"Easy Pieces" Mini Challenge
HELLO TONEBUDDIES! 
We're excited to bring you a fresh mini challenge that aligns with our upcoming live stream featuring the renowned guitarist Stanley Yates! As he deciphers the notion of "easy" guitar pieces, we thought it'd be fun for our tonebuddies to join in on the exploration and challenge their own musical growth! 
THE CHALLENGE:
We invite you to record and upload a video of yourself performing a piece that you consider to be "easy" on the guitar. Discover the hidden depth within the simplicity and share how you're engaging with the piece in new and profound ways.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE:
Record a video of yourself performing your chosen "easy" piece. Upload your video to your preferred platform (e.g., YouTube, Vimeo, etc.). Share the link to your video in the comments section below. Don't forget to include a brief description about your chosen piece and what insights you've gained from revisiting it.
Bonus Points: Share a link to a performance of your chosen piece by a renowned guitarist!
INTERACT AND ENGAGE:
This is a great chance to engage with your fellow tonebuddies! Show your support by leaving comments, offering constructive feedback, and expressing appreciation for their performances. Let's inspire each other to delve deeper into the music we thought we knew.
REWARD:
There isn't a physical prize, but the reward lies in your personal growth, the feedback you'll receive, and the connections you'll forge with other guitar enthusiasts. Who knows? You may even strike a chord with someone new!
NEED INSPIRATION?
If you're unsure about which piece to pick, don't worry! Tune into the upcoming livestream with Stanley Yates. His insights into the hidden depth within "easy" pieces will surely spark your imagination.
READY, SET, RE-DISCOVER!
We're eager to see your fresh interpretations of familiar tunes and hear about your new insights. Let's join together to explore the uncharted depths of the "easy" pieces we thought we knew!
HAPPY PRACTICING, TONEBUDDIES! 
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Molino – Romanza
I am having one of those days when I can’t seem to play any of the pieces I am working on. That’s when I really like to break out something simple, that does not take too much effort to make sound reasonably good. Typically, I’d turn to Sor. But for some reason, today I was led to this piece by Francesco Molino, whose music I have no memory of ever having played before. It has a simple, beautiful melody, supported by a few bass notes and arpeggios. Just what I needed today!
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Eric Phillips Very nice piece, Eric. I am familiar with Molino by name but not aware of his music. Thanks for presenting this.
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Here is a beautiful and easy little Venezuelan children's song, harmonized by Antonio Lauro. The title for this piece is "El Trompo" which means top or can also mean "El Sombrero." This song is from an unpublished set of Venezuelan children's songs that were harmonized by Lauro.
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Dale Needles Lovely little tune!
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Eric Phillips Thanks. It is amazing how many little gems Lauro and Carlevaro have floating around that were never published.
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Dale Needles This is indeed a lovely tune and arrangement, Dale.
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Jack Stewart Thanks, Jack. Did you see the earlier piece that I posted on this Easy Piece Challenge? It is that Carlevaro sketch which he wrote for his conservatory students.
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Dale Needles I just did. It is really good. I have been using this morning to try to catch up with all the postings. I am going through them backwards (chronologically, not musically).
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Finally finished Op. 60, n. 14 by Sor. Really loved this piece! I think I might try now to learn a few pieces from opus 35 - they don´t seem to be "très faciles" as the title states, but it should be fun to practice.
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Bruno Calixto Sounds great, Bruno! Opus 35 is just as wonderful, and several of the early (easier) ones are spectacular. I especially like #2-4.
I hope you don't mind, but something in your recording sent me off to do some research. In measure 12, what you played did not sound quite right to me, so I went looking through some scores. You played the highest note in the measure as an F#, which seems correct when I look at the original score as found on IMSLP (see the first picture below). It does say, however, to play it with the first finger, which makes no sense if it is an F#. I then went looking at other publications, and in every one I could find, it has it as an F natural (for example, the second picture below comes from the Tecla edition of the piece, and Tecla always strives to be accurate to what Sor wrote). I am fairly certain that Sor intended the note to be F natural, and that the original publication is in error (or maybe it was an error by whoever scanned it). I do think F natural is better musically as well, as we are temporarily in the key of A minor here. Maybe try playing it with an F natural and decide for yourself.
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Eric Phillips Hi Eric! Just had a look at Sanel Redzic lesson again. The score he used is the same you found on IMSLP, showing an F# with the first finger - I recall finding this difficult and changing the fingerings. However, after I watched Redzic performance again, he definetly plays an F natural with the first finger in the video and it sounds way better this way. I will correct this passage in my playing. Thank you for spotting this!
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Bruno Calixto Great job, Bruno. You play this wonderfully. It has been a while since I heard this. Thanks for posting this.
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Jack Stewart Thanks, Jack!
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Tarrega Prelude no 1
A bit late to the party. I had some challenge when I played it last time and when this piece played by Rafeal Aguirre came up in my play list, I thought to play it. I was surprise I can play it without much difficulty.
Not easy by any stretch to play well but also not difficult to learn.
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My favorite performance of this piece has got to be Rafael's
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don Very beautiful, Don! Tarrega really knew how to write for the guitar.
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Eric Phillips Thank you. yes he does indeed. My teacher called him the pop idol of his era.
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don This is beautiful, Don. You playing is excellent. I was not aware of this prelude by Tarrega before. I think it is now my favorite. I love his use of counterpoint in this, it is so seamless.
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Jack Stewart Thanks Jack for listening. His other preludes are worth listening to too.
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Tarrega Prelude no 5
Was going through this after I did the Prelude no 1. While there are no major technical challenge to play it but after listening my own recording, there are so many spots where I could have held a note longer to make it connected or play it a bit slower. But I guess that’s the lesson of this challenge, that there are no simple pieces at all.
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don Beautiful, Don. You seem to really have an affinity for the Romantics and Impressionists.
I think this is more often played than prelude #1 but I think I prefer #1. It has more emphasis on counterpoint, almost baroque, whereas #5 seems more firmly grounded in the Romantic period.
You have played of these preludes beautifully.
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don So beautiful, Don! Sorry, I somehow missed you posting this. This is one I have chosen to commit to somewhat "permanent" memory, not only because I love it, but also because I can always work on the details. I do still find it difficult to reduce the string squeak on those ascending three note chords.
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Jack Stewart Thanks! Yes I do realise I really like music from that period a lot. I would have thought Prelude 1 sounds more Spanish than baroque but now that you mentioned it, it really does sounds a bit baroque.
Eric Phillips thanks Eric, yes I totally agree about the details. There is something that is simple but magical about this piece that you can play it differently depending on your mood and they will all sound good.
Removing the squeak is definitely a challenge, I've tried doing a slide on the bass note but it is so hard to get it right. The other way is to remove the bass note before shifting but it will sound too cut. So in the end I kinda just accept them
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Sor op. 6.8
I continue to work on how to bring out the contrapuntal qualities of this etude. This version has some interesting ideas, the articulations in the bass in some segments and trying to bring out the middle voice with dynamics. Unfortunately the playing is a bit rough and I was never able to resolve that, even after many recordings. Oh well, (sigh). I wanted to try to post something for this mini challenge.
I am also including a bit featuring my wife presenting my birthday present during one of my many attempts.
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Jack Stewart This post has put the biggest smile on my face! Not only do I love the Sor (and the nice articulation you put on the bass voice), but the birthday surprise was just a wonderful personal connection for us all to enjoy. Happy birthday, my friend!
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Eric Phillips Thanks, Eric, for both the compliment and the happy birthday, not that I need a reminder of my ever increasing age. I enjoyed my wife's presentation and wanted to include it as well. Glad you enjoyed it.
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