Week 1: In the Salons of 19th Century Paris! 
Welcome to the Main Thread for the first week of the "Around the 19th Century Guitar World" challenge!
Pick a piece from the 19th century and feel free to share it! Tell us what you love about it, how long you've been playing it, what you're struggling with! Let us into your practice room 
- Make sure you've read the guidelines before replying (<- click)
- Watch the kickoff livestream! (<- click)
↓ Happy Sharing! ↓
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Carcassi - Allegretto Op 11 No 3
Alright, I can't hold off any longer. Since the livestream hasn't happened yet, I'm not really certain what we're supposed to be posting here. But I know Carcassi was in Paris during the 19th Century, so I'm going to post some Carcassi. His Opus 11 is not played that much, but it is full of some very nice pieces at the intermediate level.
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I just edited the opening post a bit! Feel free to share music from the 19th century, no matter whether you have already played or learning (or sightreading) it, no matter if it's a performance of you or a recording which you adore! This challenge is about exploring the 19th century guitar world!
And you've chosen good ol' and elegant Carcassi! Beautiful job here, I enjoyed the little ornaments and suspended notes!
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Martin Thanks for the update and kind words. I’ve been playing this piece for about a week now. The things I struggle with are occasionally missing a note in the arpeggios, especially with the index finger, and I also struggle with some of the slurs with my pinky while other fingers are on the fretboard.
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Eric Phillips Thank you for this charming opening of the challenge. Sounds so lovely. Inspiring.
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joosje Thank you, Joosje.
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Eric Phillips Nice piece Eric and well played. It now seems a tradition that you post the first video so I've been waiting for you to post something - I can now start recording! Hopefully tomorow ......... :-)
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Derek Thanks, Derek, and I look forward to hearing you play
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Eric Phillips Great Eric, nicely played! So you started the challenge with some «Carcass», you know the band?
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Blaise Laflamme Thanks Blaise. I hadn’t heard of them, but I looked them up. Very similar to Carcassi. This one reminds me of Op 60 n 3. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5KKYJD09qCk
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Eric Phillips haha! you see... one missing letter and you then get a whole new world
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Blaise Laflamme I guess I prefer to include the letter i. Much more pleasant.
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Eric Phillips well... at least easier to play on the classical guitar!
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Derek so true... and apparently the challenge doesn't start at the kickoff but at Eric's first submission
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Eric Phillips beautiful playing here! Really enjoyed the different tone colors you chose and nice to hear some different Carcassi pieces!
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Hannah Murphy Thanks, Hannah. We did a Carcassi Opus 60 Challenge last year, so I wanted to find some different Carcassi pieces to play. Opus 11 is quite nice.
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Eric Phillips Nice intro to our 19th Century Exploration. Very well played.
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Jack Stewart Thank you, Jack.
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Carulli - Andante Op 320 No 1
This is from a set of six andantes by Carulli (see the score attached below). They are a bit more interesting and challenging than the beginner level pieces of Carulli we commonly hear played. I am working on this one as well as number 2 right now, and I'd say they are at an intermediate technical level. I've been working on them for about a week now, starting around when this challenge was announced.
Here are some of the tricky spots for me:
- Measures 8 and 17 have scalar passages that need a good sense of flowing but directional rubato.
- Measures 14 and 16 have these really big ascending arpeggios that need to be played staccato. I don't play staccato too often, and I struggle with articulating it consistently. The arpeggios do end quite high on the fretboard, and I often miss the top note.
- Measures 26-29 have some tricky chord voicings that are rather dense in the bass strings, and it is difficult for me to keep them legato and avoid string squeak.
By the way, I decided to carry over one aspect of the previous month's challenge by playing this in one take. There are mistakes, but I actually find it freeing to let go of them and just let it be. It makes me think about the musical expression more, instead of just saying over and over again in my head, "Don't make a mistake!"
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Eric Phillips Great job Eric, I loved the piece and your performance was great, would love to hear more from you
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SULTAN BAMUKHIER Thank you, Sultan. You certainly will hear more from me. What are you working on for this challenge?
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Eric Phillips great job with this one and I love that you’re continuing working on last months challenge. Recording a piece of this length is so hard I know how it is to be constantly worrying about mistakes while recording
I guess this is something we all also have to practice and get better at! -
Hannah Murphy Thank you, Hannah. I often find recording more nerve racking than playing for others, because I know I can always "make it better" by doing another take, and then I end up with a ridiculous number of takes and loads of frustration as I feel I need it to be "perfect". Telling myself beforehand that I'm only going to do one take is so much more pleasant and conducive to music-making.
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Eric Phillips I am working on Carcassi etudes, Almost done with No.1 and No.3 as I started to learn them last year and in progress with No.7 and No.2 as I started recently.
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Eric Phillips wow, great! thank you!!
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SULTAN BAMUKHIER That sounds great! Carcassi's Opus 60 is so wonderful. I look forward to hearing your progress.
End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
