Week 2: Ballads and Barcarolles 
Welcome to the Main Thread for the second week of "Song and Dance" practice challenge!
Choose a piece that is inspired or transcribed from a song or a dance. It could be a lively south-american danza, a passionate tango, a serene romantic lied, or a poignant aria transcribed for the guitar. You're welcome to explore pieces from unfamiliar composers or challenge yourself with a complex work.
Commit to daily practice and share your journey with the community. Aim to practice every day and upload at least two videos each week to illustrate your progress. This will not only help you stay committed and encouraged but will also allow you to share your musical voyage with our tonebase family.
Share your favorite piece or recording that embodies the theme of "Song and Dance." Your submission will serve as an inspiration to others and create a vibrant pool of potential pieces for other members to delve into.
↓ Happy Sharing! ↓
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John Dowland - Round Battle Galliard
I had played this on the guitar many decades ago, when I still had Noad's "Renaissance Guitar" anthology. Now that I have a lute, I thought I'd give it a go again.
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Eric Phillips Totally rockin' it!
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Eric Phillips I agree with Jack Stewart you're sounding great and very well played!
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Eric Phillips Dowland and renaissance music sounds so good on your lute, great playing!
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Eric Phillips That sounds great, Eric. How heavy is the lute compared to a guitar? I read something where someone said it felt like he was going to break his lute after playing guitar since the construction was so light. It looks like I pretty good-sized instrument so are they made with thinner material?
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Steve Price The first thing anyone says when they pick up a lute for the first time is usually, “Wow! That’s really light!” I assume the wood used is much thinner. I have never felt like it was on the verge of breaking, though. It’s definitely sturdy, and mine is a relatively inexpensive instrument (about $1000). I actually love the lightness of it. The bowl shape is difficult at first to contend with, but a strap made that a lot easier.
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Eric Phillips Thanks for the information. I can see how the bowl shape could be difficult to get used to. I had an Ovation round-back years ago and it was a bit of a challenge.
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Eric Phillips That's beautiful, Eric! I just received the lute songbook that was edited by Rob Mackillop from Amazon, but I noticed that the tablature doesn't have any ornamentation marks, I think I need to find a way to learn how to add ornament to lute pieces.
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Wai I’m no expert, but I know that it’s a very big topic. I tend to just add a few of my own from time to time when there is nothing in the score. I think Brandon Acker might have treated the topic in one of his TB lessons.
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Eric Phillips BTW I was just watching a YT by Lorenzo Micheli and it looks like he plays guitar like a lutenist. He plants his little finger on the soundboard and his fingers seem to come from below. It might be useful to check it out.
After all, changing your style of playing after decades of playing might provide fun for years to come.
There is also a video of him playing a theorbo in case you feeling limited in the number of strings you are dealing with.
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Jack Stewart Yes, I have noticed that about Lorenzo. Actually, since attempting to play the lute, I have noticed that in several guitar players who also play early instruments. I'm not sure if they do so just because they find it difficult to change their right-hand technique, or if they actually find it works better. I have found that, when I have a quick little burst of 2-3 notes, I often find it easier to play with p-i or p-m like a lutenist, and not with two fingers like a guitarist.
As for changing style providing fun for me, the jury is still out. Maybe in the end, I'll come up with one technique for both instruments that blends traditional guitar and lute techniques. Right now, I still feel like I am definitely a guitarist who dabbles in the lute.
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Jack Stewart Eric Phillips For what it's worth, that's how I generally play the guitar as well. There's no doubt I started doing this as a result of my experience with the lute. (But I have long played 'acoustic' guitar in a similar manner, and that had nothing to do with lute - I guess I learned to play that way in the first place.) In any event, I now find it difficult to maintain a modern 'standard' right hand position, despite having formerly (and for many years) played that way. However, I will say that the raised fingerboard of the modern guitar presents certain difficulties for the 'anchored pinky' position. It's just what Jack notes - you have to attack the strings (especially the first string) from below. This is not ideal, I find, although Lorenzo seems to make it work.
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David Krupka '...Lorenzo seems to make it work.' Boy, does he! I find his playing is beautiful. I haven't noticed whether he has any of the 'monster' pieces in his repertoire but he certainly has many very challenging pieces that he performs wonderfully. I guess people can adapt to most anything with will and determination.
Besides , my personal go to whine stopper is reflecting on Django Rheinhart only using 2 fingers on his left hand. That always shuts me up.
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Jack Stewart Years ago, in a bar in Belgium somewhere, I heard a guy who had lost his entire left hand! He strapped a slide to the stump of his arm and played delta-style blues on an old resonator guitar. (He was, I learned afterwords, an ex-pat American living in Europe, making a living playing in local bars and night-clubs.)
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BWV 996 Courante ....still a rough draft Darn it!
I have been working on reviving this piece since I posted it in the February Love Challenge. I thought I just about had it down when my nails finally gave out. Nailless really destroyed this for me until this week. I am hoping I can get cleaned up in the next 2 weeks.
The trills are pretty good here, still need work, however, I am encouraged. My balance, phrasing and articulation still need a lot of work. Really botched the first section B but the repeat was better.
End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
