Villa-Lobos Prelude No.1!
Welcome to our next Study Group — a collaborative, peer-led dive into one of the most iconic pieces in the guitar repertoire.
This time, we’re immersing ourselves in the soulful beauty of Villa-Lobos’ Prelude No. 1!
This is not a course or a class — it’s a space for mutual exploration, discussion, and shared progress. I’ll be learning the piece alongside you (it’s always full of new discoveries!), and I’m excited to go deep into this masterpiece together.
🗓️ What to expect:
Starting September 1st, we'll focus on:
🎯 Left-hand shapes and stretches in the opening section
🎯 Rhythmic flow and rubato in the arpeggio passages
🎯 Tone production and balance between voices
🎯 Interpretation, phrasing, and expressive choices
🎯 Your own questions, insights, and perspectives!
We’ll also meet for two live Zoom sessions to share progress, exchange ideas, and nerd out over all things Villa-Lobos.
✅ How to participate:
- Sign up through the Forum
- Grab your score of Villa-Lobos Prelude No. 1
- Introduce yourself below!
- Join the prompts and discussions!
- Share your thoughts, ideas, or a clip of your playing!
📅 Zoom Call #1 – September 5th, 8am PST 📅 Zoom Call #2 – September 12, 8am PST
16 replies
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I'm in. Used to play this piece many years ago but never really happy about B section. Looking forward to (re)-learning!
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Hey Martin, the Study Group is staring when, now?
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This piece has bounced in and out of my repertoire for decades. It's currently out. It will be nice to have a reason to bring it back in.
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I’ve had this piece in my repertoire for a long time or sometimes as a warm up for the right hand. I never really mastered it to a point that I feel comfortable and confident playing it for people. I hope I can tackle some of the pain points with this study group and get useful insights
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I'm in. I used to play this but not for a while but I saw Alexandra Whittingham play all 5 preludes a couple of weeks ago so I started relearning it last week - hoping to play it on Saturday for a cafe gig (I like a challenge). Also hopefully I can improve it over these two weeks.! Unfortunately i can't make the Zoom calls as I'll be flying to and back from Lanzarote
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This is one of the pieces in which I apply my "plectrum" or "alzapúa" technique for chords to play at a little faster tempo than usual versions (tempo always seems to me to be overstretch if played slower) and mantain a legato sound in the chords while giving them a little of a rythmic feeling. Check it out on a previous Instagram post:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/ConHYDugulY/?igsh=MzVqZ3BoazN0ZmJz
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I worked this up for a lesson as it was assigned years ago and occasionally played it for myself just to keep it in my memory but never went beyond that. Seems like this is a good chance to do more with it and start to work the nuance and detail that make it so iconic when performed well.
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I think this is a bit too much for me to learn in a week. I am continuing on with learning Prelude No. 3. but I hope to pick up some good advice in this study group, especially some hints on playing the middle section.
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This piece is way out of my skills level but I learn so much in these study groups on how to approach and work on a piece that I will definitely participate in but don't expect any recordings....
I already downloaded the score and watched the lesson with Mircea Gogoncea.
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One of the first pieces that grabbed my attention when I heard Mircea Gogoncea talk about it when I signed up for Tonebase about 2 years back.
It's such an iconic piece in the HVL repertoire. Like quite a few members have commented already, it's been in and out of my consciousness and practice for sometime now.
It's a weird piece for me. It's seemingly easy but quite difficult at the same time. I've never been good with melodies on the bass strings, something to work on. Then there's the vibrato, cello like sound you have to create, which is difficult on bass strings for me.
The length of the piece, repetitions then the B section, so many things going on in a single piece. I've never ever polished this piece. So, this is a great opportunity for me to learn this piece afresh.
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How do some performances seem to create great glissandos without the surface noise while sliding? Or is due to how the recording is mic’ed?
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Will the Zoom sessions be recorded for catchup. Unfortunately I can't make the first one