20 Sor Studies (Segovia)
Derek jokingly indicated to me that it almost seems like I am doing all of Sor's studies. That put the idea in my head - why not try to do all twenty in Segovia's collection? I am a little intimidated by the difficulty of the later ones, but we'll see how far I can get. Who knows, this project might take me several years (decades?) and, by then, maybe my technique will have improved! 
(Since I'm not getting any younger, the reverse may be more likely.)
I am mostly using the edition that Tariq Harb has attached to his video lessons on the studies, found here on TB, of course. A copy of it is attached here.
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Study 3 (November 30, 2021)
Here is a first take on Study 3 (Op 6 No 2). For whatever reason, I have a really strong memory of listening to a recording of this one by Segovia back when I first started playing classical about 30 years ago.
As I watch this video, my right hand again has some issues, most notably moving quite a bit. It seems that in order to bring the melody out, I have somehow picked up the habit of jerking my whole hand upward, toward my left shoulder. I'd like to focus on bringing out this melody while keeping my right hand more stable and secure.
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ivan paolo I am using free stroke. My rest stroke is not particularly good, especially when it is alternated with free strokes like here. Perhaps I should use this opportunity to work on it, though.
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Eric Phillips beautiful, Eric! As you've mentioned, you might want to tame your right hand, but fixing those intuitive movements and replacing it with something rather counter-intuitive is a recurring issue with almost all of my students!
I enjoyed listening to this piece very much! -
Martin Thanks so much, Martin. Getting that right hand under control will be my main focus.
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Eric Phillips Really enjoyed this , Eric! the melody is ringing and singing nicely. Your right hand might relax e bit more, but it is doing what needs to …..
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joosje Thanks so much, Joosje!
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Study 3 (December 2, 2021)
Here is an update after a couple days of practice. My right hand looks a lot better. Still a few jerky motions, but much improved from my last post. In trying to make the melody sing above the accompaniment, I think I cut some of the accompaniment notes a bit too much.
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Study 4 (December 4, 2021)
Here is my initial reading of this study (Op 6 No 1). This one switches to having the melody in the bass.
This one is harder than it looks on paper to me. Keeping the melody legato requires some tricky fingering and barring. When I got to the end, my left hand was quite sore from the barres and contortions. I will have to go through it measure by measure and really think about the fingerings.
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Eric Phillips Well done Eric. I've always liked the appearance of the German 6th - sort of a touch of ragtime blues, to my ears anyway. I wonder if Sor had the same connections as Robert Johnson.
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Jack Stewart Thanks for listening, Jack. I never thought about that, but you’re right about the blues connection. You also heard the “blues lick” from Sor’s Op 60 No 23. Are we sure that Fernando never visited the Mississippi Delta?
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Eric Phillips maybe he was who Johnson met at the crossroads
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Nice one! I thought about doing it once then got tired just thinking of it..haha. But I do plan to revisit Op 6 no 11 soon too. Looking forward to hearing more of it from you! Good luck!
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Thanks, Don. This one of more of a long-term goal that I will keep revisiting.
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Study 4 (December 18, 2021)
After a bit of a break for the Happy Holiday Challenge, I revisited this study in my practice. It's a bit of an improvement on the version above, but still not great. I am finding that playing this is causing me quite a bit of pain in my left hand, especially in the muscle between my thumb and index finger. Because of that, I'm going to make this my final version of this study.
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Eric Phillips
I was able to follow on YT a series of lectures by Maestro Flavio Sala, on the 20 studies of Sor reviewed by Maestro Segovia. He emphasized in this study the need to control the duration of the notes played by the thumb, stopping them where required.
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ivan paolo Yes, thanks, Ivan, I agree. There is a lot of need for that in this piece, and I am only successful at it about 50% of the time (if that). It's actually a somewhat new technique for me to do this. It does help to keep the bass melody sounding clean, like a melodic line. I just find it difficult to do it all the time. It feels like I am trying to pat my head, rub my belly, chew gum, and recite poetry, all at the same time!
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Studies 5 and 6 (December 20, 2021)
These two studies are, of course, standards of the repertoire, and I have worked on both before. Playing them today is a bit like visiting old friends.
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Eric Phillips so beautiful !
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Study 7 (December 20, 2021)
This is one I love and have heard many times, but I have never really worked on it, so I plan to continue working on a for a bit. The ascending thirds are not easy for me, especially when they are on the bass strings (like in measure 10).
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Eric Phillips great job, Eric. It’s a beautiful study. Really well played!, so musical. The melody is flowing and .the harmonies are clear. From measure 9 on - the nice interesting dialogue between top voice and counter melody,- you could decide to make a little more dynamic (agogic) difference only to colour the piece even more.
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joosje Thank you, Joosje! Yes, I definitely want to bring out that dialogue and add dynamics. Right now I’m still trying to get my fingers to be able to play the notes.
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Study 7 Walkthrough (inside the mind of Eric)
As I dig into this study, a lot of thoughts are going through my mind. I decided to create a video of me talking through some of my thinking about what's going on this music. It's pretty long, so only watch this if you've packed a lunch, or maybe if you're looking for a cure for your insomnia.
If you prefer simply to hear a performance of these musical ideas, just listen to my update posted underneath this one. -
Study 7 (December 21, 2021)
Here's a performance in which I try to implement the musical ideas I shared in the video above. This one is much shorter, I promise!
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Eric Phillips it’s great to hear your approach and progress on the piece. I find your posts very inspiring. I decided to go back to this wonderful collection of Sor studies, that maestro Segovia presents us. They’re all so rich and beautiful. None of them easy, some very difficult, but all worth the work spent on learning them…. Both technically and musically. Thank you Eric
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joosje Thank you, Joosje, for the kind and supportive words.
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Study 7 (December 22, 2021)
Here is today's update. For my practice with it today, I actually broke out the metronome to work on measures 9-16. This is something I rarely do, but should do more. I'm still not totally happy with the dialogue in measures 9-12, but it is better than yesterday. Those thirds on the bass strings are very hard for me to execute cleanly and in time.
End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
