WEEK 3: El Canto de la Guitarra 
Welcome to the Main Thread for the second week of our musical Journey to Spain!! This is the place to share submissions of the third week! 
- Make sure you've read the guidelines before replying (<- click)
- Watch the kickoff livestream for help with the first section!
If you want to describe your process (optional), feel free to use the following template.
- Things you found easy:
- Things you found difficult:
- (Optional): a video of you performing it!
- (Optional:) questions
↓ HAPPY PRACTICING, HAPPY SHARING ↓
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My journey progresses well. Third version of Evocacion, big difference vs first one i did 2 weeks ago! This time I played fully.
I will keep practicing and see whether i can improve further. It looks like I am kind of plateauing despite efforts… playing the tough part slowly thousands of times…
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Luciano Salvatore beautiful!!! Really evocadora ….
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Luciano Salvatore sooo melancholic.....thanks for sharing....
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De Falla Homage de Debussy
Ok. This is my first draft (well - 5th) of DeFalla's Homage. I find this piece really difficult. It's like walking a tightrope. There's so little to hide behind (sorry for the mixed metaphors). Some parts are fairly solid but the 2nd half needs a lot of attention. This will become my primary focus, though I will still be refining the Rodrigo. Wish me luck.
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Jack Stewart I think you're a brave soul for taking it on, and it's coming together! You got this!
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Steve Pederson Thanks Steve. There is a fine line between 'brave' and 'foolish' usually determined by the outcome. So..... we'll see.
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Jack Stewart That sounds great, Jack! You are nailing those difficult rhythms, accents, and articulations so well. I would love to be able to play it like that. I've tried this one several times, but everything just falls apart every time I give it a go. (Very clever ending, too!)
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Eric Phillips Thanks Eric. I have wanted to learn this for a long time. I had 'read' thru it a few times and thought it shouldn't be too difficult. Boy, did I get that wrong. This piece is really challenging for me. I still think (foolishly perhaps) that I can some level of competence with it.
Glad you enjoyed the ending. I hope I didn't set the bar too high.
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Jack Stewart wow! This sounds like a hell of a complex piece. Lots of variation, colors, complex rhythms, dynamics. Congrats for choosing to learn it.
Overall it was really good, just in some parts it sounded like you missed some notes!
But really, congrats! -
Jack Stewart bravo Jack, I think you nailed out the essence of the piece, good work. hmmm... it looks like you're playing with a Sagework Atlas
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Jack Stewart It is coming along nice. This is such a great piece so keep it up and I am sure by the end of the challenge it will be flowing beautifully. Again, I commend you for taking on such challenging pieces.
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Jack Stewart wow, Jack. Your are really into this one. And it’s such an incredible piece. Yeah, this 2nd part is crazy. But you’re getting very close. Great sound and intensity, that’s what I really like here!
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Stefano Thanks Stefano. This is a complex piece. It really fails or success on the details. I am slowly getting a grip on it but there is a ways to go.
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Blaise Laflamme Thanks Blaise. I'm not sure I'm ready to declare it 'nailed' -unless you mean in the coffin. I am feeling a bit more confident after todays practice. And, yes, it is a Sagework, though I don't know what model it is. The guy I bought the guitar from included it.
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Dale Needles Thanks Dale. I am sure I will have a much better rendition by the end of the challenge. Though it will be a long time before I have my 'final' version.
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joosje Thanks Joosje. This has been on my 'to do' list for a long time. It actually caught me by surprise how difficult it is. There's not a lot of places to hide. Emmanuel gave me some excellent advise on the first half (all I was able to present - actually butcher) during his masterclass. Hopefully the next video will be more coherent and smooth.
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Jack Stewart this kind of music takes some time to refine but you already understand what to do. There are two models of Sagework, the Atlas with some parts made out of wood, and a cheaper one all plastic. I own both models and up to now I find it the best and most versatile support available for guitar.
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Jack Stewart the first minute I was speechless, how you got the solemnity and rhythm of this piece! You know what to do now, you are doing great!!
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Emma Thanks Emma. I find the difficulty of this piece is more conceptual rather than technical, though I still find the technical difficulties quite challenging.
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Man, I love this piece - Dedicatoria by Enrique Granados - so much. I think this is like take 25 or something...
I just wish I hadn't pinched that last note.
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Steve Pederson Really nice, Steve! This is another one that sounds like it should be easy, until you actually start trying to play it, that is. You got that up and going so fast.
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Eric Phillips Thanks Eric, although, this is one I've had in my back pocket for a while. I've never felt like it's been ready, though, to go public, so I have been putting some extra polish and spit shine on it in the last couple weeks in preparation for this challenge. There are some really crazy challenging aspects to this one. Some of those chord changes are brutal!
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Steve Pederson This is very good Steve. It's very different from what I know of Granados, which is not very much. It is very gentle and beautiful. Great playing.
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Steve Pederson great job! It is a very delicate and peaceful piece of music, and it was nicely played!
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Steve Pederson Well played Steve! we can see that you like to play this piece, thanks for sharing.
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Steve Pederson this is so beautiful. Thank you for sharing this adorable piece. Your tone is great! nice legatos and phrasing. Well done.
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End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
