Week 2: Deep Dive into Dynamics!
Get the Scores for the Carcassi Etudes op.60 Challenge
HOW TO BEGIN 
Ready to join the "Carcassi Etudes op.60 Challenge"? Here’s your starting line:
- Pick Your Etude: Dive into the evocative world of Carcassi by selecting an etude from op.60. Whether it's a piece that tests your technical limits or one that you've longed to perfect, the choice is yours.
- Commit to Practice: Embark on a disciplined practice routine, aiming for consistency. Share your journey with at least two video updates each week on our platform. This commitment will not only enhance your skills but also enable us to experience your progress, fostering a supportive atmosphere in our tonebase community.
- Share Your Practice: Submit a recording that you feel best captures your connection with Carcassi's music. This will inspire and contribute to a rich collection of performances for our community to enjoy and learn from.
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Hi to all , I have recorded my take of etude XIX, this is an easy etude in E minor focused on arpeggios, I´ve tried to follow the changing dynamics of the stude......
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JUAN ALONSO great job Juan. Well played!
I don’t agree with you in that it is an easy study in e minor. It’s e minor all right but far from easy, none of these op. 60 studies are really easy.
In this one you can play with the tempo, address the fluidity and evenness of the middle voices and the consistency of the a-finger. For me this is such a great etude for control and ease of arpeggio.
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JUAN ALONSO I agree with joosje . This is not an easy piece (at least for me) but very beautiful and well executed. Bravo
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JUAN ALONSO Well done Juan. Really liked how well you have separated the melody from the accompaniment.
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JUAN ALONSO you already have most of it under your fingers Juan! As Joosje said it's not an easy one, it could looks easy because it's a pattern repetitive - chord shifts - like study but the difficulty lies in what to musically do... I'm looking forward to your progress on this one.
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JUAN ALONSO incredible how you can already playit so with feeling!! Good job!!!
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JUAN ALONSO nice tone Juan! One suggestion: This piece is in 3/4 time. Make sure you are counting 1,2,3 in each measure. Your 16th notes are not counted correctly. There are a lot of notes, but an exact number. Sometimes you play four groups of sixteenth notes per measure. Sometimes more. This is a waltz. Think in 3’s - heavy - light - light. Hope this helps.
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Marilyn Blodget thanks Marilyn, yes I noticed that in some measures I lost count and I play more than three beats....;-)
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Bravo Juan.. Better than mine
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Hi everyone,
Always great to come back to these etudes and discover the less familiar ones, or details and depths that I may have missed in the ones I did play before.
For now im practicing the shortest, slowest and easiest etude: no. 16.
Here is a first recording as a starting point. I’m unhappy with a few details.
- sound is bit soft (iPad should be closer?)
- I tried to follow dynamics markings, but don’t hear enough of it. Also, some of the markings don’t coincide with how feel the harmonic tension (bars 7-8) the sF marking on the high d (bar 15) also disturbing a bit. Have to work it more securely)
- I try to keep the accompanying double stops soft and regular so I don’t have to put too much tension to the melody. Must work for more evenness ( I-m and I-p sound different)
- my a finger. I tend move this finger around all the time, in order to always search for the best possible warm tone. This is an automatic habit of mine. I must learn do keep my hand in a position that allows a warm tone to just happen without all these movements. The melodic voice could then sound more consistent, full, and relaxed.
- last issue: every second bar has a rest on the 4th beat. This must be a deliberate choice of the composer. Seems easy, isn’t always… How important is it?
Okay, I’m overcriticising now, but this is meant as a learning process. In a few days I hope to post my update.
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joosje To my beginner ears, it sounds like you have this one well on its way Joosje. I Look forward to your update to hear the changes you bring to this piece.
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joosje That's really coming along nicely. I think your phrasing and rubato is really lovely especially in the b section.
I agree he makes some interesting choices regarding dynamics. You mentioned mm 7-8 with p not coinciding with the harmonic tension and I found the same thing at the end of 18. At what I would think is the big finish, he calls for rall. and dim. I'm still getting my head around it but I guess that's what makes these so interesting.
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joosje Very pleasing performance. I like how the melodic line sails above a restrained accompaniment.
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joosje a really beautiful start on this one... one that I'm also looking to work on. I think you're thinking too much about some aspects
... like about your «a» finger, I personally think that moving it creates the right sound in the context (with the other notes - chords) and you intuitively adapt the sound to make it coherent. In fact a beautiful standalone warm sound for the melody won't necessary be that beautiful once combined with the other movings parts, you have to think as a whole, like you would do for an orchestration IMHO. Looking forward to your progress on this one! -
joosje So soft and delicate. Already an excellent result!!
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joosje Bravo ....i believe the details you mention in your post are not that evident for the listener, in fact I liked very much the rubato and dynamics of your record. Looking forward for your next record....
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joosje Very nice Joosje. Don't be too tough on yourself.
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Jim King Steve Price Neil Macmillan Blaise Laflamme Matteo Laurenzi JUAN ALONSO Andre Bernier thank you all for listening and comments. I heard you and I will try now to approach the piece more intuitively. I’ll post it separately.
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Week 2 of 18 and 20 with no repeats. Because of all the leaps and glissandi in these pieces, I decided to memorize them since reading makes it even harder for me. I've been working on the right and left-hand fingerings and doing a lot of back-and-forth between versions since some things that seem to make the most sense musically aren't realistic for me at tempo. Muting has been a challenge since ringing notes are so obvious, especially in 20. As Joosje said, a lot is going on musically in these pieces so next I'll work on things like dynamics, tempo, and voicings. I might have bitten off a little more than I can chew but I'm happy with where they're heading, especially 18.
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Steve Price
It is so inspiring to see how much you already have improved in just one week, in both studies! Great playing! -
Steve Price great progress Steve.. You keep a beautiful tone all over both pieces., which is not so easy. And I appreciate your phrasing. You sound very controlled, especially in 18,. You may consider varying the repetitive motives. I mean, you now play every repetition ponticello and that sounds really nice, but the inverse is also a possibility and you can play with that so to keep the listener’s attention and curiosity.
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Steve Price Good performances on both études. Nice rippling melodic lines.
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Carlo Martins Thank you, Carlo. I really appreciate it.
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Neil Macmillan Thanks a lot, Neil.
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joosje Thanks for your feedback. I think the variation is a really good idea especially when I start playing the repeats.
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End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
