Final Week: Music of the Fall
As the air gets crisper and the days grow shorter, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the beauty and transition that autumn brings. We're excited to introduce our newest community challenge: "Music of the Fall"! This is your chance to explore pieces that capture the essence of this season – whether they evoke the feeling of change, a fresh beginning, or the quiet nostalgia of falling leaves.
What’s the Challenge?
Select a guitar piece that you personally associate with the change of seasons or the idea of starting anew. This could be a work that resonates with autumnal moods, melodies that conjure up images of falling leaves, or pieces that mark a new chapter in your musical journey.
Suggested Themes:
- Transition: Pieces that reflect change or transformation.
- New Beginnings: Works that symbolize starting something new, like a new season in life or music.
- Autumnal Mood: Music that captures the essence of fall – perhaps something contemplative, warm, or even bittersweet.
Timeline:
- Start: October 1st
- End: November 13th
-
A beautiful and simple piece by Eduardo Diaz, while I'm currently testing a Mid/Side (MS) recording setup. Not directly related to Autumn but at least we have sunsets (Atardecer) during this season too!
-
Rick Lord Thank you Rick, Eduardo's music is particularly touching.
-
Blaise Laflamme Beautiful performance,Blaise. Your musical expression is always wonderful.
-
Jack Stewart Thank you Jack, everything was there to be revealed!
-
-
Ernest Shand - Andante Caprice Op 65
I am continuing to dive into my new book of Ernest Shand's pieces. This is obviously still a work in progress, but it's so lovely that I wanted to be sure to share it before the end of the challenge. Once again, it is the melody of his music that draws me in. It is very challenging to play it legato. Sometimes, a break in the legato is unavoidable, so it's a matter of choosing a fingering that puts the break in a place that sounds natural. Like I said, a work in progress.
-
Eric Phillips This is beautiful, Eric!. It's coming along very nicely. The melody is flowing and you seem to be effectively utilizing the natural resonances of your guitar to keep the illusion of legato going where needed. Excellent!
-
Eric Phillips Sounds more than a WIP to me, very legato with beautiful harmonic and melodic flow!
-
Eric Phillips This is gorgeous - the legato intention certainly comes through to me. What a delightful piece.
-
-
Continuing with the Andrew York Spring theme -- this is the much better-known Sunburst. I checked out the course with Andrew York on tonebase - not often you find composers talking about their own works! Sure enough, I realised that I fell into most of the pitfalls mentioned by Andrew in that video, especially allowing too much of the "drone" on the first string (which is tuned down to D), whereas the melody is played out on the B string. And of course some obvious technical issues, especially around the various transitions between sections. I will continue working on the more subtle points.
-
Sam Greenblatt Wow! Wonderful performance, Sam. You have a great feel for this music. I have never heard this before. Great work (both - the piece and your performance.)
-
Sam Greenblatt I didn't see that in the notifications, congrats Sam for your take on this iconic piece by York!
-
-
Shand- Andante Caprice (Nov 10)
Here's another go. Some improvement, but still a ways to go.
-
Autumn Leaves by Joseph Kosma, arrangement: Yenne Lee
Some things are better with this take. The overall tempo is faster, and some problem areas are fixed. Others just pop up all of a sudden to torment me. Memorization will help, but that is a work in progress.
One of the reasons I started playing guitar was to make music in nature. If you watch to the end you can see a black spider running up the back of my finger!
-
Marilyn Blodget The classical guitar in nature! I love this! Nice playing and beautiful scenery, Marilyn!
I never tried recording outdoors. How do you get your guitar recorded satisfactorily, outside of an acoustical space like this?
Great video, thanks!!
-
Barney I recorded this with my IPhone 11 Pro Max. I’m glad you enjoyed it. There are challenges-breeze, the birds, spiders, but I love it all.
-
Marilyn Blodget It worked beautifully, and looks like you're having great fun.
-
Marilyn Blodget You play this piece beautifully, Marilyn. Wonderful setting - love the fallen leaves.
-
-
Shand - Andante Caprice Op 65 (Nov 11)
One more time! I finally have it memorized, so I thought I'd record it again today.
-
Eric Phillips Beautiful, Eric. You really bring Shand's music alive. Very sensitive performance of this work. You handle the technical demands - especially the large leaps, without losing the musical expression.
-
-
Jack Stewart said:
I have never heard this before.Really?!
I knew this piece since early 90'!-
Blaise Laflamme I have to admit to not being inclined towards York's music, though I recognized their attraction and think they are very well composed.
-
Jack Stewart In fact I discovered this piece in 89 following the purchase of John Williams «Spirit of the guitar» album!
-
-
The last few weeks were very busy with little time to make a recording. However, I was able to practice on a regular basis and finally last night I was able to make a first recording.
This is Landslag II from Gulli Björnsson
A very nice piece with new challenges for me. The roll strum (I don't have a better name for this) and the glissando are new for me and will need more dedicated practice before I can execute them properly.
@Martin you don't need to use this video for the watch party as there is already such a large number of great submissions by many Tonebuddies.
-
Hi everyone, and martin
Jorge Morel - Milonga del Viento TAKE 2. Sorry so late! I thought I had until Friday and when I checked in today I was shocked that I had to have my final version uploaded today. So I quickly ran into my studio and made this take. I've really enjoyed working on this piece for this challenge and definitely hear improvement. The flow and expression is there now so that's encouraging. Probably too late to add it to the watch party but I'm happy to have it on here to mark the end of the challenge. I'm looking forward to hearing everyone's beautiful pieces and hard work!
End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
