What are you working on?
While Martin is on his family leave, several community members have expressed a desire to have a community-driven challenge as a way of connecting and sharing our musical journeys again. And so, with the authority vested in me by absolutely no one, I hereby initiate the "What are you working on?" Challenge!
So, let us all know what you're working on, and feel free to post some videos (or just sound tracks) so we can hear your progress and support one another.
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Thank you to tonebase for the excellent teaching videos fall 2024- Jan Depreter with Turina and Granados and not least Arturo Castro Nogueras (and Jobim and Dyens) for Felicidade-- a piece that I never thought I would/could play - and you may agree after hearing the video ;-) - I admit wide space for improvement. But I am stubborn and will work further for many hours.
BTW; there is a place called Practice Diary where you can upload what you bare working on Unnfortunately it does not get much attention eventhough much more different names appear there than in the challenges.
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Lars Kjøller-Hansen Bravo!! Such a great piece and an inspiring performance!! Thanks Lars
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Eric Phillips Jack Stewart Stefanie Mosburger-Dalz Andre Bernier Marc Adler Ron . Thank you so much for your nice comments. I am glad you liked the piece. There are of course many much better and professional versions on YouTube. But you should start with Roland Dyens performance. This song from the movie Black Orpheus— the movie won prices but I find it, having watched it while practicing this piece, only see worthy for historical reasons- was the kick to bossanova outside Brazil..( The song is much slower than the solo guitar versions ) The composer Jobim later wrote “Girl form Ipanema” and “One note Samba”
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Lars Kjøller-Hansen I love this. Great playing. It’s not my first choice of music, personally, to actively practice, but the way you’re playing makes just great listening. Your control, motivation and energy, very convincing, thanks for sharing, Lars
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joosje Thank you. So much. Yes preferences are different, but we like all (guitar) music. I mostly play pieces from 1880 and forward.. but I dream to play Bach1006 suite. BTW I really enjoyed your Carcassi etude 19 from the cathedral (although hardly your most preferred and prioritized performance piece) really beautiful and the most authentic (sole!?) reverb sound I have heard on TB
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Lars Kjøller-Hansen A very nice performance, Lars! Really great rhythmic drive! I think I know what you mean when you say that you never imagined you would ever play such a piece. Especially on first hearing, It sounds so impressive and difficult! But often, I find, what appears difficult turns out to be a kind of illusion - a few ingenious tricks crafted by the clever mind of some imaginative composer. What initially seems impossible turns out to be entirely feasible. (Not easy, of course, but learnable!) I don't know if that is the case here, but it is something I have encountered from time to time.
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David Krupka Thank you. .. and you are right. . And in general I enjoy and admire your (many
) comments which I think all express intelligence and thoughtfulness
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Miguel Garcia (Padre Basilio) - Minuetto
Here is an update to this piece that I posted at the top of this thread.
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Eric Phillips Really really, Beautiful, …and indeed lots of progress.
Only I actually don’t like that artificial reverb. Probably most disagree with me. I know you sound excellent without artificial reverb. I know from experience that even a top professional guitarist playing in a living room sound s more like an unedited iPhone recording -
Lars Kjøller-Hansen Thank you, Lars, for listening and for the kind words. Thanks also for your thoughts about artificial reverb. I do not claim to have a particularly keen sonic palette, but I do like the sound better with a little reverb added. That said, I also like my scrambled eggs with ketchup on them, so maybe I am not a person with discerning taste.
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Eric Phillips Sounds great, Eric - clear, lovely phrasing! And, compared to your earlier take, I like the warmer tone of of your guitar at this pitch. I tend to agree with Lars Kjøller-Hansen about the use of reverb - it never sounds quite natural to me. Ideal, I think, is to record in a warm acoustic environment - a large, wood panelled hall, for example - but most of us don't have access to such spaces. And of course, a touch of reverb has become something of a norm these days. It's an interesting issue, to be sure!
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Eric Phillips Such a fine job, Eric. Phrasing is excellent. So impressive to hear your postings. Great example of what can be achieved with dedicated and focused practice. And your choice of pieces is always inspiring
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joosje Thank you for your kind and supportive words, Joosje! This piece seems a "good fit" for me, technically and musically.
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Eric Phillips Great performance Eric. I have to say that I really like the little touch of reverb and no Ketchup on my eggs
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Andre Bernier
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Eric Phillips
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Eric Phillips Beautiful performance, Eric. Your first video was very good but this is at a different level altogether. Your slurs are very crisp and the phrasings and dynamics are wonderful and really enhance the music.
When I went back to listen to your first recording I noticed the different pitch. What tuning are you using in the different versions? I believe I determined that the fingering is the same.
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Jack Stewart You and David Krupka really do your homework! Yes, In this video I am tuned a half-step down. If I remember correctly, I was trying to match Carles Trepat’s tuning in a video of him playing this, since he seemed to be playing a slightly different version in a few places, and I was figuring out what he was playing. Since that time (a week ago?) I have just kept my guitar in that tuning. I do think it sounds nice.
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Eric Phillips I thought maybe your inspiration for tuning down a half step was Jimi Hendrix. But since you didn't play with your teeth or behind your head I figured the influence must have been elsewhere.
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Jack Stewart Well, now I feel inspired to set my guitar on fire!
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Here is Part 2 of John Powell's Beginner suite. Still a lot of work before I can play it properly but it is progressing
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Andre Bernier This is coming along very nicely, Andre. Great work! I look forward to hearing both parts together.
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Andre Bernier Sounding good, Andre! You are playing it with good control, smoothly and at a good tempo. Occasionally, you are cutting the notes of the melody a bit short. My suggestion would be to try to play the melody line alone, playing it very legato, with each note lasting for its full duration. Then, when you add the other parts back in, try to keep the melody at that same high level.
If you're not sure which notes are the melody, let me know and I can make you a quick video.
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Eric Phillips Jack Stewart
Thanks for your comments and suggestions. My plan is to keep learning separately each part of the suite and start to slowly integrate the parts together in a ''performance practice''. The next recordings will be part 1 and 2 as a whole and part 3 alone. I hope at the end I will get reasonably good
Very good suggestion Eric. I will practice that aspect this week.
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End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
