Week 1: Prelude to Villa-Lobos

Jack Stewart Maybe that is how Tarrega was inspired to write his Grand Vals. His phone with a Nokia ringtone must have gone off while he was playing.

Nijwm Bwiswmuthiary Thanks, Nijwm! I do think you have the technique to play some HVL pieces, if you want. You said you can play Etude 1 at 90bpm, which is far better than I can do, so why not work on that for this challenge? Of the preludes, I think number 3 is the easiest. It looks hard on the page, but when you actually get to playing it, it is not too bad. Prelude 4 is often considered to be fairly easy. The B section scares people, and I am currently not able to play it with any kind of speed, but I think it can actually sound pretty good when played much slower but very musically. I do think number 1 is attainable by you right now, but it is quite long, and the sheer number of challenges in it might take you more than a month, but why not just work on a section of it?

Also, check out the Suite Populaire Brésilienne, from which the Mazurka-Choro I am working on comes. I think you could manage of few pieces from this suite.

I'm not sure how to respond to your question about how easy it is for me to play a new piece. It depends on the piece. I have plenty of technical limitations. To be honest, with the way my right hand index finger has lost all independence these days, I actually do not think any of the HVL etudes are playable by me right now. You mentioned several aspects of good technique, and other than good sight reading ability, I don't think I have any of them. I avoid fast pieces like the plague. If a piece has right hand arpeggios that require proficient use of the index finger (like HVL's Etude 1), I simply cannot play them. Sometimes, I have to find a way to re-finger arpeggios, avoiding the index finger, like I did in the coda at the end of the Mazurka-Choro here in this video. It's not ideal, but it gets the job done.

So, know that the struggles you have playing new pieces are struggles we all have. For me, the key is sticking to pieces that are challenging, but are still playable by me right now, and not worrying about my inability to play everything in the repertoire that I'd like to play. When I let go of what I cannot play, and dive into pieces I can play, I am much happier and playing brings me a lot of joy.

I hope that helps!

Jacques farmer Thanks, Jacques! I hope to make small improvements each day.

Eric Phillips Beautiful!  I love this suit and the Mazurka-Choro is one of my favourites. I'm in awe of what you can achieve in 1 hour! You should have the whole suite recorded by the end of the challenge!!

Ron Thanks, Ron. I'm just going one piece at a time. I wouldn't mind bringing this one to a much higher level and working on it for a while.

Derek Thanks, Derek. Good to hear from you, and I really hope we get to hear you play again soon. Also, I'll give you a "cookie" if you use words like "blimey" more often in your posts! 

Nijwm Bwiswmuthiary Thanks, Nijwm. I certainly was not trying to pressure you into playing any HVL, I was just trying to encourage you to try some since I think you have the technique needed to play some of his pieces. If you’re working on other things, though, we all understand. I’ve taken a break from some challenges as well. That said, I’m sure nobody here would mind you posting other pieces that are not by HVL (or even related to him). If you’re like me, posting things to the community gives you a bit of motivation.