learn a piece a week group

[Amite]

Haaaa, you know what makes working through a melody line more difficult besides not practicing notes for guitar in a long time?

Playing ukulele all week. My fingers were landing in all the wrong places. I got it now. That is what I get for not warming up first.

Thanks, you must like to teach.

[creamburmese]

Try switching to a steel string guitar and back - same problem! Though it is taking me less time now than it used to - I figure a couple of minutes and my fingers lock back in so it gets better with repetitions. I learned "Mad World" on the classical, but prefer it played on the steel string (not to mention I keep a steel string in drop D so I dont' have to keep retuning). And I have a feeling that my nylon strings would fall off if I retuned to my current obsession - Taro Patch (aka open F) tuning

[mc1]

next up for me is a pavanas by gaspar sanz, from his "Second book of tablatures for the spanish guitar". it has the quite impressive title of, "Pavanas por la D partidas al aire Español, una jiga Inglesa y bailete Frances" (Pavana in D [Am] with parts in Spanish style, and English gigue and a French Ballet). it seems typical to only play the spanish part, and not the gigue or ballet, which is what i think i'll do.

Gaspar Sanz (1640–1710) was an Aragonese composer, guitarist, organist and priest born to a wealthy family in Calanda in the comarca of Bajo Aragón, Spain. He studied music, theology and philosophy at the University of Salamanca, where he was later appointed Professor of Music. He wrote three volumes of pedagogical works for the baroque guitar that form an important part of today's classical guitar repertory and have informed modern scholars in the techniques of baroque guitar playing.
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaspar_Sanz

his three books of tablature can be viewed (or downloaded as one file) from the national library of spain:
http://bdh.bne.es/bnesearch/detalle/bdh0000064700

the pavanas is on page 93. a copy of just page 93 is available here.
http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/a...e.jpg~original

it's written for what is now called the baroque guitar (which i assume was called the spanish guitar by sanz). it had 5 courses (sets of strings), and also had re-entrant tuning, where the 4th and 5th courses were tuned higher than the 3rd. so the G note of the 3rd course was the lowest note. i'm writing here about sanz's tuning. other baroque guitarists tuned their 4th and/or 5th courses in octaves (and other ways as well, i think).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque_guitar

here is a sample of the tablature for this piece. the order of the strings is reversed from modern guitar tablature (which is very confusing for me).



here is a nice guitar arrangement by m.delcamp.
http://www.delcamp.net/pdf/gaspar_sa...s_por_la_d.pdf

here is a version by thomas koenigs that includes the gigue and ballet:
http://www.thomaskoenigs.de/sanz_pavanas.pdf

i'm going to try and play it from the tablature. i've restrung a guitar with the D and A strings up an octave. i've been wanting to try this for quite a while.

there are also lots of versions on youtube. for some reason, many arrangements don't include the second part.

[creamburmese]

Mc1 - I don't expect you will have many people accompany you on your journey on this one! However I'm looking forward to hearing the results...

Still no input from me I know... I did take a look at Cancao Triste and I may well learn that one - however it is still falling subject to the - so many tunes, so little time - problem. I'm trying to nail an innocently-named simple piece called Tango that I thought would take a mere week's effort. However I should have guessed that there was more to it, because it was given to me by my guitar teacher (did I detect an evil grin when he gave it to me?). This morning I spent some non-guitar playing time listing all the challenges it presents, to explain, if not excuse, my continuing struggle with it. Anyway, enough excuses!

BTW mc1. Thank you so much for introducing me to Edson Lopez! Wonderful playing. Do you play the first few measures of Cancao Triste like he does moving up to the 5th position E and back?

[mc1]

Originally Posted by creamburmese

Mc1 - I don't expect you will have many people accompany you on your journey on this one! However I'm looking forward to hearing the results...

Still no input from me I know... I did take a look at Cancao Triste and I may well learn that one - however it is still falling subject to the - so many tunes, so little time - problem. I'm trying to nail an innocently-named simple piece called Tango that I thought would take a mere week's effort. However I should have guessed that there was more to it, because it was given to me by my guitar teacher (did I detect an evil grin when he gave it to me?). This morning I spent some non-guitar playing time listing all the challenges it presents, to explain, if not excuse, my continuing struggle with it. Anyway, enough excuses!

BTW mc1. Thank you so much for introducing me to Edson Lopez! Wonderful playing. Do you play the first few measures of Cancao Triste like he does moving up to the 5th position E and back?

classical guitar is a lonely journey.

but, well, you never know. it seems like a few people now and then pick up a piece or make a comment, so i guess that's good. it certainly isn't quite the way i planned. but i'm enjoying it, although i need to stick to easier pieces.

with cancao triste, the answer is yes and no. like edson, i don't play what is written. at first i played it like he does in the video, which, if i recall correctly, is the last E in the first bar with 1 (2nd string) and the F that starts bar 2 with 2 (also 2nd string). but now i still play both notes on the 2nd string but use 4 for both. i also often (i.e. on the repeat), play the opening note with 4 on the 3rd string, then the next note with 1 on the 3rd string.

i refingered other parts as well. i scanned my copy with my fingering, maybe you can read it. the wavy lines are for vibrato. the 2 in brackets (2) by the opening note is to remind me to use 4 the 2nd time through. ask if you have any questions. here it is:
http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/a...f.jpg~original

[Amite]

mc1, do you have a recommendation for a book or other resource that has some simple arrangements for novice players?

[ZippyChip]

After working on a short modern piece--for more than a week--I may record and post it here one of these weekends. I am not sure it is easy enough but it may be a good fit for some.

And I have a feeling that my nylon strings would fall off if I retuned to my current obsession - Taro Patch (aka open F) tuning

I also like and use Taro Patch tuning. You mentioned open F so you must be tuned to a variation that is down a step from G.

[mc1]

Originally Posted by Amite

mc1, do you have a recommendation for a book or other resource that has some simple arrangements for novice players?

you can get a nice book like 50 easy classical guitar solos by jerry willard.

or 100 graded classical guitar studies by frederick noad.

for free download there is a lot of cool stuff. like a book of tunes fingered and edited by eythor thorlaksson.
here is collection II:
http://www.classicalguitarschool.net/en/Download.aspx?id=1033

there are easier and harder collections (and solo pieces) there. check them out:
http://www.classicalguitarschool.net/en/Collections

or go right to the source. there is a ton of great stuff by fernando sor (1778-1890, matteo carcassi (1792-1853), ferdinando carulli, dionisio aguado, and mauro guilliani here:
http://musikverket.se/musikochteaterbiblioteket/ladda-ner-noter/boijes-samling/?lang=en

for easy sor pieces, have a look at opus 60. lots of good music there.
http://library.wustl.edu/units/music/catalog/b50313538.pdf

or carcassi’s opus 60 (just coincidence it’s the same opus number):
http://carkiv.musikverk.se/www/boije/Boije_0094.pdf

if you are comfortable with barres, try the tarrega estudio in Em earlier in this thread.

have a look, i'm sure you'll find something you like. let me know what your thoughts are.

[mc1]

Originally Posted by ZippyChip

After working on a short modern piece--for more than a week--I may record and post it here one of these weekends. I am not sure it is easy enough but it may be a good fit for some.

that would be great! it doesn't matter that it took longer, or it's difficulty, it's a reflection of where you are at and what you are working on.

[mc1]

well, as i work through pavanas al aire espanol, i realize it will take me more than a week to get it up to speed.

but i also found a very pretty, quite easy waltz names 'val solano' by eythor thorlaksson. it is available in guitar moments iii, downloadable here:
http://www.classicalguitarschool.net...d.aspx?id=1034

so i guess i'll work on both at the same time and see how that goes.

[Amite]

Thanks for the links. I see a few things like I am looking for.
Sorry, I am not trying to hijack your thread.

[mc1]

Originally Posted by Amite

Thanks for the links. I see a few things like I am looking for.
Sorry, I am not trying to hijack your thread.

i'm glad. no hijack at all. if you find a piece you like let us know.

[creamburmese]

Thanks for the fingering suggestions mc1! I've finally reached the stage where I can make reasonable guesses for left and right hand fingering, but it's always good to have help... Because my lessons restart for the summer tonight, I spent the last week trying to overcome the challenges in the piece my evil teacher left me with rather than the infinitely more achievable goal of playing Cancao Triste. Turns out there is a lot I have to work on! My most pressing problem (among a host of them) seems to be right hand positioning - I never really got to the point where I was moving my hand across the strings like you're supposed to and it turns out that this piece is impossible to play cleanly without doing just that. No guesses why my teacher gave it to me... What other hobby has the doubtful pleasure of presenting you with a new, apparently insurmountable challenge, just as you finally managed the last one?

[Amite]

Soooo, I looked up Sor's Opus 60 and started with No. 1. I was able to get through most of it without too much problem. So, whatever beginner notes I learned last year stuck. I have a firm goal now.

I looked up a tutorial, which showed me how to use the right hand. There is where I am probably going to stumble.

If I get through enough exercises and can play them well, I'll look into getting a nylon string guitar. My first guitar was a cheap Yamaha Classical with action a mile high.

Thanks for the recommendation, mc1

[creamburmese]

Originally Posted by ZippyChip

After working on a short modern piece--for more than a week--I may record and post it here one of these weekends. I am not sure it is easy enough but it may be a good fit for some.

I also like and use Taro Patch tuning. You mentioned open F so you must be tuned to a variation that is down a step from G.

Yes you are right! I took a class at Folk camp and the teacher referred to open F as Taro Patch, but I see from the infallible Wikipedia that Taro Patch is open G... I guess you can't believe everything you hear in person (!). Anyway I have my Taylor tuned to open F (CFCFAC) and in moments of classical guitar desperation I doodle on it and listen to all those open strings humming away.