Week 2 - Practicing Passages // May 10
Hello and welcome to the Main Thread for Week 2 of the virtuosity challenge! 
This is the place to discuss the Week 2 stream and post your Week 2 practice updates.
- Make sure you've read the guidelines before replying (<- click)
- Watch the Week 2 livestream here for help with this week's exercises!
Download the sheet music: in this second week, we will be working with different excerpts from my right-hand technique workshop, as well as some new materials.
Download them both here:
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Right-hand exercise book (<- click)
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Download additional sheet music here (now with fingerings!)
Video updates are encouraged due to the technical aspect of this challenge 
Feel free to upload videos into your replies OR simply link to YouTube. YouTube video submissions CAN be unlisted. Just make sure they're not set on "private", so we can all see them.
If you want to describe your process, feel free to use the following template.
- Exercise(s) you have been working on:
- Things you found easy:
- Things you found difficult:
↓ Reply below with your submissions and questions! ↓
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Here is the Leyenda excerpt with my ring finger planted. I did it with p and i first, then p and m. P and i is definitely easier. With p and m, I seem to be lacking independence between a and m, so it's not too good while a is planted.
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Eric great job, Eric!!! This is sounding great - so powerful, even, and controlled! I am proud
Yes, it does seem like i is a little easier for you right now - stick with that for now! We'll work on the a and m independence with other exercises. Thanks for posting this!
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Eric that sounds great!! For me, it is easier p and m! your hand looks very relaxed and the sound is beautiful
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Eric nice tone Eric
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Here is a video of the Villa Lobos Etude 7 opening. Not too bad, but still slow. This is my first time in a long time practicing rest stroke scales so much, so I'd be curious what tips you have about my stroke and what needs improving.
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Eric Nice extension on rest strokes
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david robinson Thanks David.
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Eric yes! your really extend well on the rest strokes!
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Eric Eric, this is sounding very good! There is very little for me to say at this stage - great evenness of tone and volume, rhythmic exactitude and projection!
It would be easier to see things that can be improved if you were playing a more difficult passage (or this, but in a faster tempo), since you basically got this down!
If I look really closely, I can see that the movement of your i, m away from the strings changes somewhat when you reach the 4th string. This might be because you don't have the thumb as an anchor anymore, or because the angle of the palm is slightly different.
To challenge yourself to hold that initial treble string position super evenly, so that you are ready for any scale you may have to play no matter the register, try practicing exercise 3C from last week down and up, in the extended version I demonstrated. (Play it as written, then move one fret lower and play it as an ascending scale instead.)
But really, this is all sounding and looking great!
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Eric sounds great, well done!
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Eric bravo!
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Mircea Thanks for the great advice, Mircea. I've been practicing 3C, so maybe there is improvement. Here I am playing the Villa Lobos again, but faster. Let me know what you see.
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Eric hi Eric! Sorry I missed this earlier, it got buried in the long comment thread and I just saw it now.
This is sounding great! I really don't have much to say here at all.
The only thing that I notice if I try to nitpick would be that sometimes, the notes on the 2nd and 4th strings tend to be a bit uneven rhythmically - this is a constant struggle for anyone playing scales, not just you.
Keep practicing them with the metronome and even when you practice them without, like in this excerpt, try to really focus your hearing on whether those notes sound perfectly even rhythmically or not. You're on the right path and it's already sounding so good!
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As I expected it’s really working on these excerpts. But it takes time! I keep some 15’ for the warming up with week 1 exercises before I attack the new set. For now, I recorded only the Albeniz (pi and pm), Pujol and Brouwer. Trying to speed up, but not to much. It needs longer practicing. ( longer period). A-finger fixed and not playing feels very tensed, still.
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joosje Good work, Joosje! Like you, I struggle with a tense ring finger when it’s planted. You’re working through it well, though.
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joosje Nice job; wish I had your speed on Leyenda
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joosje Well done, Joosje (as always).
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joosje nice work Joosje!
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joosje sounds very beautiful, as usual. well done. Is there a synchronization problem in your video or is my computer on fire? (it's very hot today)
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joosje sorry Joosje, my computer is the problem. I tried it with my mobile, it is OK now.
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Gokce Turkmendag ok. It’s just my smartphone recording - no editing. Not striving for perfection - just practicing and work in progress . Good challenge, even in very hectic times.
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joosje very nice sound also! I did not work the Brouwer study, it is really beautiful the music,and your sound is very good. ! I hope tomorrow to send some videos... I am studiyng !!
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joosje sounds super good Joosje. The hands looks very relaxed. Is your pinky relaxed when you plant the a?
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joosje This is sounding great!
On the Brouwer: great job with the chordal and a finger preparation! If I may nitpick here, the only thing to say would be, make sure your thumb isn't moving your palm around too much. It tends to do that for all of us, since it's such a strong player by comparison to all others.
When it comes to the other pieces: Yes, there is a little bit of tension in your a (and in your pinky) in Asturias and Abejorro, but it's not impeding the quality of the music.
Try this, perhaps! Not sure if it will help, but let's see:
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joosje well played Joosje
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Working on Leyenda, 7a, 7b, 8c
Having trouble building speed on scale passages
Below are Leyenda, 7a, 7b, and 8c
End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
