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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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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Steve Price Thanks Steve. I see that comment as well, but I'm still not certain of his intent. Need more clarity and confirmation of his approach to this. It may be he wants the right hand fingers (i-m) exercised in a certain way to achieve more skill/flexibility when doing contrapuntal lines in Bach/Baroque music in muting strings . Not sure... Hope he responds soon...
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Barney staccato with the RH is the most important techniques for articulation. The Romeros are a big advocate for that. RH staccato will help you with planting, getting your RH finger ready to play the next note. LH staccato is not used as often as RH as you may accidentally play a slur when your finger release is not clean. If you practice RH staccato, it will help you with faster arpeggios, tremolo, scales, and most importantly, tone production.
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Bill Young Thanks Bill!!
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Hello Barney
I am back after being ill for a couple of days but now I am here. Those exercises are important for several reasons. But first things first. In general if I do stacc. or portato (portamento, non legato) on open strings, then I use both hands to stop the sound. I use any free finger of the left hand, mostly the pinky one. Sometimes I even stop some basses with my nose, so it is all allowed. The best thing always is to do it somehow with the both hands.
Those exercises are also good to practice the "preparation" of the next finger, which is very important when we want to work on the speed. I know one very good flamenco player, who is doing stacc. for one to two hours per day at the open second string with i and m - always preparing the next finger very quick.
Of course, one of the purposes of doing this is better control of the basses in baroque music.
I hope that I have answered with this the questions. If not, please ask! :-) -
Sanel Redzic Great to see you back and feeling better, Sanel!
Thank you very much for you explanation!!
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I’ve been working on the arpeggio exercises and applying the articulation to Brouwer Etude 1.
Arpeggios: https://youtu.be/wIG71jsY8cs
Brouwer Etude 1:
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Jaime Fernandez That's it! Brouwer needs a bit more time but you are on the way. When doing Brouwer, I would try to make bigger dynamic contrasts as well.
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Arpeggio exercise. Im trying to prepare the thumb but not cut the last note or the 2nd bass note short. Needs work
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Nick Fine!
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Sanel Redzic Here is status of these exercises right now. The Arpeggios exercises seem to require more focused concentration to articulate the basses; they need more work. I also would like a better understanding of the right hand movements for Staccato-- not sure if executing them correctly when changing strings. Please advise your comments and suggestions. Thanks!
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Barney This is quite good. I had a difficulties to understand, what was your stacc. and was portamento (non-legato). When doing portamento, I would play the note a bit longer. When doing stacc. I would stop the lower strings with the thumb, while playing with i and m. Upper strings with the a or with the left hand.
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Sanel Redzic I saw this response to another member on Staccato : "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."
Do you also mean for Staccato that if using i-m moving to lower BASS strings, you would still use "a" to to stop the upper Bass string?
Also for Staccato, when using i-m going up on treble strings (3>2>1), would you also use Thumb to stop , for example, string 2 before going to string 1? Thanks!
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Hey Barney ,
yes. But, I am not only using the a or p to cut the notes. I am doing it also with the left hand - hand or with the fingers. Everything is allowed. The main thing is that it should work and sound.
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Sanel Redzic Got it! Thanks Sanel!
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Hi Sanel Redzic ,
The following is the first group of exercises.
Exercise 1 - It's hard to tell from the camera angle but for the staccato and portato examples I'm using p to mute going up and a when going down.
Exercise 2 - With p only.
Exercise 3 - I only played it with a single bass note since a two-note example will take some more work.
Exercise 4 - I chose a Sor study I liked and played each of the first four phrases with a different articulation for the melody and accompaniment - short/short, long/short, short/long, and long/long. I usually wouldn't play it with this much variety, but as an exercise, I think it's interesting to hear the difference the varied articulations make. I never thought much about it before.
Thanks in advance for your input.
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Hi Steve Price
Very good! You are doing it in the first video very well, just as I answered to the previous fellow. Videos 2 and 3 are fine. Video 4, yes - it is very good for the practicing. I am doing those things all the time, when practicing and I am looking always for the best solution for the final interpretation. It is very important that we think about these things and that we try them out. Try to do then all legato and then to combine legato - staccato, portato in another ways.
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articulation 1
Please find the Link for the Zoom Check-In here: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81989847038
We will meet on Monday, January 23rd at 11 am PT
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martin sorry I can’t make the Zoom meeting today but in any case Sanel already answered my questions. Looking forward to the next lessons!
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Just seen the next assignment. Will start working on this tomorrow. Thanks!
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Jaime Fernandez We will also record the Zoom Meeting and share it here!
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Sanel Redzic
Hello to Sanel and everyone.
How can I articulate the low end of Coste's studio 22. What notes stop? all? Only the A? Should I also cut the E eighth notes between them?-
Hi Beatriz ,
this one is really tricky. We should cut all notes all the time in the bass. Also the E notes in between. So, my suggestion would be - practice only that a lot, before adding the upper voice.
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Sanel Redzic
Thank you!!!
He was already doing it like this, cutting each note. I asked because the sheet music says not to cut between e and e, but it seemed even more difficult and I cut each of the bass notes.
What good news!! Thanks!! -
This is the mother of all base damping etude. The article from Classical Guitar Magazine illustrates how to practice the thumb alone as suggested by Sanel: https://classicalguitarmagazine.com/method-learn-the-right-hand-and-thumb-techniques-for-napoleon-costes-etude-no-23/
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Hello everybody, here is the link to the TWI Check-In: https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/share/FlyI5OTHLwiErYmDHHdDxRFZcYVmbGP49oy0YjIQUtjPuTNmOyxbxtfmr3QPp4MX.yZuyg8MX0Bxz0xM5
articulation 1
End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
