The Dance Challenge Week One
Let’s dance!
In this community-driven challenge, we will be playing dance music. So, choose a piece from any time period, location, or culture that is set to a dance rhythm. Whether it be an Italian Saltarello, an Argentinian Tango, or something in between, let’s get our toes tapping and our fingers dancing across the guitar strings.
This challenge will last four weeks, until Saturday, June 7th. A new thread will be posted each week.
If there are any beginners looking for suggested pieces, please feel free to ask the community.
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Lauro - La Negra
I have been working on this for about a week. Like so much of Lauro's music, it is a Venezuelan waltz. Most of his music is beyond me (I don't play fast music), but this one seems to work at a somewhat slower tempo.
Listening back, I think I need to bring out the melody more clearly. There are some spots where I am not 100% certain myself about what the melody is, so I suppose I have to make some decisions about that first.
Sorry for the poor recording. During the B section, my daughter turned on the kitchen sink in the room next to me. My dog also decided to get in on the action a bit. Oh well!
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Eric Phillips A really nice start on this piece Eric, you already have of it under your fingers! As for making more decisions first, on a personal note, while I have a good overview of what I have to do some specific things are revealed as I work and take shape during the process.
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Eric Phillips This is really good and as you say it works well at this tempo. I know what you mean about the melody - I have several pieces I'm working on where I've changed my mind about what some of the melody are. As Blaise said for some pieces it's not always apparent until you've worked on them for a while. I never even noticed the kitchen sink or the dog
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Eric Phillips This is really nice. I'm actually okay with this kind of music played slower and freer. I know what you mean about the melody in his music. All the arpeggios and runs make it hard to tell. I've played El Negrito for years, and still can't settle on a definitive solution.
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Really charming. The melody is quite easy to follow and I like this comfortable tempo. Would be interesting to follow up on your new ideas and decisions. It sounds already so nice.
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Eric Phillips Sounds good to me Eric. I like this played at a slower tempo but I would prefer it a slightly little bit faster but that would only come after you've got everything else sorted. Well played as always
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Eric Phillips what a nice piece! And already this far after a week. Looking out to the choices you make.
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Eric Phillips Great choice and a very nice start to this wonderful Vals by Antonio Lauro. I totally understand at this initial stage of learning this piece to start with a slow tempo but, I do believe, the tempo does need to increase to get the full effect of the Venezuelan vals. I thought you might enjoy listening to a rare live recording of Maestro Lauro playing some of his compositions, made near the end of his life in 1986.
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Blaise Laflamme Ron Steve Price Bart Versteeg joosje Derek Dale Needles Thank you all! I plan to work on this piece for the whole challenge (with some other pieces), so I hope I can bring the tempo up a bit, and bring the melody out more. I'll try to post again today or tomorrow.
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Eric Phillips Beautiful piece and performance, Eric. It is very wistful at this tempo which is nice. I think it could be a bit faster but I also like it at this tempo. Its looks quite challenging yet you play it with such command after a week. Impressive work!
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Does a baroque style Bourree count? After all, in those days they danced to it!
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Bart Versteeg I’d give that a strong yes vote!
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Bart Versteeg I think with the exception of preludes and fugues and a couple others, most of the Baroque music anyone knows is originally a dance... bouree, sarabande, passacaglia, minuet, allemande, gigue, etc. I would think anything from that era or later with one of those titles or any of the many others is fair game.
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Alexandre Tansman (Poland/France, 1897-1986) - Sarabande from one of his sets of simple pieces for guitar (many not so simple). He wrote four sets totalling 48 pieces, but I'd never heard of them until Cristiano Porqueddu recorded two of the sets. I'm surprised they aren't better known. Like many of the others, this one has a lot of room for expressiveness, so it will be fun to play with.
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Steve Price That sounds great, Steve! I had heard of those, but not much, and I know I have never tried to play any of them. I wonder why they haven't "caught on" more among guitarists. I'll have to look those up.
BTW, I just realized that I included your TB member image in this header of this challenge.
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Steve Price Lovely piece Steve and well played. You really capture the essence of a Sarabande.
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Steve Price beautiful, clean performance! It has the tranquility that a Sarabande needs.
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Steve Price Beautiful performance, Steve. This is a very nice piece that I am also unfamiliar with. I'll have to check out the sets. Thanks for bringing this to our attention with such an expressive performance.
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This is a nice venezuelan waltz written bij Tatiana Stachak. I love her music. It is in the same book as Carmen from the previous Challenge.
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Bart Versteeg I love it! It sounds very much in the tradition of Lauro to me.
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Bart Versteeg This is indeed another very nice waltz by Stachak which you play beautifully, Bart. Your command of this music is very impressive. Beautiful!
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Lauro's La Negra and Aguado's Contradanse Op 8 No 1 (May 12)
Here is an update on the Lauro, with the tempo raised a bit. I needed to have the score in front of me for security at this tempo.
I thought that, while I work on the Lauro all four weeks of the challenge, I could also work my way through this opus of Aguado's that is very "dance-y" if you will. It's a collection of eight country dances and waltzes. I particularly like the brief cello-like lines in the D section on this first one.
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Eric Phillips Great work on the Lauro Waltz, Eric. It does move along nicely at this tempo.
Can't say that I am a big fan of the Aguado piece, though you perform it with your usual elegance and excellence.
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BWV 1009 Allemande Duarte transcription
This is a revised version of the 3rd cello suite Allemande from a posting in the first challenge of the year. It is still not perfect but I think this is a bit cleaner. There are still several rough spots but perhaps fewer and less rough (?). I still need to work to refine my interpretation, I think this performance is perhaps somewhat perfunctory.
I will continue to post revision of pieces over the next week in preparation of my attendance at the TB Music Intensive in LA the last 2 weeks of this month. I am apparently the only guitarist that signed up - lots of pianists and string players. I am a bit intimidated being the only representative of the guitar community.
End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
