WEEK 4: Fernando Sor for Everyone!!
WELCOME TO THE MAIN THREAD FOR THE LAST WEEK OF "Ferndando Sor" PRACTICE CHALLENGE!
- Select a mesmerizing piece from Fernando Sor! Whether it be a delicate Sor etude, a powerful solo work , or a little miniature, the repertoire is in your hands
- Dedicate yourself to consistent practice and share your musical evolution with our community. Aim for daily practice sessions and upload a minimum of two videos each week to document your progress. This will not only fuel your dedication but will also allow us to partake in your musical expedition within our tonebase family!
- Contribute your most cherished performance or recording that resonates with the "Sor Guitar Soiree." Your contribution will not only motivate but also help curate a diverse anthology of pieces for our members to discover and enjoy..
↓ Happy Sharing! ↓
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Hi guys, I need to ask you something unrelated. I just noticed sympathetic resonance at the 7th fret of my guitar. If I play an E on the A string, the low E on the 6th string ring out. This is is true till the 3rd string. Is this normal? I have a factory made Yamaha- CG122 MS.
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Eric Phillips it's quite interesting and fun to discover so many new aspects of the instrument as we progress in our journey with it. And thanks for the repertoire recommendations, I'll check them out tomorrow.
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Nijwm Bwiswmuthiary I think my resonance is not so much sympathy as it is pity.
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Sor - Les Folies d'Espagne (Var. II & III)
After one more week of practice, I was barely able to play two more variations of Sor's Folies. This piece has proven to be more challenging than I anticipated, and my recording is still in a very rough stage. The 4th variation and the Menuet are beyond my reach this time, maybe I will try to tackle them in the next Sor's music Challenge.
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Wai Beautiful, Wai! I particularly like that third variation. I find it very difficult to achieve legato on this piece, with such a busy left hand, but you are managing it brilliantly.
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Wai This is beautiful, Wai. I am especially impressed with the second variation, though both are beautiful variations that you perform exquisitely.
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Wai very impressive, I love the resonance you're producing, really crisp. Btw, what level of difficulty is this piece?
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Wai you're doing great Wai, this is indeed a more challenging piece than it looks on paper but that'd be a nice complement to Giuliani's variations on the same theme.
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Nijwm Bwiswmuthiary Thank you, Nijwm. The entire piece turned out to be more challenging than I thought. While I believe I can manage grade 6 ABRSM pieces without much difficulty, I consider "Les Folies d'Espagne" to be beyond the level of grade 6, particularly when attempting to play all the variations in one sitting.
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Eric Phillips Jack Stewart Thank you guys!
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Blaise Laflamme Thanks, Blaise. Both Sor's and Giuliani's versions are more challenging than they look.
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Fantasie Elegiaque Op 59 Nov 25
This is my first recording of the entire piece, and probably my last posting of it for this challenge. At just over fourteen minutes, it is easily the longest piece I have ever played. I will definitely continue working on this until I have it memorized and I feel confident with all the parts. It might take me a year or more to get there, but I really want to do it, since I love it so much.
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Eric Phillips This is a stunning achievement, Eric. You have presented a finely crafted and beautifully performed a complex work over 14 minutes. Bravo indeed!
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Jack Stewart Thanks, Jack. Now the real work begins!
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Menuet (Andantino Lento) Op 24 No 1
This is an unusual piece for Sor, that I hardly ever hear played. It's in C minor, a beautiful but difficult key for guitar. The phrasing is also somewhat odd, and difficult to sort out. I feel like this still needs more work.
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Eric Phillips That is a very interesting piece, very weighty and melancholic for a minuet! Your performance was excellent, as usual, Eric.
I have the score to this in a set of Sor's works - subtitled VI - Petite pieces. It is a Japanese publication so I have no more information than that. (I assume there are at least 5 more volumes since this is #6). It differs slightly from what you played. This one repeats the 'A' section (though it is written out rather than using a repeat sign). All of the other Menuets in this opus repeat the A and B sections. #1 and #6 write out the repeats of the A section whereas the other 6 minuets use repeat signs for all sections. I haven't tried to track down facsimile or urtext edition so I have no idea if my edition is trustworthy.
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Jack Stewart Thanks, Jack. The score I was using also repeats the A section, written out (no repeat signs) like you said. I just decided not to repeat it for this recording. No reason, other than it seemed like a good idea at the moment. Since recording this, I have given a listen to the other pieces in the opus, and I really like them a lot. Most of them require retuning the sixth string to F, which I have never done before. I'd love to play them all, but that probably won't happen.
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Eric Phillips After reading your comment I just realized that my edition also has most of that opus requiring the 6th string retuned to F. I saw the indication to 'retune the 6th string to ...' and assumed it was D. I am also reluctant to retune. I have a few pieces that require drop D which I tend to avoid until I am ready to learn several at a time. Maybe the solution is just having more guitars. Perhaps we should discuss this with Steve Pederson.
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Jack Stewart Sounds great! Is Steve Pederson giving away free guitars?
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Eric Phillips This is indeed an interesting piece and you're so right about Cmin, it rarely makes anything easy
but you did great again, thanks for sharing! -
Eric Phillips this is a lovely idea to have Steve Pederson giving away free guitars!
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Blaise Laflamme Eric Phillips Jack Stewart On one condition...you must promise to keep your low "E" string tuned up to F and rework all your repertoire with that tuning!
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Steve Pederson haha... I think Eric Phillips is crazy enough to do it!
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Steve Pederson I so promise! Shall I send you a shipping address? I'd like a Romanillos, a Hauser, a Torres, a Panormo, and a Lacote. I will absolutely keep them all tuned differently if that makes you happy.
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Eric Phillips Hey, how did you know I had all those in my private collection?
Interestingly, there is a guy I saw on IG who is giving away a free Córdoba C7 to anyone who signs up for his guitar program. Maybe that's what I should do - give away guitars as an incentive! For what, though, I do not know.
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Steve Pederson I didn't know you had all of those guitars, just hoping! I assume cases are included in your free offer? Maybe an extra set of strings and a tuner?
I saw that ad for the free Cordoba C7 too. I'm holding out until it's a free Romanillos when you sign up for a free one-week trial. (In case you can't tell, I really like things that are free.)
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End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
