Group 1
This Two Week Intensives will cover the essential techniques of staccato, portato, and legato for guitar players. Staccato involves playing notes in a short, detached manner, while legato involves playing notes smoothly and connected. Portato is a style that falls between staccato and legato, with slightly detached but still connected notes. The class will also delve into the development of left-hand technique that you need for proper articulation!
Sanel Redžić is one of the most promising and virtuoso guitarists of the younger
generation, who has created an important name on the international scene, having a wide
repertoire from baroque to modern music.
Sanel currently teaches at the Franz Liszt Music Academy in Weimar and at
the University of Erfurt in Germany. He is also artistic director and founder of Tuzla Guitar
Week in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Repertoire:
- Scales (major with parallel melodic minor scares)
- Leo Brouwer - Etude Nr. 1
- Agustin Barrios - Mangore - 3rd movement of La Catedral
- Fernando Sor - Etude Op. 35, No. 22 (Segovia No. 5)
- Any other example by participants
Assignment Videos
I compiled a playlist with 5 Videos! More Videos will come :)
- Video 1: Intro
- Video 2: C Major scale with i-m
- Video 3: C Major scale with p
- Video 4: Arpeggios
- Video 5: Brouwer no.1
Assignment:
- Submit a video containing either one or several of the exercises. For example, start with a simple C major scale playing once as legato as possible, repeat with portamento and then one last time with staccato. Please tell us what articulation you were aiming for!
- Feel free to apply the learnings to either Brouwer Etude no.1 or your own repertoire!
Feel free to ask questions in a written reply and/or add them to your video!
Assignment Week 2:
- Read and play through the piece provided by Sanel and play the basses staccato and the upper voices legato!
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Hello everybody in articulation 1 , why don't you say hi and let us know what you intend to work on within the next two weeks!
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Hi guys, this is great. My first 2 week intensive! I’m looking forward to learning about articulation and applying it to the pieces I’m working on and hoping to also post some videos on my progress.
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Here is my attempt at the C major scale - legato, portamento, then staccato. I think I understand the distinction between them but the difficulty is in accurately and consistently applying them!
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Very good Jaime ! Just try to accentuate a bit less while playing portamento. Legato was very good.
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Sanel Redzic thank you! I will work on that.
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Sanel Redzic
Hello Sanel,
I have a terminology question about the Scales. My understanding is that A minor is the "Relative" minor to C major. I thought the "parallel" minor would be C minor. Please clarify for me.
For Scales, I usually use "Rest" (Apoyando) strokes. For the exercises you are presenting, should we use Rest or Free strokes, or it does not matter? Thanks!!
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Hi Barney , You are absolutely right. In German language (I was studying in Germany) and in my native language we say "Portato" and "parallel" but on English it is "portamento" and "relative".
For those scales it is easier to use Free stroke. -
Sanel Redzic Thank you Sanel!
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I tried Am with the thumb
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Sanel Redzic
Hello Sanel and everyone!
I wanted to ask you two questions:
-If we overlap the sounds whenever we can (when they're on two different strings), you won't hear too much the difference when we make other sounds of the same scale not overlapping because we can't because they are on the same string?
-How should we move the left hand if we want to play legato when we have to move very fast one finger up or down the neck on the scales?
Thanks!!
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Hi Beatriz , let me try to understand and to answer here:
- I am always releasing the previous finger, when I play the next note so the notes should not overlap. Was that the question?
- We should do very fast movements with the left hand - being aware of three movements: 1. releasing the finger (pressure) from the string, 2. changing the position, 3. pressing again. We should practice it in slower tempo but when we change the position, we should still do the change very quick. -
Sanel Redzic
Hello Sanel.
I seemed to hear when you played the scale legato, that you were doing the same thing that pianists do when they play very legato, overlapping one note and the next a little bit when playing notes on different strings.Thank you!
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Sanel Redzic and I are currently working out a little technical issue, but he'll be ready to respond very soon! articulation 1
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Sanel Redzic I’m having an issue when I cross strings playing portado/staccato using alternating fingers. Do I stop the string with the same finger that plucked or strictly alternate? Sometimes it seems more natural to use the same finger. Then I’m not sure which finger to use to pluck the next string.
I’ve been just doing whatever makes the sound work. I notice sometimes I’m using my thumb. But I don’t really have control over it
If anyone knows the answer to this please let me know…
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Hi Nick ,
we should do that with the both hands - by stoping the string with the right hand finger and by releasing the finger of the left hand. When we talk about the right hand then I do it with the next finger, with the thumb if I go to the upper string and with the a finger if I go to the lower string. -
Sanel Redzic thank you. I understand
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I have been practicing scales as suggested. This is new to me, and I find it very interesting. I find it challenging to apply the techniques to pieces I already play, but I am going to try to dust off de Falla’s Homenage. In his September 2020 concert Sanel gives a masterclass on legato portato and staccato with this piece. Off to work! I look forward to suggestions.
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Great oportunity to learn
. I have never practiced portato. Here are my scales- legato staccato portato-
Romy Great! In my opinion the difference between legato and portato could be a bit bigger. :-)
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Hello everybody. Thank you for your questions. We were solving one little technical problems and now I am ready to go and to answer to your questions. I will start today with the Group 1. Welcome!
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Sanel Redzic Since the Scales exercises do not use open strings, when doing Staccato or Portato in performing, does it make any sense to use stop strings with the right hand. I can see the need to do it when we are changing to a new string from an open string. Are you suggesting we do it for practicing purposes only to get used to these quick movements with the right hand?
or do you have another reason for it? Thanks!
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Barney I also wondered about this. I’ve noticed that with the left hand alone I can’t get a really sharp, crisp staccato so I have to use both hands. The portato I can achieve with the left hand alone. Looking forward to Sanel’s thoughts.
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Jaime Fernandez I watched Sanel's video again at 50% speed.. When doing staccato, it looks like his intended i-m alternation when changing and stopping strings is not being consistently applied throughout the scale. We need him to explain the right hand method more precisely, as I believe Debbie asked as well.
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Barney He may not be doing it in the video--possibly as a result of talking while performing a complex finger movement--but I think he does a good job of explaining the intent in his response to Nick above. Alternate i and m and when changing strings going up, stop the string with p, and when going down, with a.
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