Lauro's Maria Carolina

[brainfertilizer]

I think I can learn to play it.
It sounded impossibly complicated the few dozen times I heard John Williams play it.
But I looked at the score, started working on it, and I think I can do it.

I've never really studied classical guitar. I'm self-taught in fingerstyle, and don't know that many songs.

I still think I can do this.

Am I stupid?

Or am I going to be able to "play" it without having even 1% of the impressiveness of John Williams?

I mean, I'm not John Williams, I *know* I won't come close to his level of musicality and expressiveness.

But is it hubris to think I can learn to play it at the same tempo?

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by brainfertilizer

Am I stupid?

I don't know. Let us know after you have worked on it for a while.

[evanpyle]

All I can say is *first* analyze it musically. I suspect it is, like other of Lauro's waltzes, marked 3/4-6/8. So important in understanding how each measure is to be played.

Then take a bite at a time. A few measures, analyze your finger movements and practice those shifts. Work it up at glacial speed. Eat an elephant one bite at a time.

I didn't know this piece, found a rendition by Goran Krivokapic. What a player!

[brainfertilizer]

Originally Posted by evanpyle

All I can say is *first* analyze it musically. I suspect it is, like other of Lauro's waltzes, marked 3/4-6/8. So important in understanding how each measure is to be played.

Then take a bite at a time. A few measures, analyze your finger movements and practice those shifts. Work it up at glacial speed. Eat an elephant one bite at a time.

I didn't know this piece, found a rendition by Goran Krivokapic. What a player!

I made a huge jump in being able to conceptualize it when I just played the bass, then the melody, then the bass and melody together without all the fill notes.
I mean, I didn't play them fluently.
But enough to get the music into my bones in a way that listening to it, even slowed down, didn't.

[Gitfiddlemann]

It's a great piece, and I totally get your enthusiasm for wanting to learn and play it.
I learned it some years ago when it was featured in a Fingerstyle Guitar edition. They were providing CDs with each magazine back then, and as soon as I heard Williams rip through it with such heart I decided on the spot I had to learn it. I still play it and keep the music close by.

It's not one of those "virtuoso" pieces either that would tend to make you doubt you have the technical chops to play it. It's accessible enough.
That said, it still has its share of challenges. Mostly because it really needs to be played at a quick tempo to make all those "moments" come alive. I think you know what I mean, since you've already made the plunge.
It's in 3/4 time. It's a good one to learn with a metronome, because one of the pitfalls I encountered while learning it was, when playing the middle section (when it goes from Am to G major in tonality), the tendency is to speed up if you're not careful. You have to really "wait for it" in that section to keep the pulse steady. Being careful there will reap benefits in the overall feel and flow of the piece.
In 3/4 time, with a quarter note beat, the Williams tempo is about 152, give or take. That's too many clicks. Better is, once you've got it acceptably under your fingers, to play one click per measure, or dotted half-note, with the goal of 46-50 clicks per measure. Once you get the right pulse, you can ditch the metronome altogether, but I do recommend its use while you're working it up.
Also, it's not necessary to play it as fast as Williams does, but it does have to move, so it's one of the challenges. That, and making sure the melody in the high voice/notes is singing throughout, fully supported by that bass line you were mentioning. I see in your signature that you have nylon string guitars, so that's what you need for that kind of melody line, which varies in intensity as it rises and lowers. It would be nearly impossible to get that kind of variance in a steel stringer.
I might be able to answer some additional questions you might have, so feel free to ask.
Go for it! It's a good one!

[TBman]

Is this the piece? It seems difficult. Good luck with it. How's the OP's Lagrima or Sor's Etude in BM (#22 OP 35)?




And John Williams version:

[brainfertilizer]

Originally Posted by Gitfiddlemann

It's a great piece, and I totally get your enthusiasm for wanting to learn and play it.
I learned it some years ago when it was featured in a Fingerstyle Guitar edition. They were providing CDs with each magazine back then, and as soon as I heard Williams rip through it with such heart I decided on the spot I had to learn it. I still play it and keep the music close by.

It's not one of those "virtuoso" pieces either that would tend to make you doubt you have the technical chops to play it. It's accessible enough.
That said, it still has its share of challenges. Mostly because it really needs to be played at a quick tempo to make all those "moments" come alive. I think you know what I mean, since you've already made the plunge.
It's in 3/4 time. It's a good one to learn with a metronome, because one of the pitfalls I encountered while learning it was, when playing the middle section (when it goes from Am to G major in tonality), the tendency is to speed up if you're not careful. You have to really "wait for it" in that section to keep the pulse steady. Being careful there will reap benefits in the overall feel and flow of the piece.
In 3/4 time, with a quarter note beat, the Williams tempo is about 152, give or take. That's too many clicks. Better is, once you've got it acceptably under your fingers, to play one click per measure, or dotted half-note, with the goal of 46-50 clicks per measure. Once you get the right pulse, you can ditch the metronome altogether, but I do recommend its use while you're working it up.
Also, it's not necessary to play it as fast as Williams does, but it does have to move, so it's one of the challenges. That, and making sure the melody in the high voice/notes is singing throughout, fully supported by that bass line you were mentioning. I see in your signature that you have nylon string guitars, so that's what you need for that kind of melody line, which varies in intensity as it rises and lowers. It would be nearly impossible to get that kind of variance in a steel stringer.
I might be able to answer some additional questions you might have, so feel free to ask.
Go for it! It's a good one!

it's the Williams take on the Fingerstyle Guitar Magazine CD that made me want to learn it.

I just got back into fingerstyle about a year ago. So I went to eBay and saw what was available in back issues, with and without CD. That was one with one, and I grabbed it, although at the time I didn't know anything about the piece.

After converting all the CDs to mp3s, I did a quick listen to make a commute fingerstyle listening folder, and this one made the cut. I think the 3rd time I heard it, I really got caught up in all those multiple threading lines. It's just amazing.

When I got out the magazine to check out what I was hearing, it didn't *look* that tough, but yeah, tempo is going to be a challenge.

Still, I think it's doable for me. Getting all the lines to sounds like lines (via consistent attack and volume, and holding some notes tenuto for long enough) and not just a jumble of notes may end up being tough, and that's why *HE*'s the professional, but we'll see.

[brainfertilizer]

Originally Posted by TBman

Is this the piece? It seems difficult. Good luck with it.

That's the one! Thanks, I'll do my best!

Originally Posted by TBman

How's the OP's Lagrima or Sor's Etude in BM (#22 OP 35)?

Non-existent!

I'm not really a classical player. I just love this song so much.

I think I'm close to finishing up Chet Atkin's Windy and Warm, and Wayne Johnson's Puvaman.

If I manage to master this, who knows what I'll set my sights on next?

Maybe Lawrence Juber's Private Dick? But maybe see if I can find some Chopin arranged for guitar...