Stabilize your Right Hand with Carcassi (June 18) Questions / Suggestions
Hey y'all, very excited to take a closer look at Carcassis No.1, op.60 with you in order to improve the stability of your right hand! Feel like you're moving around too much when changing between rest stroke, free stroke, arpeggios or thumb? Then you are in for a treat, because this etude requires you to work exactly on that!
Did you ever feel that your right moves a lot when changing between rest stroke, free stroke, arpeggios or thumb melodies? Join us today to look at one of Carcassi's major pedagogical work, the Etude No.1 from the "25 Etudes Mélodiques" Op. 60, as this piece offers a lot lof possibilities to work on the stability of your right hand! Find the scores here: http://tb.media/Carcassi-no1-op60
Find the start time in your time zone by clicking the photo or following this event link:
https://app.tonebase.co/guitar/live/player/stabilize-right-hand-carcassi
We are going to be using this thread to gather suggestions and questions!
- What questions do you have about this movement?
- Any particular area you would like me to focus on?
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My view of Carcassi Op.60 No.1 from the 25 Etudes.
"Play the rests" they have a purpose.
ex. line 1, measures 1 ,2 and 3, beat number one is a (crotchet,quarter note) downstem bassnote.
therefore release the "C" 5th string 3rd finger (damper) by 2nd beat of descending scale passage. in other words "don't sustain the bass note part" This follows the "staccato" intention.
see measures 1,2,3,5,6,7,9 (note quarter note bass melody Do Do Mi/ Sol Sol Ti/Do
Line 3, 1st measure (actual measure #11 in score), beat number 1 (Quaver, eighth note) on upper B note the role is reversed, play B for one -half of one beat, dampen it then play with "P" (thumb) the ascending a melodic minor scale.
Measures 13,15,17,18,19,20 Carcassi contracts the above techniques with increasing energy to the B dominant 7 (measure20) leading to the midway of the study.
Line 5, 1st measure (actual measure 21) new technique of (minim, half-note) "e" bass note held for e minor arpeggio then release (dampen) for single notes on beats 3 and 4. Similar for measure 22.
Measures 23,24 and 29 through 36 downstem (minim, half-note) bass melody line with arpeggio
Measures 37,38,39,40 recap of opening technique.
Measures 41,42,43 "Play the Rests" Drama1
Don't hold note values longer than written (with the left hand fingers) for this Etude.
This is how I hear it. Martin will cover use of RH strokes and other details.
Try it, you'll like it.
Respectfully submitted, Michael
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Hi, Martin. No livestream for me today. I´m sorry. Still at work. This is my question: it seems to me that you always have a suitable piece in order to work on a specific subject or problem, be it planting, slurs, chords, etc. Is this how you teach your students? I mean, do you follow a "path" made of repertoire pieces? I know the answer could last for a whole day, so please feel free to summarize.
THANK YOU!! Your explanations are awesome.
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Igor Answered it right in the beginning of the workshop in depth, let me know if you want to continue this discussion, maybe we can create a livestream topic out of that!
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As promised, here's the annotated score with my fingerings!
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Martin Thanks
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Thanks for a great lesson - a few questions / observations
1) it strikes me that this is a great study for exploring the use of planting the “a” finger to stabilise the hand on the top e string- as mircea advocated in his review of Cuban technique - is there any reason you do not use it ?
2) In bar 15 where we jump to the bass - I get the use of “pim” to jump from the “b” to the “g” - but what are merits of the following “pipm” versus “Imim” ? I find the use of the thumb in scale passages useful but they introduce an emphasis - unless you are very careful.
I would love to have this kind of analysis on a piece of Bach - 1006a prelude ?Thanks
David
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David David! So sorry for my delayed answer!! Here are my thoughts on your great questions!
1) That was a great observation, and whenever I have the possibility, I try to plant my fingers. However, planting might actually decrease the agility of your right hand in this case, as I prefer to plant for arpeggio-like patterns. In this etude you have scale-like patterns with repetitive imim-movement going downwards. Now imagine planting your index on the first string (bar 1, 5 or 6). While it might give you security for the first two or three notes, the growing distance between a and im will cause more and more tension in your hand thus decreasing your ability to alternate quickly between i and m! Furthermore, you won't be able to adjust the angle of im enough to reduce scratching on the lower strings!
2) Another great observation! I use pipm for two reasons there: First, the thumb is less scratchy on the lower strings. In order to avoid excessive scratching with imim i'd need to adjust my angle and then suddenly change for the apoyando in bar 16. Now you might think "but you need to change anyway, because with pipm you have the same problem". True! But second, the movement back from the 4th string to the 6th string in order to prepare for the apoyando in bar 16 is helping my adjusting my hand in a very natural way! By moving my thumb back to the 6th string for bar 16, I automatically have a nice positioning for my index finger to fall into a perfect apoyando motion!
These are of course very subjective considerations, but I hope that explaining my thought process helps you think about more about the subtle motions of your right hand that further stabilize your right hand movements!
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David and 1006a is an excellent choice for that, it has been a very long time since I played that though! Might be worth to take a fresh start after all this time!
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Martin thank you for your thoughtful answer. As you say all these choices are personal - but being aware of the scratchiness of bass notes is something perhaps I need to focus on. Thank you :very helpful.
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David
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Hi, Martin. I´ve been so busy lately working on the concepts presented in this livestream. Knowing I had to nail this, I took Pujol´s method searching for exercises wich helped changing from rest-stroke to free-stroke. This is what I found (everything is in the third book):
- Exercise 157, and etude XXI.
- Exercise 167 and etude XXVIII.
- Exercises 168 to 171 and etude XXXI. Interestingly, this etude presents a 5/8 rhythm, well known in the Basque Country, where I come from.
Now I play these as a part of my weekly routine, hoping my right hand stability will improve.
Hope this helps.
THANK YOU!!
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Igor Thank you so much! I haven't thought about Pujol in this context, but of course he has a great amount of very valuable exercises and etudes! I'll take a look at those that you've mentioned, maybe that's great livestream material, haha
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I almost forgot... Pujol etude XXXI is not about apoyando-tirando, but chords and melody, wich helps with voices and balance, linking this livestream with the one on April the 27th.
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I LOVE this lesson/workshop, ( I tried to play No 1 by Carcassi, for a while, and this demonstration was pure gold -very detailed but easy to follow). I will look for your notes online. Thank you!
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Jenny So happy you enjoyed the session! Here is my annotated score for that lesson!
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End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
