WEEK TWO Updates: Main Thread - Following the Path to Tárrega
Alright, welcome to WEEK TWO of the Main Thread for this challenge! 
Where is the Week 1 thread?
Find the Week 1 thread here!
Please use the following format when commenting (feel free to copy & paste!)
- One thing you found easy:
- One thing you found difficult:
- (Optional): a video of you performing it!
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(I think we posted the wrong link to week one…)
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Paul Kennedy you are absolutely right, just corrected it! Thanks!
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Week two - I am going to venture over to Prelude No. 1. I am still working on no. 5, my primary, which is steadily improving, but Prelude no. 1 is new to me and I love it.
What I found easier by the end of week one with No. 5 is having all the notes and fingerings resolved and able to play through the piece relatively smoothly.
What I continue to struggle with (What I found difficult) is getting a smooth legato, but it is getting better.
I do have a technical question on an unrelated piece (not to the challenge, just to my selection). In Recuerdos de Alhambra: Is there a technique, an exercise, or even a tutorial that works through the trills incorporated into the tremolo (for example in measure 11)? Any suggestions will be helpful.
Thank you
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Paul Kennedy Yes, those trills have always confounded me. My poor tremolo together with those trills have always led me to put this piece in the "maybe one day in the future" category.
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Eric Phillips I am glad it’s not just me…
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Paul Kennedy we are learning the sames pieces but in opposite order..:-)
there is a version of Rafael Aguirre performing Prelude 1, 2 and 5 on youtube. His Prelude 1 is one of the most beautiful version that I come across.
Good luck with your practice!
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don thank you Don, same to you and I will check those out
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Paul Kennedy I found this article a while back. Micro study number 4 might help with those slurs. I find them useful. I still haven't perfected it though!!
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Paul Kennedy Awesome, thank you for that update and keep on working! I am sure that this video by Andrea de Vitis might help you with creating a more legato version of this piece!
We have a tutorial on tonebase by Scott Tennant on Recuerdos, though I don't know if he's talking about the slurs though!
Without having played the piece, I adjust the tremolo pattern for that bar: If your tremolo is usually pami, the slur tremolo would be pmi with a trill on the last i!
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Olalla Awesome, thank you, that looks intriguing!
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Martin Thank you Martin, I will try your suggestion when I decide to go back to Recuerdos. In the mean time, still working on Preludes 1 and 5
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Paul Kennedy
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week 2
Think I've gotten a handle on Prelude 1. Will post a video update when I can. Gonna use this opportunity to learn another new piece.
Will try Prelude 5 since there are already 2 lessons on tonebase and Martin's live stream talks a great deal about this beautiful piece.
What I found easy:
It is something that you can play really slowly (but could also be the reason for being difficult). It has such beautiful melody that it gets stuck to your memory quickly making learning more enjoyable.
What I find difficult:
Haven't really started to play but from the live streams and lessons, I suspect the rhythm, squeaking and legato will be a big challenge.
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don Wonderful, that's a great collection of pieces! And you are absolute right, especially the 5th Prelude can be played really slow! As long the rhythm is intact, the piece keeps on breathing!
I'll do a live stream tomorrow about Roland Dyens Vingt Lettres, Dyens composed these pieces as etudes for reducing squeaks amongst other things, so it might be interesting for you!
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Martin your live stream for this piece helps a lot!
Prelude 1:
Made more changes to fingering but more or less done with it.
Prelude 5:
Easy: There is a difficult shift in measure 4 but otherwise it is quick straightforward in the play through
Hard: Playing it beautifully and legato.
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don Cool, thanks that you've been joining in!
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don For that shift, I suspect you're talking about the shift between 2nd and 3rd chord in there. For this shift I actually keep the second finger and simply add the 4th finger in the 14th fret. That way, the 2nd finger is adding a lot more stability for the 4th and you reduce the amount of countermovements!
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Martin thanks! This really helps a lot!
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don great to hear that!
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I'm not sure if this will work, but below I attached a "video" that only has audio for some reason. The video worked on my phone, but when I sent it to my laptop, somehow the visual did not work. Let me know if you cannot listen to it, and I will have to record it again.
This is an update of my progress on Maria Gavota. It is improved over last week. The tempo is better (a bit faster). I still did not nail measure 41, but I came close. I did three takes and this was the best one.
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Eric Phillips You can try to load it into Davinci Resolve (if you've peaked in the Recording Academy, you might know this piece of software) and re-export it with the youtube preset. It might be, that the file size is just too big for the forum, then you'd need to upload it i.e. as an unlisted video on youtube and simply share the link!
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Eric Phillips Alright!
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(Take two)
Here is an update to my playing of Maria Gavota. Overall, I'm happy with my progress. The tempo is a bit faster than last week, which is good. While I did not perfectly nail the challenging measure 41, I came pretty close.
I think I'll work on this one a little bit more, and then maybe move on to Maria Tango, since I've never played it before at all. Tarrega named both pieces after his wife, I believe, so maybe they would sound good together.
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Eric Phillips Very enjoyable playing. I would like to try playing that one again.
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Eric Phillips it's shaping well and your playing is secure, it's rewarding to watch your progress
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End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
