Week 4: From Cardoso to Carlevaro!
Greetings, everyone! We are thrilled to welcome you all to the Latin American Music Challenge! 
In this exciting journey, we'll be immersing ourselves in the richly diverse and vibrant world of Latin American music, a world that's deeply interconnected with our beloved instrument
This challenge presents an opportunity to not only enhance our skills but also to appreciate the cultural richness and musical complexity that Latin American melodies bring. From the passionate rhythms of salsa to the poignant strains of the tango, we'll explore it all!
Please remember, we have an extensive category in our library dedicated to Latin American Repertoire. This library is a treasure trove of courses designed to provide deep insights and technical knowledge about various aspects of Latin American music. Make sure to make the most of it!
We are excited to kick-start this musical journey and we hope you are too. Let's dive in!
https://app.tonebase.co/guitar/library/repertoire/latin-american
CHALLENGE TIMELINE
- Challenge Start: Kick-Off on June 30th
- Duration: June 24th - July 24th
- Watch Party: July 30th, 10 am PST
ACTIVITIES
- Choose Your Piece: Select a new piece of music to work on. Share your choice in the thread below and inspire your fellow musicians!
- Video Submission: Submit a video of your practice this week. Highlight your favorite passage from the piece that showcases the origin of this piece!
GET INVOLVED
Let’s kick things off with enthusiasm! Share your progress, encourage others, and explore new musical horizons together. Can’t wait to see what everyone chooses!
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Pedro Ramirez Sanchez – Madrigal
I found a video of this on YT performed by David Jacques. According to him, Sanchez was from Argentina and lived from 1885-1959. I found the score in a set of five pieces by him published in 1939 (see attached file). I have not been able to find out anything more about him, so if someone knows anything, please let me know.
This piece has a very sweet and beautiful melody. Listening back to my video, I can tell right away that I need to bring down the volume of my accompaniment a lot in order to bring out that melody.
This was not intentional, but I have noticed that all five of the pieces I have played in this challenge have been from Argentinian composers, and all but one of them has been in drop D tuning. If I ever get a second guitar, I think I’ll just keep one in standard tuning and one in drop D, since I play with that tuning so often. That low D in the bass just makes the guitar resonate so beautifully.
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Eric Phillips wow, 5 pieces already Eric, bravo. I myself struggle with one piece for a challenge. and all 5 pieces played beautifully. The melody surely is sweet, the chord progession is so calming as they resolve.
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Following Eric's lead, here is another little gem from Argentina from the guitarist/composer Abel Fleury (1903-1958). The title is Estilo Pampeano. Fleury was well known in Argentina during his time and is associated with the Argentine actor/poet, Fernando Ochoa with whom he collaborated. He also toured as a soloist throughout Latin America and Europe, performing pieces by Latin American composers.
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Dale Needles I really love this one, Dale! I have heard Abel Fleury’s name many times, but I never have spent time with his music. I really like the dramatic flair of this piece, and it shows off your excellent right hand ability.
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Dale Needles This is another gem, Dale. It seems like I have heard of Fleury though I certainly don't know his music. Thanks for sharing this.
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Dale Needles I'm not familiar with Fleury's work, but enjoyed your performance very much. Beautiful playing, Dale!! I also like when you share these compositions outside of Carlevaro's repertoire. Great stuff!
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Dale Needles Really loved this piece and so beautifully played
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Nijwm Bwiswmuthiary Shurikyaa, Nijwin. Where do you live in India? I have visited India several times and really enjoyed my time there.
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Dale Needles Oh, that's nice to hear that you've been in India. I'm from the northeastern part of India called Assam (a state like Texas of California in the US). I highly recommend you visit that part of India, if you havent already. It's like a mini-India with a lot of diversity and numerous tribes and languages. I belong to a tribe called the Bodo-Kacharis.
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Nijwm Bwiswmuthiary Nice to hear where you are from. Unfortunately, I have not been to that part of India. My work and travels took me to New Delhi, Udaipur (Rajasthan) and the Ajanta and Ellora Caves (Maharashtra). I have such fond memories of the people, beautiful scenery and the rich history of India.
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Dale Needles I've not heard any of Fleury's works before, but this is a delightful little piece and I really enjoyed your performance Dale. Thanks for sharing
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Brouwer Tres Apuntes II 2nd attempt
I think this is a little better. A bit more cohesive, perhaps. (except for the ending). I am getting more comfortable with it though I still need work on dynamics and phrasing. At least I'm not tapping my foot. (I made a whole series of recordings earlier and you could hear my foot tapping in all of them. It drove me nuts. )
I will start to try to put I and II together over the next few days.
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Jack Stewart Good work, Jack. I haven’t looked at the score, but at the beginning and end (the less active sections), it does seem like you’re counting in your head, groping a bit for the timing. In the rest of it, you seem quite comfortable and so it flows better.
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Jack Stewart That is sounding really good. I love these pieces and you capture the feeling of this piece so well, a bit haunting and melancholy. Looking forward hearing I & II together and hopefully eventually III.
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Eric Phillips Thanks Eric. You are right I am counting. I struggle with syncopation, especially when it is slow. I will start to work on trying to develop a more intuitive feel for it. However, I have always been rhythmically challenged.
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Dale Needles Thanks Dale. I never really looked at Apuntes II until this challenge and I really like it, though it really challenges my weaknesses. There is little chance I will get to III any time soon - if ever. It is pretty much way over my head.
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Jack Stewart This very good Jack. Look forward to hearing I & II together. I've listen to III and it certainly does sound very challenging!
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Pedro Ramirez Sanchez - Madrigal (July 21)
I'm taking another stab at this beautiful piece. This time, I was more focused on bringing out the melody and keeping the accompaniment quieter.
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Eric Phillips Beautiful Eric! It keeps getting better...
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Hi, everyone, this is second take on Leo Brouwer's Un Dia De Noviembre. I'm somewhat satisfied with this, although there's still a lot of room for improvement. Slurs, harmonics and vibrato are my obvious weak points. Not the best video recording and I was sweating a lot from the humid Indian summer. No AC or fan because I was worried about the background noise. Anyways, hope you guys can give me some constructive comments. Thanks for watching.
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Nijwm Bwiswmuthiary This is SO good, Nijwm! Your slurs are very clean, and you make that big stretch look so easy. The melody is singing very clearly. I think this may be my favorite performance I have heard from you.
Some ways to elevate it might be to add more dynamic, tone color, and tempo contrasts. For example, the B section can be very effective when played a bit faster and with a brighter sound than the A section. In the final A section, a well-placed fermata just a bit before the end can really intensify the sadness of the ending. Just a few thoughts you could play around with.
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Nijwm Bwiswmuthiary Very nicely played and very noticeable improvement from your previous post. The misic flows very effortlessly from your playing and you capture well the melancholy nature of the piece with your phrasing and tone color. Eric has some good suggestions about integrating a little more tonal dynamics by using some contrasting timbre (dolce vs claro) in selected phrases or specific notes. Nevertheless, keep working on it, it is sounding very good.
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Eric Phillips That's hugely satisfying and encouraging to hear positive feedback from you Eric. I have anxiety issues and I'm often a nervous wreck performing before a camera. These wonderful forums are really helping me to begin to overcome my anxiety.
I'm trying to be more keenly aware of musical aspects of my playing and develop my listening skills. Now, I can't wait to incorporate your advice in improving my interpretation of this piece. thank you.
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Dale Needles Thank you, Dale, lovely to hear your thoughts. I'll definitely use your valuable feedback. I'm often so preoccupied with the technical aspects like getting the correct notes, rhythm (mostly because I'm still not always technically secure) that I lose sight of the finer elements of dynamics, timbre and phrasing. But, yeah, sukhriya/dhanyabaad/gwjwnthwng/thanks for the feedback.
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Nijwm Bwiswmuthiary This is a really good performance Nijwm. I love the phrasing and, as Eric says the slurs are very clean. Thank you for sharing!
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Ron Thank you Ron, very happy to hear your feedback.
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