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 In Dance of the Dwarfs - measures 76 thru 82, I was going to play the "D" and "A" top bass notes Staccato with m-i, m-i, etc (and stop each of those notes with the same finger). The bottom bass notes melody played legato with Thumb.
Is this the way you do it? Thanks!
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Barney That could be one way to do that but that can be really tricky. I figured out yesterday that it is not an easy thing to do. Not at all. I was trying to stop it with the right and with the left hand. With the inner side of the first finger. But I have also noticed that this should be practiced a lot to make it work. Good luck on that one! :D
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Sanel Redzic I have not practiced it yet, but yes I agree it seems tricky. I will try later and see how it goes. Thanks!!
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Sanel Redzic Hi Sanel, Were you planning to tell us something about Catedral (Mvt 3), as it is mentioned in the course description?
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Hi Barney ,
yes. The idea was to play one bar by leaving the fingers of the left hand and to do the repetition by lifting the fingers of the left hand. My week was so busy that I didn't manage one more video on this. But yes, that was the idea.
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Here's a take on part of "Dance of the Dwarfs" from the repeat of the a section to the end. Getting the dynamics and articulation right between the voices is going to take some time. Quite the independence challenge. Thanks, Sanel Redzic .
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Steve Price nice job Steve . I’m still working on it at half speed
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Nick Thanks, Nick. This was one of the hardest exercises I've worked on here so I appreciate it.
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Amazing Steve Price !
You are doing it very well, even when you are articulating in the upper voice. Great! -
Steve Price Hey Steve. This sound great!! How are you playing measures 76 to 82 with fingering to stop the Staccato notes well, and still bring out the melody so cleanly and balanced. This is a tricky part... Thanks!
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Barney Thanks, Barney! I was really struggling and then started playing both the d and a notes with m and just letting i follow and mute the string. That seemed to simplify the right hand independence problem the passage presented and meant I didn't have to do any extra muting work with the left hand.
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Steve Price Interesting Steve. I will give it a try. Thanks!!!
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Steve Price Great job, Steve. I never did get anything passable on this piece.
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Sanel Redzic Here is the Dance, which is still a work in process. I'm not playing yet at full tempo and still poor at sight reading it from score (so sorry for the mistakes...lol).
In measures 76 to 82, I've experimented with different solution and decided to stop the Staccato notes using the "a" finger. Is this a good solution for that tricky section? (still requires concentration).
This piece is more challenging for me than it first appears. Please let me know your comments/suggestions. Thanks!!
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Hi Barney ,
very good job but there is still place for improvement. You are on a very good way. Especially the middle part is unsecure. And cutting the upper notes with the "a" - I don't know if this is the best option. I would try some other ways - like using the inner side of the 1st finger of the left hand. Maybe it is better solution. Please try it.
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Sanel Redzic I'm not quite sure how and when you are using this left hand 1st finger in that ending section. Any possibility you can post a short clip showing it slowly? Thanks!
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Sanel Redzic Are you using the left hand 1st finger to stop the Staccato note only for the open adjacent A string? I tried that and was easy to lean back the 1st finger slightly to stop it. However, for the open D string, do you stop it with either i or m ? otherwise, you would have lean lean back 1st finger drastically to stop it...seems unreliable...
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Barney
Here you go. :-) I hope that this helps a bit more. -
Sanel Redzic Thank you for sending the short clip to demonstrate it. I can now see better what you are doing. I will try it. I appreciate the extra time you gave to help on this one. Take care and all the best!
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Barney Great job, Barney - as usual.
This piece completely overwhelmed me. I must admit I was not a fan of it but I could see its value as an exercise. I'm just not good at concentrating on things I don't care for.
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Jack Stewart Thanks Jack! Agreed, this little piece is deceptively tricky. I'm still not secure on it, and yes, it requires me to do extra concentration to watch bass lines for articulation.
Although it can be annoying to work on some stuff, I can see how it may help take us to the next level.
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Sanel Redzic I found this transcription of a selection from El Amor Brujo, and just started working on it. The piece requires articulation with Staccato, mostly in the bass.. Please review and let me know your comments/suggestions. Thanks!!
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Yes Barney ! Very good example! And you are doing it here also well, so I think that those exercises helped already.
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Sanel Redzic Thank you Sanel! Your training and advice these past few weeks has been great, and yes, very helpful in applying to our repertoire!! Hope to see you again on Tonebase some time soon.
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Barney I am glad to hear it! I hope it too. All the best!
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End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
