WEEK TWO Updates: Main Thread - Where the magic continues!
Alright, welcome to WEEK TWO of the Main Thread for this challenge! 
Why is this thread necessary?
Well, with the initial main thread turning into a 500-post behemoth (
), it became hard to navigate.
This comes at the very end of Week 2. Therefore, very soon, I'll be making a different thread for Week 3! We're almost there, folks, just two more days to go until Week 3! 
But Mircea - I hear you say - can we still post in the old thread?
Yes, of course! Feel free to reply to others in the old thread to your heart's content. Just make sure you post any new updates (whether text or video) in this thread instead.
"Oh no, I didn't see this thread, so I posted a new update in the old thread!"
No problem at all! Just tag me (@Mircea) and I'll move your post These admin powers I got here are actually pretty cool! It turns out I can move individual replies between threads.
Where is the Week 1 thread?
Find the Week 1 thread here!
Make sure you've read the rules before replying (<- click)
Download the music:
- Exercises 1 - 12 (← click)
- Exercises 13 - 24 (← click)
Please use the following format when commenting (feel free to copy & paste!):
- Etude you worked on:
- One thing you found easy:
- One thing you found difficult:
- (Optional): a video of you performing it!
Sample daily update:
- Etude you worked on: No. 1
- One thing you found easy: The polyphony between bass and treble flowed very naturally, I had an easy time playing each line like it belonged to its own voice.
- One thing you found difficult: I had a hard time creating enough variety throughout the repeated measures.
Feel free to make these updates as short or long as you wish!
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Don't seem to have time to get anything ready to record. I've been working on quite a few of these pieces (4, 6, 9, 10, 14, 15, 17 and 18) all of them seem fairly straightforward but most of them have some tricky little chord change or a stretch somewhere that stops me being able to play it well enough to record without more practice.
Today I decided to concentrate on and memorise 15 and no 4. 15 is fairly easy to sight read but just a a little tricky getting the ending of the phrases under my fingers. Will post a video of this tomorrow as tonight I'll be watching the live stream with Laura Snowden.
No 4 is a favourite piece of mine and I have played it before so I'm working on this to try to get a recording that I'm pleased with. I think the difficulty now is the musical interpretation rather than any technical challenge.
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Derek yes...this is for me a challenge and a humbling experience! I play pieces \ that are harder and then stumble recording these apparently easy studies. I still record them even if bad and I have realised that... I need more studies and technique. Otherwise when I play pieces I will continue to feel like driving a car without breaks always at the point of error...this is my realisation for this challenge
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Emma agree, we keep trying, it’s the challenge . Good exercise. Looking forward to hear your recordings.
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joosje Thank you for the encouragement. You are right these studies contain a challenge for all abilities. I've done the recording but will continue to work on this piece. I'm trying to prepare more in the left hand to make it smoother.
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Giuseppe Gasparini Thanks Giuseppe. I think it is the same for all of us :-)
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Emma Thank you Emma. The recording makes it harder but that is no excuse. These pieces deserve more attention.
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- Etude you worked on: No 13
- One thing you found easy: Sits very comfortably under the fingers
- One thing you found difficult: Getting the balance I want between the melody an accompaniment
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- Etude you worked on: No.4
- One thing you found easy: at first it seemed easy
- One thing you found difficult: this week I was short on time and it made me struggle
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Giuseppe Gasparini Well done! you're right it seems easy at first but a lot is going on once you dig in. Great tempo and your voicing is clear
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Giuseppe Gasparini great performace
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Blaise Laflamme Thanks, I was not used to recording a piece in a few days, we hope it will be useful
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Olli Thanks
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Giuseppe Gasparini well done. I like the tempo and phrasing
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joosje Thanks
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Giuseppe Gasparini Brava Giuseppe. Great job. I like that one
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Giuseppe Gasparini well done! bravo!
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Derek Thanks
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Emma Thanks
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Giuseppe Gasparini *performance
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Etude you worked on: No 13
One thing easy: sight reading and fingering. I used the Segovia edition (Study no II).
One thing difficult: I find bars 18, 19, 20 difficult to play smoothly. It is my challenge to master these bars for this week. I have just joined Tonebase and so I have done a catch up on week one. I played No 1, 2 and 4, as I was familiar with these pieces and am now using them as part of my daily warm up exercises. I am also very new to recording myself, but hopefully I may have achieved a recording for next week
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- Etude you worked on: 18
- One thing you found easy: chord shapes and inversions are natural to play
- One thing you found difficult: bring all voices out and playing up to tempo. This is the up to tempo version.
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david robinson Bravo!!!
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david robinson my iPad cannot read the WAV file. So, checked the laptop. Great recording! Thank you for posting, David. Super rhythmical and musical..
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joosje thanks for Letting me know. I will repost as an MP3
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david robinson here is the mp3 of Sor 18
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david robinson bravo!!! very good sound, I can see you are all recording graduates!!!!
End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
