Group 1
Improve your Left-Hand-Fitness with Slurs!
The Fitness of the left hand is responsible for how comfortable you feel on the guitar. Regular slur practice will improve your stability and agility and opens your hand for more fingering possibilities! Two Weeks, Fingers 1234, a gazillion different possibilites! Let me show you my workout tips for the left hand and let us improve together!
Fellow Participants in Group 1:
joosje
Alex Polonski
Robert
Vilio Celli
Eric Phillips
Bill Young
Kirkestopinal
Carlos Augusto Costa Silva
Marilyn Blodget
Barney
Valdir Ferreira
GALAIS
Jason Park
Helen Walker
Some tonebase productions to get you started
Martin Zimny - Left Hand Workout with Villa-Lobos Etude #3
Martin Zimny - Getting Slurs Right from the beginning
Artyom Dervoed - Slurs from Nothing
Bill Kanengiser - Padre e Hija by Garcia de Leon
How to get the most out of this course
- Start by watching the introduction video and practice the exercises given in the video.
- Write a post with your experiences with Slurs.
- At the same time, start practicing the first bars of Etude #3 by Villa-Lobos. If you are new to the piece, start with my livestream on this piece!
- Share two videos per week and help your course partners through feedback on their submissions!
Zoom Check-In: Friday, June 24th at 6 pm CET (9 am PT)
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Villa-Lobos Etude 3 with reverse dotted rhythms (June 22)
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Eric Phillips I will record a video tomorrow where I go in depth of some issues our participants have, and I will cover the dynamic pressure for sure!
For this particular etude I find the reverse dotted rhythm MUCH more effective for what this etude tries to achieve! I still practice it that way whenever I pull that one out! So if you have the patience, I am sure it will pay off!
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Martin Sounds good and thanks for the quick response!
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Eric Phillips Wow, outstanding job on this Eric! Very secure finger motions, and nice execution of that last tricky measure.
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Barney Thanks, Barney. Musically, it's not my favorite etude, but it is quite a left hand workout.
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Eric Phillips I agree and believe some of the Villa-Lobos Preludes are more our taste musically.
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Wow Eric, great job, large coffee cup (hope that you emptied it by drinking not by smashing the cup down while falling asleep...), nice recordings. I hope that I can do my 1st video on Thursday or Friday. Those exercises are good for me, so far. I am always looking ahead while performing those technical exercises, hoping and knowing that they are so helpful in general for playing pieces.
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Robert Thanks, Robert. I definitely drank the coffee (one of several cups)!
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Okay thanks Martin will try to make it
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Vilio Celli great!
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I have been working on the slur assignments, boring but good for finger dexterity. One piece that has a great slur arpeggio in the middle is Weiss’s prelude from sonata V.
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Vilio Celli fantastic, do you mind sharing your favorite interpretation of that piece?
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Martin https://youtu.be/e71R60Sl9tg
this version by drew Henderson is my favourite
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Vilio Celli very informative video and beautiful interpretation!
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I got the memo. Thanks!
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June 23rd update
I continued doing exercises 3 and 4 today. With exercise 4, I just stayed in one position (V pos), no shifting. I won't bore you with more videos of the exercises.
I am also continuing to work on VL Etude 3 with reverse dotted rhythm. Going a bit faster. Video attached.
Martin Do you have a copy of your fingerings for page 2 of the VL? If not, I can try to hand copy it by watching the livestream.
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Eric Phillips Voilá! The tempo you got is roughly the one I like to do as well!
Btw., I play the chord in bar 6 for the first time in first position, the second time in 6th position! (I don't know exactly why without the guitar in my hand, but that's what I do!)
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Martin Great, thank you. I did notice that you play that chord in first position the first time. I just find doing them both up higher to be much easier. The fingering in first position I find quite difficult.
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Eric Phillips Yeah, I don’t really notice that anymore, that shape is so heavily imprinted in my hand, haha! What I like about the first position is that you can slide up with your third finger for the slur on the 11th to 12th fret!
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I decided to make a recording of Ernesto García de León’s Padre e Hija. It's a great study in slurs and a-m-i arpeggios. Bill Kanengiser's lesson on this study is highly recommended.
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Eric Phillips Fantastic! These studies offer so much. I've worked them with my students for a competition and they got 1st and 2nd price, I was soooo proud
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Martin Yes, I love them so much. Congratulations to you and your students!
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Eric Phillips Very nice, thanks for sharing that!
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Eric Phillips Thank you for posting this Eric! I'm not familiar with it, but you play it so well it makes it more inviting to look into.
btw, the recorded sound is better. Have you added so reverb? which one do you use?
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Barney Thank you, Barney. I really like his Twenty Studies.
I have added reverb. I'm using Audacity. As you probably know, I am quite a novice with my recording skills, but I was able to figure this out. It's cumbersome, and I'm probably not doing it the best (easiest) way, but I do like the sound better. I only wish I could sit down with Martin and have him walk me through things.
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Eric Phillips Sounds great, and the playing is even better! Martin is great; I'm sure if you asked him, he would walk you through the process.
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End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
