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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I thought I'd use this challenge as a motivation to refine and perfect a new composition written in the Afro Peruvian rhythm of landó. My first video has a cajón loop in the background to mark the 12/8 rhythm. I look forward to this opportunity and checking out the other postings here. This is a fragment of the first two minutes with a few rough spots...
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Tomas Rodriguez Really fantastic Tomas! I love your piece and I appreciate you introducing me to a new rhythm! Bravo!
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Tomas Rodriguez You got the Duende, Tomas! Nice composition and amazing performance! Did you write the score? Thanks for posting, compa!
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Steve Pederson Thank you Steve.
Moyses Lopes Thank you Moyses - yes the score is mine - though to claim ownership feels strange.
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I spent a couple of years in the Azores Islands of Portugal and had the fortune of being on the same island as the guitarist and composer, Victor Castro. Such a great musician and teacher and an even better person. One of his albums was music from the Azores arranged for guitar and this was always one of my favorites.
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Steve Price What a wonderful life experience, and what a gift it must be for you to be able to play his music. It's so beautiful and well-played. Thank you for sharing this with us, Steve! Will we get to hear more?
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Eric Phillips Thanks a lot, Eric. He's written quite a bit but unfortunately not much is in my range. There are a couple I've been working on off and on that I might have to polish up at some point.
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Steve Price very beautiful. Both the piece and your playing. Really enjoyed it, Steve.
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Steve Price That was very nice. I was not aware of Victor Castro so will have to check out some of his music. Great to know that you lived in the Azores. I truly want to go and visit those islands. My mother's family immigrated from there to the US via Hawaii in the 1880s.
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Steve Price A lovely piece and a very nice performance. I’m sure it holds a lot of meaning for you! Thanks for sharing!
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Steve Price Very nice, Steve. This a new composer and composition to me. You play it beautifully.
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Steve Price Bravo Steve! Looks like I've miss your post in this already long thread!! Did you have met or had a lesson with him? I hope you'll share a bit more of him, nice discovery for me.
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Blaise Laflamme Yes, Blaise, I studied guitar with him when he wasn't traveling. I was new to the guitar and in the middle of a military career so I wasn't able to really appreciate the opportunity until later, but there's a lot he taught me that still comes to mind years later.
My wife used to come to the studio where he taught and she would wait in the little cafe outside. One time he stopped my lesson and went to find her and brought her back in. He made me play a particular passage and he pointed out how my thumb was wrapping around the neck. He told her she should smack me whenever she saw my thumb do that and it was okay since my teacher said so. It's been 20 years but she still keeps an eye on it, lol.
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Jack Stewart joosje Marilyn Blodget Thanks a lot. I appreciate it.
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Dale Needles He's been back and forth between Portugal and Brazil over the years and has a pretty varied style mixing folk, modern, and pop so it's an interesting catalog. The Azores really is a wonderful place. We were on Terceira which was only 11x13 miles, but it never really felt small even after a couple of years.
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Steve Price Amazing, you got a solid start! Haha.... the thumb watcher!
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Steve Price Beautiful! And, it sounds like a wonderful experience meeting Victor. So glad you had that experience and are bringing the music to us.
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Steve Price Great, Steve! Your performance sounds really deep. Thanks, gajo!
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Hand - Elegy for a King (practicing trouble spots on Mar 8)
I identified the sections that were giving me the most trouble in this piece (I think it's more than half the piece!), and I practiced them in small chunks. For each section, I began with the measure that precedes it so I could practice the transition into the section. I have attached pictures of the score for each section.
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Eric Phillips This is coming together well, Eric. I was working through some of the scores you posted and I'll have to hold off on this one for the foreseeable future. He seems to like those tiny intervals like unisons and seconds that I struggle to pull off without getting my fingers knotted up.
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Steve Price Yes, the enormous stretches combined with having to move the left hand pinky around while holding onto a barre make this so difficult. I am tempted to simplify it, but I think those small intervals are part of the beauty of the music.
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Eric Phillips Great strategy! I like that, I think that working on a piece is like building a tower, you need to find your path and order to do and study things! Thanks for sharing!
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Love the topic of this challenge, and since I will have more time to practice this month, I decided to join the community challenge for the first time. I think it is a great opportunity to finally play Villa-Lobos. I picked Choros No 1. The big question is if I am actually able to play to piece, it is a little more advanced compared to the repertoir I am used to. I read the first phrase of the piece and it seems viable. Let´s see if I can play the A section by the end of the week.
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Bruno Calixto That's a nice start and such a great piece, Bruno. That's one I want to have in my repertoire at some point.
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Bruno Calixto Nice start! This is a fun piece to play. Tonebase has a great lesson on this. It’s all in Spanish, which I don’t understand, but musical language is universal!
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Bruno Calixto Good beginning, Bruno. I am looking forward to your progress.
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End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
