" one can elicit a forte and piano dynamic.  Additionally, each toque gives a different timbre or color to the sound.  However, there are a few exceptions to this and it should not be interpreted too literally. For example, toque 5 which is used to bring out a metalic timbre, is almost always used when playing piano.  In any case, if you want to explore this more, please move the conversation to the Carlevaro Forum under the Technique section.  Additionally, I am planning to post there some examples of Carlevaro exercises for the right hand in the coming week, beginning with his excellent arpeggio exercises using toque 1.  

Dale Needles will do, thank you! 

martin Opps! Sorry Martin. Since Mircea’s image was on the title screen I assumed it was his.