learn a piece a week group

[mc1]

i've gotten myself somewhat bogged down with tunes that are a little too difficult to learn in a week.

first was the sanz' pavanas and aire, whihc is harder than i thought. the upside down tab is very confusing. but it's a pretty cool piece so i'll work away at that.

the vals solano is definitely easier, but still will take a bit longer. i also decided i needed to arrange a pop tune which is slowing down the piece-a-week.

so i remembered a short, sweet, simple tarrega prelude, preludio sobra los gruppetos (prelude only for gruppetos). and gruppeto i found out is an italian word for grace notes or a turn, or even trill. which is the main part of this short (8 bar) prelude. there seem to be no end of different accents one can use with them, and it is quite fun experiment. in this recording i tried to keep it pretty subtle.

the sheet music is available here:
http://www.delcamp.net/gif/francisco..._gruppetos.gif

[creamburmese]

That's a very pretty piece mc1! I'm currently working on a piece called Octobre that is almost too sad even for me I love it!

[Amite]

I started with the Sor piece so I wouldn't get too frustrated. So far, I can get through the first one, stumbling across a couple measures.
I am working my way through a beginner method book at the same time.

[mc1]

Originally Posted by creamburmese

That's a very pretty piece mc1! I'm currently working on a piece called Octobre that is almost too sad even for me I love it!

thanks. i search out that piece (by claude gagnon, yes?), and it is very pretty and sad. i like those types as well.

Originally Posted by Amite

I started with the Sor piece so I wouldn't get too frustrated. So far, I can get through the first one, stumbling across a couple measures.
I am working my way through a beginner method book at the same time.

that's great amite. my general advice would be to take your time, and since you are working alone, play some attention to playing ergonomically (nothing should hurt, movements should feel natural); getting a good tone (i wish i had spent more time on tone production when i was starting); and getting a good rhythm (rather than slow down for the hard parts).

for where you are stumbling, try and figure out if it's the fretting fingers or the picking fingers that are stumbling, and maybe you can rearrange them to make it easier.


i'm away for a week, but plan to take a guitar and try and polish up vals solano.

[Amite]

Originally Posted by mc1

for where you are stumbling, try and figure out if it's the fretting fingers or the picking fingers that are stumbling, and maybe you can rearrange them to make it easier.


i'm away for a week, but plan to take a guitar and try and polish up vals solano.

Thanks for the support.

I am stumbling a little with both hands, but I am determined to get through the parts that are challenging. The method book is for people who can't read music, but it gives me a structured path so it is working for me.

I forgot how much I like the classical pieces.
Have fun.

[mc1]

i got my gaspar sanz piece recorded.

the A and D strings are restrung up one octave to closer match a baroque guitar tuning (which also was stung in pairs).

[Roger1]

When you say A and D strings are restrung up one octave do you mean you changed the strings or just re-tuned the strings up a hole octave.

[ZippyChip]

very nice piece MC1

[mc1]

Originally Posted by Roger1

When you say A and D strings are restrung up one octave do you mean you changed the strings or just re-tuned the strings up a hole octave.

hi roger, yes, i changed the strings, and replaced the A string with a B string, and replaced the D string with a high E string.

Originally Posted by ZippyChip

very nice piece MC1

thanks zippychip!

how's your piece coming along?

[mc1]

well, i recorded 'vals solano' today, because i thought i had it down cold, but when i listened back, the rhythm was not as tight as it should be, so i better practice some more.

[mc1]

i recorded vals solano again today. it's an easy piece, but hard for me to play nice and crisply like i hear it in my head. also, i was using some rico nails as my natural nails are in bad shape, and i had a little trouble with those, including some odd low end noise, which i reduced with some eq.

it's a very worthwhile piece, however.

[creamburmese]

Nice piece that Vals Solano!

Originally Posted by mc1

thanks. i search out that piece (by claude gagnon, yes?), and it is very pretty and sad. i like those types as well
.

Actually the Octobre piece is by Thierry Tisserand - from the book "Spleen Songs" - I love the way he uses harmony and of course everything in the book seems to be mournful which is right up my alley. I've more or less got it now (despite looking very straightforward, it turned out I had quite a bit of work to do on arpeggios!). However I can't record it because everything but the guitar is stored somewhere around the house due to renovations...

Actually this brings up a thought I had in relation to Amite's comment regarding difficult sections - over the last 6 months or so I've been forced to change the way I learn pieces - I used to just play them over - working on small bits that were difficult as they caused me trouble. Then that didn't work, however many times I repeated it, so I started working on each hand separately before putting them together. When even that doesn't work I "learn" difficult bits in my head so I know exactly where each finger is for every note (this is SOOO hard for me) and repeat it in my head until I've got it - this repays the effort though - it fixed several problem areas relating to memory slips that I could play in isolation but crashed when I tried to play the whole piece. And finally for things that are just physically challenging (big shifts, moving into awkward positions) I have recently resorted to just practicing moving from one position to the next - IOW 2 notes, rather than the whole measure or phrase. Yikes! Soon I expect I won't make any sound at all other than the first note....

[mc1]

Originally Posted by creamburmese

...Soon I expect I won't make any sound at all other than the first note....

sounds like how zen masters play guitar.

[ZippyChip]

Here is my contribution.
This piece, The Rose In The Garden, by Carlo Domeniconi is easy. If you learn using TAB. It is more difficult reading standard notation because of all the open strings with fretted note combo's. It is short, mystical, not complicated, and has only a few fingering challenges. The hard part with this piece is only in the emotional interpretation. I found that this one needs to be played and developed for a while.
Music is available at Scribd or just google the title and add sheet music to the end.
The recoding was done on my lowly tascam DP004.

https://soundcloud.com/zippychip/the...n-the-garden-1

[mc1]

hey zippychip, what a cool piece. it does seem like a piece that could go in a lot of different directions. i thought you added a lot of interst by varying the tempo, timbre, using dynamics, and vibrato. very evocative.
thanks for posting.