Week 1: Setting Sails! 
Welcome to the Main Thread for the first week of the "Music YOU Love" practice challenge!
↓ Happy Sharing! ↓
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Hand - Elegy for a King measures 1-20 (Mar 6)
Here is my first attempt at this piece. I am playing the A section in D minor. (After this, there is a B section in D major, and then it returns to an altered A section in D minor, with a short coda).
The part I struggle with the most by far is the last bit, from measures 13-20 (see the picture below). It has these rather large stretches together with full barres that I find nearly impossible (especially measure 16, which is the first measure of the second system in the picture). I also don't feel comfortable with the giant "arpeggio grace notes" in measures 17-18.
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Eric Phillips good start Eric, and your piece is a great choice! Interesting atmosphere!
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Khiem Nguyen Thanks, Khiem. I hope I am able to do it justice.
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Eric Phillips Great start on this Eric! I now remember why I did not try to learn this piece while I'm looking at the bars you're referring to... and my friends were also struggling with the same thing... Why writing so beautiful music we can't play
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Blaise Laflamme Yes, so many pieces have these little sections that seem almost unplayable (at least for me). I'll do my best, but if I can't manage it exactly as written, I may simplify this section. I actually found another version of the score online that simplifies this section a bit. Strangely, it also takes out the short coda, which I really like and is not too hard to play.
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Eric Phillips Oh, interesting... is the score for the composer? But in any case that's totally legit to adapt in ways we can play!
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Eric Phillips This is a really nice piece. I especially liked your approach to the second section (at about :58). It really speaks very well - with beautiful interaction between the primary and secondary lines.
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Tomas Rodriguez Thank you, Tomas!
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When I heard of this challenge, this piece immediately springs to mind. Just sharing this here. But I don’t think I’ll be ready in this lifetime. The tremolo is crazy but the real crazy starts 254。I’ll keep looking for a level 1 version of this.
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don woow
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don I suppose a level 1 version would be a single line with simple strums of 1st position chords. Somehow, I suspect something would be lost in the transcription.
I do look forward to whatever you come up with, your previous Debussy was really nice.
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don I saw Xue fei in Antwerp, she is incredible and also a nice and open person. Her art is unique...
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joosje Yes, technique aside, I find her very innovative in her approach too.
Jack Stewart thanks! This is actually a pretty hard challenge for me. Most Asian music are played on their unique instruments using very different music theory which makes transcribing very challenging at my level.
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Unfortunately I can't make the kick off livestream. When I first read the challenge I wondered what I could play by British composers but then realised there is a wealth of pieces to choose from, including Cavatina which hopefully I will post this week sometime and some pieces by the young British composer Yvonne Bloor. Then I'll try some Dowland and something from the 20th century - Richard Rodney Bennet or Lennox Berkely. Didn't post in the last challenge but I'm still working on La Catedral - just about learnt the last movement - and Coste Les Soirrees D'Autueil - not enough hours in the day!
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Derek You can learn Britten's Nocturnal or Berkeley's Sonatina?
But jokes aside, you probably can find some playable music by our Tonebase friend Steve Goss 
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Derek I'll add that you could go back in time and play some Dowland or Cutting. Whatever you choose, though, I look forward to it, Derek!
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Derek Dowland, RR Bennet, L Berkely, Barrios's Catedral, and Coste's Les Soiree D'Autueil! What a slacker!
I always look forward to your postings. You always have a wide range of things you present.
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Derek any of those pieces, looking forward to your interpretation, Derek.
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Hand - Elegy for a King (Mar 7)
Well, here is a very rough recording of the entire piece. Sorry that I am a bit out of tune (I think my second and third strings went a bit sharp). There are too many problem spots to list here, but certainly measures 13-20 still need lots of work, but also the four measures right after the harmonics. When I first heard the piece, I thought the measures with harmonics would be a huge challenge, but they turned out to be more manageable than I thought.
Oh yeah, the ending was not too good. It feels like I'm groping around a lot there, but I think with some practice I can get it down.
Step by step ...
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Eric Phillips Beautiful, Eric. Another great performance in a short time. Your harmonics were excellent and your phrasing and tone were beautiful. Well done.
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Eric Phillips Excellent run-through, you're learning fast! As you said, mesures 13-20 would take some times to be fluid but they should be just as beautiful as how you play the other mesures by the end of the challenge. There are pieces like that where you can play them very well but some sections are just... at a different level... why...
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Blaise Laflamme Yes, it's like he thought to himself, "What can I add to this straightforward piece of music that would make it impossible to play? I know, I'll add some full barres with five-fret stretches."
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Eric Phillips haha... right... like just for fun to see how people will have an hard time!
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Eric Phillips Nice Eric. I didn't know of anything of his except for his study from the Noad Book II which was the first guitar book I ever had. It's nice to hear more from him. This looks tough but it's sounding really good.
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Steve Price Thanks, Steve. I didn't know Hand has a study in the Noad books. I've seen those books, but I don't own them. It's a real change of pace from the much older music I usually play.
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Eric Phillips very nice indeed. Sweet music, modern in old style. You're doing great, so far, please keep us posted on the progress. This music is beautiful and your playing it so well already.
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End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
