Week 6: Triumph & Reflections
Get the Scores for the Carcassi Etudes op.60 Challenge
HOW TO BEGIN 
Ready to join the "Carcassi Etudes op.60 Challenge"? Here’s your starting line:
- Pick Your Etude: Dive into the evocative world of Carcassi by selecting an etude from op.60. Whether it's a piece that tests your technical limits or one that you've longed to perfect, the choice is yours.
- Commit to Practice: Embark on a disciplined practice routine, aiming for consistency. Share your journey with at least two video updates each week on our platform. This commitment will not only enhance your skills but also enable us to experience your progress, fostering a supportive atmosphere in our tonebase community.
- Share Your Practice: Submit a recording that you feel best captures your connection with Carcassi's music. This will inspire and contribute to a rich collection of performances for our community to enjoy and learn from.
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Here’s my take on studies 3 & 16. I’m a little reluctant to post – as soon as I start recording the tension kicks in - so please excuse the fluffs & face contortions!
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joosje Yes that's very true - listening back there are a number of things that I hear which I would change, like dynamics and making sure I don't clip the last note of the triplets!
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Jim King Thank you Jim
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Blaise Laflamme Thank you Blaise. I tried to treat it like a performance so I only played each once, but going forward I think I will do the same.
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Ron Two excellent performances with everything well controlled. The recording process will always be accompanied by some tension. It just gets less as you go along. I try not to listen to playbacks right away because all I hear are mistakes. But if some time goes by, the nice features of the recording will emerge.
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Neil Macmillan Thanks Neil - yes, it's easy to just hear the mistakes!
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Ron Bravo! Be sure that we all play and make mistakes. As joosje said, 'recording is unforgiving'. I would add that the guitar (to my ears) is specially unforgiving! I get tremendously nervous when recording myself. What helps is to think about having fun with all the experience.
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Carlo Martins Carlo thank you - good advice!
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Ron Well done Ron. Bravo
It was very nice listening your work. -
Andre Bernier Thanks Andre
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Ron Great job Ron. You have 2 wonderful performances here. The etude #3 is especially effective. I believe #16 could be benefit from a slower tempo. It is such an introspective piece.
Both were played beautifully.
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Jack Stewart Thank you Jack
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Thanks Barney you're right. I think in the past I've felt they were never quite good enough to post so I didn't, but this time I just did one recording of each and decided to go with them. Hopefully it will get easier!
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After Ron’s very nice interpretation of no. 16 I hesitated, but then decided to submit my last take of the same piece. I had taken it a bit slower this time, and listening back I think it works well in both tempos, which is so interesting and illustrates that Carcassi is a very good composer.
I tried to intensify my vibrato, but I still don’t hear it enough.. the new strings (Savarez Creation NT) work well, not too sweet…
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joosje Beautiful Joosje! The main issue we have at slower tempos is keeping melody sound ringing (as our plucked instrument's sound decays quickly) to maintain legato. Nevertheless, you do a superb job to make it very musical.
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joosje Beautiful Joosje, it definitely works well at this tempo and your use of vibrato sounds goos enough to my ears.
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Barney Blaise Laflamme thank you !
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joosje Lovely performance Joosje. I too thought the vibrato sounded very good. It's such a beautiful piece and for me both tempos work well. I loved your control and timing.
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joosje Sooo beautiful Joosje. I also like this slow interpretation, It reveals in this piece so much calm and sadness. I will definitively keep this piece on my working list.
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joosje This is such a pensive and introspective etude. Your playing is absolutely beautiful here. I believe this is my favorite of Carcassi's etudes. Thanks for this very emotive performance.
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Etude no. 13. One piece I used to practice from time to time. I don’t hear it played often. It is again a challenge to find the most effective tempo. Not so easy to keep the tremolo even, and the middle melodic line clear enough. Your observations and advice most welcome….
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joosje Well done Joosje. I always find it amazing about classical music as to how different the same piece can sound when played by two or more performers. I guess that is one the things that makes playing classical music so interesting.
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joosje Looks and sounds like a fine illustration of how this should be played. Excellent! I don't recall ever playing this one, but your performance inspires me to take a look at it . Thanks for sharing!
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Jim King Barney thank you!
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joosje Wonderful, Jossje. I would imagine maintaining the tremolo on this would be quite challenge but you handled it very well. great job.
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It looks like some of us were interested by #16... then here's my own version... As a personal choice I opted to use right hand preparation to execute the written accompaniment articulation and to not make the bar repetition for the second section.
End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
