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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2 Sor Etudes op. 31.20 and op.6.6
I intended to make a quick revision of these 2 etudes and then move on to the op. 26 Variations (like that was going to happen). It was taking me longer to recover from a month of no guitar and the op. 26 wasn't showing much promise. On top of that my wife wanted us to host her family for Thanksgiving - 30 people! We used that as an opportunity to clean house (think Fibber McGee's closet on a massive scale). In short I am very late to this challenge with not a lot to show.
I have presented the op. 31.20 earlier this year but wanted to see if I could improve on it. I don't think I did but at least I revived it. The op. 6.6 is being revived from years od dormancy. I was feeling I was just about to get it together when my fingernails failed me - again. I was able to make a recording of it but it is pretty rough. Not much musicality in either of these.
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Blaise Laflamme Thanks Blaise. I have to play very forcefully w/o nails which contributes to my tone difficulties as well as blister development, especially on the 'a' finger. But having gone thru nailless playing before my playing is developing quicker than the first time.
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Nijwm Bwiswmuthiary Thanks Nijwm. I appreciate your encouragement.
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Jim King Thanks Jim.
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Marilyn Blodget Thanks, Marilyn. I am concentrating so much on getting volume w/o nails that I lose some finesse. Your suggestion is a good reminder to focus more on phrasing.
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Jack Stewart I understand you, I currently have nails problems especially with «a» and I have an hard time getting the sound right. My guitar is going to the luthier for 2 days then I hope they'll grow a bit!
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Jack Stewart Wow, well done, Jack! I found that Sor really liked parallel 3rd, and you played them very well!
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Jack Stewart I am not an expert but this is a great performance Jack
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Wai Thanks Wai. Sor did indeed like his parallel 3rds, and 6ths (op 6.9). I hope to use op. 6.6 as a springboard for arranging the Beatles' And Your Bird Can Sing for solo guitar.
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Andre Bernier Thanks Andre.
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Hi Jack, thank you for sharing your return to these two "workhorse" etudes. It's interesting to watch how clearly both pieces are embedded in your muscle memory. You have a solid rhythmic pulse in both pieces that is pleasing to this listener. Great work and I hope the nails grow fast as you return to practice.
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Here is an update on my playing of Sor's Op. 60 No. 9. Still have plenty of issues to work on but I believe that I have improved over the challenge.
As noted in a previous week, this is the first time I have participated in a challenge. Looking forward to future ones, if nothing else to learn to relax when making a video recording.
Here is my submission:
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Wow! What great progress, Jim. Your performance is very fluid and well phrased.
I would suggest that you work on right hand preparation which involves planting your RH fingers before playing them. There are several very good lessons available here on that topic. I use a set of exercises by Mircea that I use as a daily practice. I find them very helpful.
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Jim King Great work, Jim! It is sounding more fluid and musical.
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Jim King Nicely done Jim. You made great progress. This very nice piece is on my work list for next year.
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Jack Stewart Jack, could you provide the link of the lesson or course with the exercises on the subject of planting your fingers? This could be very useful for me.
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Andre Bernier Here is Mircea's RH Preparation: https://app.tonebase.co/guitar/courses/player/mircea-gogoncea-teaches-intro-to-rh-preparation-pt
I use his 'moveable chord' exercise for warm up. I began by just holding the E major chord (strings 1-4 only) and play as a block chord, planting all fingers before playing. I then accent each RH finger as I play the block chords. This helps learning to accent certain notes in a melody / accompaniment arrangement, or separating lines in counterpoint. After going thru Mircea's exercise I then do the same with Villa-Lobos etude 1 arpeggio pattern just on the e minor chord. I plant fingers before playing each pattern and then I accent each RH finger during each pattern. I accent first the thumb every time it plays, then the 'I' finger (this one is challenging), then 'm' and then 'a'. I do this using a metronome as slow as I need to play smoothly.
I hope this helps (and makes sense.)
Some others:
Thomas Viloteau:
Scott Tenant:
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Jack Stewart Thank you Jack. In the time leading up to this posting, I was focusing on phrasing and flow, as well as tempo. I wasn't so sure that the phrasing came out very well. Thank you for the confirmation.
As for the RH preparation, it is interesting that I have been practicing planting all fingers in my technique exercises but I haven't incorporated it into my repertoire playing. Thank you for pointing that out. I'll need to pay more attention to this.
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Eric Phillips Thank you Eric. Feels good to start to bringing these qualities out in my playing.
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Andre Bernier Thank you Andre. It is a challenging piece for our level, but very enjoyable. As you probably know, there is a TB lesson on this piece which is helpful.
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Andre Bernier As for the exercises that Jack Stewart is mentioning re planting your fingers, Werner also has exercises to practice this in his classical guitar technique book, along with a lot of other exercises.
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Jack Stewart Thank you for posting those links to Andre Bernier on RH preparation. I am sure I will find them useful as well.
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Jack Stewart Thanks Jack, I did bookmark these courses and will include them in my learning program. I am sure this will help me
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Two Menuets from Op 24 (Nov 30)
The first video here is an update of the Menuet Andantino Lento No 1 that I have already been playing this week. The biggest difference here, perhaps, is that I have it memorized.
The second video is the Menuet Andante No 6 from the same opus. This is my first time ever playing a piece with the sixth string tuned to F. It was actually not as disorienting as I thought it might be. Eventually this needs to be a bit faster. This piece reminds me a lot of Sor’s Op 11 No 4, which I worked on in a previous challenge. I’m surprised that I don’t hear this opus played more often.
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Eric Phillips Very nice Eric. Bravo
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Eric Phillips Very nice, Eric. Op. 24.1 is as beautiful as ever and #6 is lovely.
BTW, which guitar did Steve Pederson give you for your 'scordatura guitar'? It looks very similar to your other guitar.
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