Martin Zimny: Un Dia de Noviembre - Live Lesson (Jan 7th) / Questions Suggestions
Happy New Year to all of you! 
Now that the festive time is over, the cold, wet German winter is swallowing me again, always remembering me of the rainy days in November. That's the time when I find myself playing melancholic and nostalgic repertoire like "Un Dia de Noviembre" by Leo Brouwer, an all time favorite of mine! Let's dive deep into this wonderful piece and extract principles of right and left hand technique and it's various applications! 
Find the start time in your time zone by clicking the photo or following this event link:
https://app.tonebase.co/guitar/live/player/martin-zimny-un-dia-de-noviembre
We are going to be using this thread to gather suggestions and questions!
- What questions do you have on this topic?
- Any particular area you would like me to focus on?
Forum questions will be answered first!
"Un Dia de Noviembre" is surely one of the big classics in guitar repertoire. Initially written for the film "Un Dia de Noviembre" by Cuban director Humberto Solas, the solo piece quickly became an all time favorite among all levels of guitar players, ranging from beginner level hobbyists to encores of competition champions. We will look into the specifics for right and left hand technique in order to enable your most effortless and musical interpretation of this gem!
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Thanks Martin, excellent initiative, I studied it but I have not deepened it
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I understand that there are differences between different editions of this piece. Which one will you be using? Thank you.
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Martha Kreipke I'll be working with the Chester Music Edition which I purchased digitally via sheetmusicdirect.com!
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martin I am in the process of recording this piece for the masterclass with Mircea :-). I also have a Chester Music edition and I think there are a few mistakes: in bar 16 there should be an A after F (in acompaniment), in bars 26-27 and 44-45 there should probably be harmonics. Similarly (I think) in the last bar. Or maybe just a different performance practice? The triplets in bars 35 and 41 are also performed differently by different performers. Last but not least - I prefer C insted of G in bar 4 :-)
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Marek Tabisz Yes, there seem to be different editions out there, I'll definitely look closer at the bars you mentioned! Maybe I can get a hold of another version as well and I'll try do some comparisons of different interpretations, where the differences will be hopefully unveiled as well!
Yes, I see what you mean in bar 4, it seems off at first, but if you feel the resolve towards bar 5 it makes sense not to bring the plagal cadence between bar 3-4 (which is F major to C major)! But my students regularly mess up the basses in that piece, especially bar 7 (3rd beat) where they play another G instead of an E, haha -
Marek Tabisz martin I have notes from an instructor in another workshop that these are the errors in the Chester edition:
Missing harmonics: Measures 17, 26-27, 49-50
Measure 46 should be A-G-A-G-A instead of A-B- A-B-A
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Martha Kreipke I agree - I play all harmonics and A-G-A-G-A
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Hi, I was working on that piece, too (and still I am). I have different scores, but finally I use the Chester version. However, if you listen to Brouwer's own playing (for example: https://youtu.be/dCiap9-GY0w), there are indeed some changes in the score (you may call them mistakes or errors - and if you listen to several recordings (I am a kind of LP/CD freak...) there are also different versions regarding all the points that are mentioned here in the thread). I used to play A B A B A in bar 46 for a longer time, which is a bit more difficult that A G A G A, but sounds very nice, too. However, Brouwer himself plays A B A B A (in the above mentioned recording), so I recently switched back to A G A G A which was the version that I played when I started learning that piece. Very remarkable is Brouwer's strong change in tempo from bar 28 on, it is not just a slight acceleration... (and there is nothing said about that in the score; maybe this can also be discussed; currently, I prefer a very slight change in tempo in my playing, playing it a bit faster than the part before; I feel that this part expresses a contrast, maybe a kind of relative happiness, to the first part, which sounds very melancholic and sad).
The piece is wonderful and offers so much space for interpretation and expressing feelings, emotion by playing with different tone colour, contrast etc.
I would love to join on Jan 7. However, I have to give a lecture online myself that evening (not guitar but totally different stuff
) but maybe I will make it at 9:15pm (German time).
I wish all of you a nice live lesson! -
Robert in the recording he plays - i think - with capo on first fret
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Here are, for example, approximately the differences between the Chester Music release, Rene Izquierdo's performance, and mine from measure 43.
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Marek Tabisz Thanks for the score examples. Yes, I noticed too, that the triplets are played so differently by different players... (like 10 players -> 11 versions
).
Regarding AGAGA vs. ABABA (m 46) in the above mentioned version of Brouwer, whether with or without capo, the direction from the A (or whatever it is) is downwards one step (let us say G) instead of upwards as in the Chester score (B). I have not checked, whether there are different versions played by him (but I would be not surprised, if there are some; and maybe there is also a difference in having a studio or a live recording).
Regarding the score: there is a version called "Revisión y digitación: Jesús Ortega". This score shows harmonics of the e in m17, m26, m27 (all 5 e), m49 (1st volta), m50 (2nd volta), and m51 (Fine) - but in different notations: m49 as before with "m.d" and high notation (artificial harmonic on empty e string on fret XII), but m50 and m51 in low notation without "m.d." but also empty e string (see picture).
The Ortega revision also shows AGAGA (m46).
And it shows a difference in m44: the second c is one octave lower than in the Chester score (see picture of Ortega's score).
The measures with triplets in Ortega's score are slightly different, too (see pictures, m35 and m44).
Best,
Robert
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martin Hi - looking forward to your masterclass. I too am curious about the different versions. I purchased an "autographed Leo Brouwer" version directly from his Cuban? website/store. Thinking that was the authorative version???
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Chris Ooooh, I cannot find it on his store! What a shame, I would have loved to see that!
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@martin3 Thank you for your prompt reply. I purchased the same edition and am looking forward to the live event on January 7.
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I tried to find the time by clicking on the photo as directed. I received an error message. Could you please post the time of the live event? Thank you.
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Martha Kreipke I'm sorry Martha, that's on me - we've had a small issue with adding new events over the break, it should be fixed today. This livestream will start at 11 am Pacific, which is 2 am Eastern, 7 pm UK time, 8 pm Central Europe (Germany, France, etc.), 10 pm Moscow.
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End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
