Week 4: Tango Tempest 
Welcome to the Main Thread for the fourth week of "Song and Dance" practice challenge!
Choose a piece that is inspired or transcribed from a song or a dance. It could be a lively south-american danza, a passionate tango, a serene romantic lied, or a poignant aria transcribed for the guitar. You're welcome to explore pieces from unfamiliar composers or challenge yourself with a complex work.
Commit to daily practice and share your journey with the community. Aim to practice every day and upload at least two videos each week to illustrate your progress. This will not only help you stay committed and encouraged but will also allow you to share your musical voyage with our tonebase family.
Share your favorite piece or recording that embodies the theme of "Song and Dance." Your submission will serve as an inspiration to others and create a vibrant pool of potential pieces for other members to delve into.
↓ Happy Sharing! ↓
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Dear Friends, we still have a lot of open spots for our upcoming TWI with Arturo Castro on Slurs!
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Here is another early dance piece by Abel Carlevaro entitled El Oriental - Malambo. This piece was written in the early 1960s under the pseudonym, J.A, Piendibene, who was a famous footballer (soccer player) in Uruguay. While this piece was never published in his lifetime, Carlevaro did record a version of it in the mid 1960s under the pseudonym, Vincente Vallegos. BTW, this is an amazing album (available on Youtube) in which Carlevaro plays folkloric music from the Rio de la Plata. The malambo is gaucho dance popular in the Rio de la Plata region. The title El Oriental (the Eastern) is derived from Uruguay's official name, República Oriental del Uruguay (Eastern Republic of Uruguay).
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Dale Needles great finding Dale! sounds more tonal than what we're used from Carlevaro, bravo!
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Dale Needles That's great, Dale. It has a lot of spunk and character.
I think I saw Groucho dance the malambo in Copacabana.
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Dale Needles very nice! Is there a reason why he would write music under a pseudonym？He should already been quite established then already. Thanks for sharing!
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Dale Needles Another great selection from Carlevaro. Very well played and such a cool rhythm. Thanks for sharing, Dale!
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Jack Stewart Thanks. Yes, it does have some spunk and could be played faster for the full effect.
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Blaise Laflamme Thanks. Check out my next post, Milonga Oriental, more like the Carlevaro that we have come to know. I also posted it last year in an audio format and thought it would be good to redo with video.
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don Thanks. I think that Carlevaro used a pseudonym, first as joke (he had a great sense of humor) and second, he did not want to be known as a folklorist.
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Barney Thanks. Yes, a nice simple piece but fun to play. Check out my latest post, Milonga Oriental, which is a bit more challenging both in its rhythm and harmonic dissonance.
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Dale Needles Awesome song Dale, and I really love your tone!
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Dale Needles great idea for sure!
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Dale Needles Great piece and playing Dale!
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Dale Needles Very nice and entertaining piece Dale. Well done
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Gran Vals
far from what i want. But think is best i can do for this challenge. Will revisit it again in future.
Need more work on the trills and slurs especially.
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don This is sounding very good, Don. I have never played this work, it looks really difficult. Great job.
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don great work on this Vals Don, as Jack is saying it seems to have some difficult passages that makes it hard to have the same ease everywhere.
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Blaise Laflamme thanks! Yes, there are some difficult passages that I cannot get around now.
But it has been a great learning experience playing this piece. The 4 sections are all so distinct and somehow I'm missing some secret sauce to make them connect.
There are also issues with my slurs especially the pull off with my last finger that doesn't sound consistent and almost always sounded too naily. I've tried to cheat by playing each note but it loses something.
Then in next section, its too difficult to maintain the barre. By the time I hit that last bar of the section, my hands become too tired. I can't practice the last section because by the time I reach that, my hands are already too tired. Need to find a way to practice this in a slow but not tiring manner.
Jack Stewart Thanks!
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don
Gran Vals - Last take
last take. Tried going back to using slurs and playing section 3 in natural position to reduce shifting. The will take sometime to get it into a performance shape.
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don Well done Don, Bravo
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Lob der Tranen
was experimenting playing tasto for a different tone. Its is actually much difficult than i thought playing in this position. I think largely succeed in getting the tone i want, there are still mistakes here and there especially in section B. But is close to getting how i like it to sound.
will try post an update if i have time.
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don Beautiful, Don. You have a great for this Schubert/ Mertz piece.
I found your use of tasto very successful. Dare I say it? - Your tasto was tasty. (Sorry, sometimes I can't help myself). -
don you're right this is difficult to play tasto for a long time, I usually play tasto for some effects or small chunks but never for a whole section. You could also try to use different timbers/colors at different positions to help reaching the sound you're looking for.
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don This is one of my favorite Mertz transcriptions of Schubert's work. You are doing very well with it so far, but be careful about use of Tasto for such a long stretch. It loses it's effectiveness for variety of color; However, I understand it's very tempting to hear that extra warm , round tone. I would suggest choosing it sparingly for special moments.
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don Very nice, Don. This piece is sounding very beautiful and great progress. Congrats!
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End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
