Week 1: "Villa-Lobos Vibe"
Welcome to the Main Thread for the first week of "Villa-Lobos Voyage" practice challenge!
Select a mesmerizing piece from Villa-Lobos or a composer connected to his Brazilian heritage. Whether it's a soulful Villa-Lobos composition, a rhythmic Brazilian-inspired work, or a piece by another artist inspired by the Brazilian musical tradition, the choice is yours!
Commit to regular practice and share your progress with the community. Strive to practice daily and upload at least two videos per week to showcase your musical voyage. This not only keeps you motivated but also allows you to share your artistic journey with our tonebase family.
Share your favorite performance or recording that captures the spirit of the "Villa-Lobos-Voyage Challenge." Your submission will inspire others and create a vibrant collection of potential pieces for fellow members to explore.
↓ Happy Sharing! ↓
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As this is a challenge I’ll go for it. Like Eric I always shied away from prelude#2. Now is the chance to work on this great piece. I managed to record the first section, today. Not final yet, but a starting point. The challenge here is to place the tempo variations naturally, keeping the pulse.
for the B part, I struggled with the stability of my LH. i tend to put (and keep) too much pressure in the chords. At the end fatigue. It’s a long passage if you can’t relax in between. So, like Eric I practice at slow tempo so I can release pressure when shifting between positions. I had no time today to record this, today, but I plan to do that coming days.for now just section A
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joosje So fluid, so quickly, Joosje! It's strange, but one of the most difficult measures for me to play in time is measure 15. It looks so easy on the page, but it just feels so awkward to me, for some reason.
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don Jack Stewart Dale Needles thank you for your comments. I’m getting ready for a first (not so fast) recording of the B section.
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Eric Phillips thank you Eric. Yes this measure is somehow uneasy. The structure is more polyphonic than the surrounding text. Breaking the flow. I have to be very concentrated and aware to lay the barre over 4 strings (not 5) and play the slur (last 16th notes: f#-e) with 3rd finger, keeping the 4th finger fixed on the second string e. I don’t know why, but it’s difficult.
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joosje Very will done Joosje. This is a pleasure to listen.
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Villa-lobos: Choros No 1. Part B (Bars 33-56) 8/6/23
Played it before... trying to bring it back. I started from this section because I struggle with the stretch in bars 39 and 55.
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Ernesto Good work, Ernesto. I have never played this, but that section looks pretty challenging in the left hand. Once you have the notes down, I'm sure you want to make it more rhythmic.
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Eric Phillips I'll try to inject a bit more "feeling" with intention and articulation... I don't think my fingers can go much more faster! Let's see. Thanks
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Ernesto Nice work Ernesto! I'm working on this piece as well, so I appreciate the difficulty of this piece! Keep up the great work!
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Still some obvious flubs, but I think playing it with greater frequency for this challenge has been helping me "feel" how it all hangs together better than before (even if I still can't execute that all yet)!
This noisy take has our friend Caramel the rooster and a noise drip coffee machine brewing in the background.
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Spare Machine Nice progress! The phrasing and intention is very clear.
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Spare Machine You improvement is really impressive, Mark. The balance is much better and the melody stands out very clearly. Your phrasing is also very good. Great job.
Wake up and smell the coffee.
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Spare Machine
Hello, This is nicely done. Keep working on it and you will master it.
I notice you have a Cordoba guitar similar to mine. Can you tell me what kind of strings you are currently using ?
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Spare Machine Sounding better and better, Mark. I loved the rooster, it really added to the mood!
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Andre Bernier Presently, I have Savarez New Cristal Corum standard tension strings on there. But, I actually like the non-Cristal Savarez ones better. I forget what they're called, but they have less of a "glassy" feel. I've heard it said they're more like "gut" strings. Thanks for listening!
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Spare Machine the non-Cristal one are the Alliance, they are carbon strings and they sound amazing. Corum is for the basses.
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Spare Machine
Thanks for the info. The Savarez New Cristal Corum seems to be the standard strings Cordoba is using on all their classical guitars. The non-Cristal you mention is probably the Savarez Alliance Corum.
As my guitar has a cedar top and I am playing without nails; I feel the Cristal Corum helps get a better sounding treble strings.
I am actually using the D'Addarion Pro-Arté nylon core. A very good set but the treble strings do not sound as good. Well, I guess this is a lifetime exploration to find the best strings.
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Great to hear all the Villa-Lobos music thus far for this challenge. I am out of town without a guitar so to join the fun, I am posting Etude #6 by Villa-Lobos which I posted in the Etude Challenge.
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Dale Needles this is as excellent as it was in the previous challenge Dale! I'm looking to work on three HVL studies during the challenge and this one is part of them. Thanks for sharing
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Blaise Laflamme Thanks, Blaise. Which 3 are you working on? I am working up Etude #4.
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Dale Needles oh yes we're sharing another one! I'm working on 4-5-6 for now.
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Blaise Laflamme Great choices. Do know Carlevaro's Masterclass workbook on HVL Etudes? It is a great resource.
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Dale Needles those 3 will fit great for a concert! Sure I own this masterclass book!
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Blaise Laflamme Check this out.
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Dale Needles Awesome... thanks for sharing, not a bad idea for a concert then!
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Dale Needles Beautiful, Dale. But wait! Where are the squeaks?!!
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End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
