Roni's Regondi Etude No. 6
I've been trying to learn this piece for a little while now since I discovered it a few months ago, maybe a practice diary might help me do it properly.
Why I'm learning it:
- I want to expand my repertoire to good pieces I haven't heard before or not everyone plays (as far as I know)
- I like it, I'm surprised I haven't heard much Regondi before, probably because pretty much all of his music is technically more challenging than other famous guitar composers, but I find it quite on a par with many pieces by Chopin for example, and better than any Sor, Giuliani, Carcassi, Carulli...
- It's challenging, but not toooo much.
- Regondi without a GED is Roni . It's fate that I should play this music.
What I'm learning:
- This is really musically sensitive music, which means it's making me really explore everything the guitar can do and is broadening my technique in a musical rather than technical way. I'm therefore finding new things I need to work on through the piece. I'm also finding it interesting to really play with phrasing and tempi, and the music seems to beckon real flexibility in this area, sometimes faster, sometimes much slower, sometimes pausing, sometimes building momentum without hesitation...
- I'm also learning a lot about how he uses the instrument and composes for it. Although it's hard, I find it to be very idiomatic guitar writing, and so it's good music to study.
To get the ball rolling here's a video of me messing up. I've more or less learnt the whole thing, but don't want to do yet another take... 'scuse my language by the way...
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This is SO beautiful, Roni! I remember trying some Regondi after hearing Tariq Harb play something by him. Once I saw how hard it is, though, I put it into my ever-growing pile of music to get to "someday". Hearing you play this so beautifully, though, is making me want to try again. I can't wait to hear you play it after you work on it more.
BTW, I'd love some hummus!
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Eric Phillips Thank you for your kind encouraging words Eric! I very much appreciate them.
I agree, Regondi is hard, but I'm finding it's a kind of rewarding difficulty that the more you work on it, the more you find things to explore, refine, think about, and then you see how your playing of the piece continues to evolve. To be honest, it's been a while since I've found something technically challenging in this way that I feel is really worth it in the end, actually since the hours, days, months years I've spent with Bach's music.
And yes! Hummus!!
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Roni that was beautiful. I have just 'discovered' Regondi in the last year or so. His music is quite sophisticated. I haven't tried to play any of his works yet but your playing is inspiring.
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Jack Stewart Thank you Jack! I only "discovered" Regondi in the last few years as well, I heard a couple of very virtuoso pieces by him in a concert by Daniela Rossi (Caprice and Air Varie), and I was quite surprised to hear (apart from how she played them amazingly) a more sophisticated musical language to what I'd normally heard from guitar composers of around his time, or at all for that matter.
The only problem with the music is that there's not quite enough of it! Or at least I can't find much more than those two pieces, the 10 Etudes and Rêverie. If you want to try something by him I'd recommend having a look at the etudes. I get the impression he wrote them for himself rather than for students, so they're still technically a fair way above most studies I know, but they're smaller than the other pieces and therefore a bit easier to digest. I was learning Rêverie for a while, but I think I'll tackle some of these etudes before going back to it.
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Hi Roni,
Thanks for posting this Regondi gem and for bringing these pieces to our attention. Lovely expression and seasoned tone in your playing.
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Sounding good Roni. I've not really heard much Regondi but you make me want to explore his music. Looking forward to seeing (hearing) your progress
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Thank you to all of you for your encouragement! It means a lot and is very motivating.
Just thought I'd post a quick update, that after Emmanuel 's live stream about learning music quickly, I'm giving David Russell's learning-a-piece-from-the-end system another go. I never really liked it because it didn't really lend itself to organising the structure of the piece clearly in my mind, but at the moment it seems to help me focus on the technical aspects better, and prevent boredom of the music by not playing it too much. And if Mani say's it's good, it must be good. Never mind what David Russell says...
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Some notes on the backwards learning technique:
- REALLY GOOD POINT: as I play through the piece in real time, I find I'm progressing through bits I'm more and more confident in because I've inevitably practised them more. This, as opposed to working from the beginning, where I often find I'm playing through the piece with a sense of things getting more and more difficult.
- There is less boredom of hearing the same bits over and over again, keeping the music fresher.
- There is more focus on getting the technical aspects down because my attention isn't so easily taken away by enjoying the music.
Overall, quite effective. :)
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Roni Glaser Awesome, thank you for your feedback on learning backwards! I've always admired people who actually did that. I sometimes recommend it to my students without having done it myself!
But man, what a beautiful piece! You make a really nice distinction between melody and accompaniment which makes the music sing! And it's so inspring to see how you really don't play one single note without something interesting, everything is shaped beautifully, very virtuosic!
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Yeah, I'd recommend learning backwards, it's a bit unpleasant because you kind of don't know where you are in the whole context of the piece, and you kind of don't what the bit you're playing means, but that directs your focus onto the technical aspects, and as you move back bar by bar things seem to get smoother and I think "ooh that bit's easier than it was before!" quite often!
And thank you for your kind words! It's interesting what you say as well, because I ended spending a long long time trying to figure out what each note or harmony means or could mean, often because I didn't find it so obvious at first. Not programmatically, but just in terms of the phrasing and direction of the music. There's very little in terms of dynamics on my score, which means there's even more to explore, and the more I do, the more I seem to find!
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Lovely piece, Roni. Great musical approach, too. I only know 4 of Regondi’s studies,. This one sounds so sweet. Your phrasing is convincing . Thank you for posting
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joosje Thank Joosje! I only know about 3 (-ish!), but this one and number 4 (watch out for another post with this one soon!
) are my favourites so far.
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Just a quick general update on this - I've still been practising! Just haven't quite got it together to post a video.
I've memorised the whole thing pretty much (using the backwards method for the latter part) and can play fairly OK, needs some polishing here and there though.
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Roni, great work! I love the Regondi etudes except most of them are quite difficult. No. 6 is among my favorites. Check out the many YouTube recordings of the piece by the Cambridge-based Argentinian guitarist Daniela Rossi. Her shifting is so legato.
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Bill Young Thanks Bill!
Thanks for the tip about Daniela Rossi, I actually discovered Regondi because of her! She played a concert in Winchester, near where I was based. She was pretty frickin' impressive. I haven't seen any of her videos yet though! I'm still figuring out my version, so maybe once I've finished exploring I'll check it out.
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I have the Regondi 10 Etudes CD recorded in 1998 by John Holmquist (Jason Vieaux’s teacher) on the Naxos label. Daniela has been playing the Etude over the years in various concerts. Regondi’s Introduction et Caprice & the Rondo Caprice are programmed more often than his etudes in concert.
