Nora's practice diary "Recuerdos de la Alhambra"
Hi Martin (and Emma, Blaise,etc I already know some of you guys !),
I am struggling with recuerdos and Tremolo since March 21, and this is a great challenge and opportunity which I want to join. I usually get a little lost with all the activities.. somewhere I read , but I donot find it yet, that the 2.11? will be the start of this project? if it is like that, I will be able to join you this time 
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But...a concert??? when will be the date ???? I am very slow by learning....unfortunately. I will try to send today my first personal practice diary , is it in this page oder? With Recuerdos de la Alhambra also. And I will try the point of relaxation after each stroke . I am also practicing the preparation of the following stroke, what Rafael also explained.
Sooo see you later !
Hasta luego
Nora
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Hi Martin (and Emma, Blaise,etc I already know some of you guys !),
I am struggling with recuerdos and Tremolo since March 21, and this is a great challenge and opportunity which I want to join. I usually get a little lost with all the activities.. somewhere I read , but I donot find it yet, that the 2.11? will be the start of this project? if it is like that, I will be able to join you this time
. But...a concert??? when will be the date ???? I am very slow by learning....unfortunately. I will try to send today my first personal practice diary , is it in this page oder? With Recuerdos de la Alhambra also. And I will try the point of relaxation after each stroke . I am also practicing the preparation of the following stroke, what Rafael also explained.
Sooo see you later !
Hasta luego
Nora
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Nora Torres-Nagel Hola Nora! The next challenge will be the "tonebase community concert challenge" and you can pick any piece you want and you are feeling comfortable with!
I will explain the details on the Kick-Off Livestream on Nov 2nd, but we will share our progress in our own individual Practice Diary (I will show how you open a practice diary in the Kick-Off livestream, then I can move your posts into your own diary!) and at the end of the challenge, we will have our very own community concert on Dec 4th!
In order to acquainted with the idea, we will do a proper dress rehearsal on Nov 20 where we will do a very casual run-down in order to be absolutely prepared!
Glad to have you on board, let me know if you have any more questions!
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Nora Torres-Nagel Yes, I can watch the video now. Thank you so much for sharing it!
I really thought it was quite good! I have picked up this piece from time to time myself, but I have never gotten it anywhere close to the level where you are playing it right now.
Your tone is great, and you navigate the left hand well, which is far from easy. Your tempo does seem to change a lot, so I would think a metronome would help. Overall, I think you are well on your way to a beautiful performance of the piece. Great work!
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Nora Torres-Nagel Fantastic, thank you for sharing! It is absolutely inspiring to see and hear your thoughts on your current state and especially your dedicated practice! I am sure that with time your tremolo will improve massively, let's motivate each other to get the best tremolo we can!
I am practicing it at the moment even slower to really feel the relaxation between each stroke of the fingers! Haha, I remember Raffa's Story about the ad for sausages (was it?) as well 
The Idea is that everybody starts their own Practice Diary, not only for other to see but also for yourself and see how you have improved over the course of a given time!
We are going to kick off this idea with the next challenge on Nov 2nd as a regular livestream that can be rewatched, but the Practice Diary will stay and be permanent feature of the Forum! We want everybody to participate, no matter if there's challenge going on or not! Furthermore, we want the community concerts to become a regular thing! But since it's the first time this month, we are going to accompany that with a challenge
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Eric Phillips thanks a lot for your feedback Eric and for listening to me.
The beginning of the tremolo is always very difficult for me, so I begin slower....and the second time I feel more comfortable and accelerate...this is not good of course....Tomorrow I will use the metronome again, it s always very good also to maintain the ....how to say it... the tempo between each note ami, or pamipamietc. And I have to maintain the tempo I use at the beginning. Til tomorrow.
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Martin Super super Martin! I love the idea of the concenrts and I will be there, becasue exactly this is my deep weakness with my loved guitar, to share my music with others. On 2.11 I can be there in livestream. And I will live the 20th evening free for the rehearsal concert. The 4th I am not in Germany.
What do you think ? shall I choose Recuerdos for the concert, even when I know it is not going to be ready for "a concert" in 4 weeks ? I found this idea a challenging and nice motivation or if a think in a "serious" concert, I should play something that I manage better? Are you going to play Recuedos even if it is not perfect?...I wonder....what to do...
I am not sure how to see the private dairies of the group...but I am getting better!!
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Hi all,
today I did another video. I am not happy with the result of this week of work on the subject. Of course I am not going to play Recuerdos in the concert...it would be a suicide!
The tremolo sounds not nice and very weak in volumen, even when the thumb is not too strong, it is the voice of the tremolo which is lost...
I also did a movie playing a little with the metronome...
I continue working on it...
See you later this evening.
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Nora Torres-Nagel very even tremolo Nora. Please keep on updating your diary. I am looking forward to see more videos of you. :)
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I did a new video with exercises and a wav of all the piece.
Still is not even...and my consistence is inconsistent!!! even altough I do the exercise of Stephanie for consistency , which is very useful.
But It maybe that the piece is a little better than the last one. At least the melody can be heard more clearly, in some parts. I have to listen both again.
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Nora Torres-Nagel I could not load the wav file. It say it is to large....Max 50 mb?...I have to leave now. I will see later if I can...
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Nora Torres-Nagel Now I have changed the format from wav to mp3, it is a lot smaller.
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Nora Torres-Nagel it is a creative way of practicing the melody, Nora! I can hear your melody clearer than last videos. It is a nice progress.
However, I can hear the nail are clicking. Perhaps it has someting to do with your nail shape? Maybe polishing the nail will help. And try to contact with the string firstly with the flesh of your finger, then slide very quickly to make the nail pressing the string making sound.
And perhaps trying to relax the right hand fingers and try to bounce back a finger as fast as possible after it has attack a string. In this way, you will have a melody that sings more clearly.
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Khiem Nguyen thanks for hearing me so carefully Khiem, I really appreciate your commentaries.....Yes, my nails are making noise and they are not good in quality, the broke a lot, right now my im are broken again...this makes always difficult for me to find the right shape...but nevertheless I know that my attack is not consistent . I will continue working also the relaxation....difficult staff!. When you play I do not hear your nails, probably you have got an stable attack and correct!!! thanks again.....let's continue...pami...
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Nora Torres-Nagel great progress, Nora. It’s so nice to follow the way you’re working on this beautiful piece. You made yourself a great study. I’ll try this exercise…. Your tremolo is getting more regular and even in sound. Do you also practice with speed bursts? I think it is very useful for this technique - as for arpeggio, which in fact is the same idea (pima on 4 or 2 strings)
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Nora Torres-Nagel let us all keep on the good progress, Nora. We are all making progress every time.
What I meant by polishing your nail above, was to polish using sand papers so that the nail part that touch the strings is smooth like glass.
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Nora Torres-Nagel interesting practice technique Nora. It's coming along nicely. My tremolo is not too good but it has improved recently. My volume was too low with the fingers but I practice Mircea's right hand technique exercises and try to increase the volume. I know they are not tremolo exercises but by increasing my volume when I play scales etc My tremolo seems to have improved
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joosje thanks Joosje. It requires an incredible patient capacity this tremolo. I am working on it since March!!!!! I will try the speed bursts also, I didn't try yet. Time ago I was doing nuances let`s say....but now I am trying to maintain the tempo although it sounds less musical as an exercise, as Eric told me once also, with metronomo...becasue I am not consistence..tanks again for your feedback.
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Derek my tremolo is also in low volumen I think...hearing David Russel Tremolo!!!! is sounds like a reststroke !! so loud!! It is a useful commentary Derek, I have to increase the pressure in attack without tensing the fingers....etcetc,,,, Muchas gracias!
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Khiem Nguyen I see I thougth you minded the form of the nail ! Ok more sand paper (I use those also)
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Nora Torres-Nagel That's a wonderfully dedicated practice sessions, thank you for sharing that with us!!
I'd recommend to practice the tremolo slower, we tend to put too much tension into the hand when we practice too fast! You want to be in control of the relaxation, you don't want to try to force your hand into a certain speed for a given period of time! I know the process so well (as I am in the middle of it as well), it takes so much discipline and patience, but your hand will feel be able to flow much smoother through p-a-m-i once it is relaxed! -
Martin thanks Martin. Indeed I am not longer practicing slowly because slowly it works...but I will do it also, you are right also, maybe the tension is what does all so inconsistent, although I do not note too much tension in the hand...but there is tension of course.
I tend to go quickler instead of slower -
Nora Torres-Nagel thank you Nora for sharing your practice, ideas and experiments. I've never myself learned a tremolo piece for concert playing, mostly for exercise and personal exploration... something that help me for rythme and sound consistency is to play p-a-m-i on the same string then later move the thumb on lower strings.
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Nora Torres-Nagel Same as with Khiem Nguyen 's Diary when I stumble upon your videos, I feel a bit guilty for not practicing my tremolo right now !
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Blaise Laflamme on the same string I do it also, I've learned that from Stephany and it helped me a lot with the position of the RH. Lower strings , you min lower tone, let's say D, A und E ? or eally lower than your ami?, like ami in 2 string and p in 1 string? I have never tried that...
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End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
