Guitar World

Here is a lovely piece I found on youtube…A theme from computer game of Final Fantasy IV :Theme of Love, composed by Uematsu Nobuo, played by Watercolour of youtube.

Some computer games have great theme music, good enough to stand alone in their own right. One day, I must work on Metal Gear Solid theme. I think it would suit guitar very well, if I can get the right arrangement.

Here is a link to an interview with David Russell, by Tony Morris of guitaralive, in which Russell relates the reason there have been some Barrios works still not discovered;

David Russell on Agustin Barrios.

Recently, there has been an exciting discovery, the tango Bicho Feo (Ugly Beast) has been found. This humorous tango Barrios often played at the end of his concerts, to bring the house down! The piece was recorded by Barrios in Argentina, and the recording by the composer himself has been discovered, and now Chanterelle have updated their “complete” Barrios recordings to include this piece on the CD set.

Other works missing by Barrios (as far as I know) that are of particular interest to me are; Recuerdos Del Pacifico, Gloria e Amor, Rapsodia Latinamericano…It’s quite possible that some of the works listed as “lost” or not in manuscript, are in fact what we know as another title. Example, “Saudades dol Rio De Janeiro”, possibly Choro Da Saudade?

I wait to hear this new work with interest

Making Two Hands Sound As One

Developing Hand Co-ordination for the Classical Guitarist

By Matt Warnock

As a classical guitar player, or any style of guitar player for that matter, one of the most important skills to have under our belts is solid right and left-hand coordination. Without good hand coordination our lines and chords can sound choppy, disjointed and/or muddy. While there are countless exercises we can do in order to further develop our coordination, some of the best exercises available involve working on 2, 3 and 4 note chromatic patterns within the first four frets of the guitar. By working slowly on these exercises, and focusing on letting each note ring for its full duration, we can greatly improve our hand-coordination, tone and legato feel all with only a few minutes of focused practice a day.

Ascending

When practicing these chromatic exercises in an ascending fashion it is important to keep the first note ringing right up until the second note is sounded. For example, in figure 1 the note on the first fret, which is played with index finger, rings until the note on the second fret, played with the middle finger, is sounded. If you notice a space between the two notes than you are lifting your index finger a bit prematurely. Try and keep it down for a second or so after the second note is plucked to eliminate the gap between notes.

The next level of coordination is developed between the note on the second fret on each string and the note of the first fret of the next string. With these two notes the goal is to have the second fret ring until the first fret is sounded, then remove your middle finger so that the note on the second fret does not ring “over” the note on the first fret. Being able to eliminate the gaps between the first two notes of the exercise, and to keep the second note from ringing over the third, will increase your legato while allowing each note to be heard for its required duration.

Start at a slow tempo, perhaps eighth note equals 30 or 40, and slowly build up the speed as it becomes easier. Always remember, playing an exercise slowly but perfectly is better than playing an exercise fast but sloppy.

Fig. 1

Descending

As well as practicing the 1-2 finger pattern ascending we can also practice it descending to further our coordination. As was the case with figure 1, the goal for figure 2 is to have the note on the second fret ring right up until we lift it off and strike the note on the first fret. If you notice a gap between these two notes than try slowing things down and focusing on keeping the middle finger down right up until the last millisecond before you strike the note on the first fret.

We also need to make sure that the note on the first fret rings right up until we strike the note on the second fret of the next string, without ringing over. As was the case with figure 1, hold the note on the first fret until you strike the note on the second fret of the next string. As soon as that note is sounded lift you finger off of the first fret of the previous string. This should prevent that note from ringing over and muffling the sound of the new note.

Further Study

Once you are comfortable with the ascending 1-2 and descending 2-1 patterns you can try other combinations to further your right and left hand coordination. Try any/all of the following finger patterns as part of your daily technical routine. Remember the goal is not speed but using proper left hand technique and connecting the notes as much as possible.

Finger Combinations

2-3 and 3-2

3-4 and 4-3

1-3 and 3-1

1-4 and 4-1

2-4 and 4-2

1-2-3 and 3-2-1

2-3-4 and 4-3-2

1-3-4 and 4-3-1

1-2-3-4 and 4-3-2-1

Delightful guitarist Peo Kindgren is entertaining us here with his rendition of the famous Canon in D by Johann Pachelbel. He tells us he begun by attempting an arrangement of The Fool on the Hill by the Beatles, and ended up with this! Many thanks Peo for your contribution, and score download is available from http://www.per-olovkindgren.com/ipnmonitor/

Here is a delightful rendition of three pieces by Jean Marie Raymond, played by Bernard (cyrloud) from youtube.

1) Chanson D’Elfée

2) Souvenirs D’Algarve (Memories of holidays in Portugal)

3) El Azul de to OJos (dedicated to the composers Mother)

I understand the score to Souvenirs D’Algarve can be found in the magazine “GUITARE Classique no. 45″ (Studio Press) If anyone can help me locate this, I’d appreciate it, a lovely piece, similar in style I think to Peo Kindgren’s compositions, specifically, “I Miss You”..

With some public performances coming up, and so  putting my head on the block again :oops I thought I’d share my play-list ideas with you…For the present, I am modifying my classical repertoire, and including more songs, thinking of my playing venue and the occasion. So, here is the list I am currently revising to play;

Cazone D’Amor, Maria Linnemann

Vincent (Starry Starry Night), Don McLean

Here Comes The Sun, George Harrison

Looking Through The Eyes Of Love, Marvin Hamlisch, Arranged by Cesar Amaro.

Before Silence, Per Olov Kindgren

Milonga, Cardoso

Cancion Del Cuna, Leo Brower

Julia Florida, Barrios

Cavatina, Stanley Myers

A few “reserves” to include, dependent on how much time alloted to play, Eterna Saudade, Reis, and the usual Recuerdos Alhambra, Tarrega. The latter is nearly always requested anyway.

As you can see, a romantic play-list, again Am I embarassed to include nearly all romantic? Well, I guess that’s the style I enjoy playing most, and best I think. I would like to spice things up a little, but currently I practice far less than I should, so my list needs to be not hard to play. If any guitarist knows any music perhaps more dance like which is quite easy, I’d love to hear any recommendations

Many thanks, and enjoy your music.

The latest in my guitar masterworks series is Choro Da Saudade by Agustin Barrios, a haunting choro with elements of Bossa Nova in sections two and three of the piece. The images in this post  are taken from photographs taken in San Juan Bautista, Paraguay, the birthplace of Barrios, for which  I am grateful to svmma of flickr. 

Guitarist Rob Tucker, then playing in a dance band, first came across this piece and thought it a terrific Bossa styled guitar solo, and it inspired him to take up guitar in it’s classical style. Rob wrote many articles on Barrios, after becoming attracted to his music. It was Rob who wrote to John Williams in the ’70’s, suggesting a possible recording dedicated to this forgotten composer of guitar. Around two years later Williams responded with his first album of Barrios, dated 1977. So Choro Da Saudade played a significant part in the emergence of Barrios the composer in the following years.

The piece has been interpreted by guitarists in many different ways, such is the scope for interpretation here. I have often been haunted by the piece, and set out  the origin and feelings inherent in the music….

Origin of Choro Da Saudade.

The origin of the Choro is of course Brazil, and the type of music played by street ensembles. Some even take Choro as a type of “street serenade”. “Saudade” is a hard word to translate, it refers to nostalgia, or feelings of yearning, such as in homesickness. The musical idiom of the piece is steeped in carioca, To understand the feelings in the music, you need to understand the nature of the carioca.

When people of Brazil, or Rio De Janeiro to be more related to the idiom and the music, incur a loss they will sing you a sad song about it. But it will be followed by extemporaneous joy, such as a dance, before returning to the main theme of lament. It is this sad/happy/sad elements interspersed which forms the structure of the music in this Choro.

The first time the work was featured in a concert programme of Barrios was dated November 1929, though it’s possible “Aire Brasilero”, played as far back as 1925, may have been the same piece. The manuscript was written out by Barrios in 1929, dedicated to Americo Camargo, the son of a good friend who had died tragicly young.

The structure of the music is in three parts, played in the order of;  A, B, A, C, B, A. Note the main theme, A, keeps coming back to haunt, as in the feelings of yearning or lament.

The Cathederal at San Juan Bautista.

Guitar Techniques

Choro is a really hard piece to play well, possibly the hardest in my repertoire. It is notorious among guitarists for it’s long left hand stretches, many finding impossible to play. It may be that this piece is the first example of the hinge barre being used in guitar. This is where the left hand barre stretches across the strings, but instead of being across fret one, the tip of the finger reaches to fret two. Thus enabling the hand to reach to higher positions.

Preferred recordings

My preferred recordings of this piece would have to be Wulfin Lieske, David Rusell, and Robert Brightmore. Those renditions in my view come closest to portraying the feelings of lament, interspersed with spontaneous joy, required to do the work full justice.

To close, here is Andrea Dieci from Italy, playing Barrios Choro Da Saudade, a fine rendition.

I’ve often thought about the difference between a decent amateur performance and a polished professional rendition of a piece of music. The elimination of buzzes, squeaks and clicks are obvious factors, but there is more to it than that..I think a lot of it has to do with cleanness of playing, like each note and overtone getting no more or less it’s intended duration, and rhythm.

Julian Bream Masterclass

I watched an old Julian Bream masterclass recently, where a player was interpreting Granada by Albeniz. This is a piece not too hard to play perhaps, but to get it precise is another matter. By that I mean it’s one thing to play the notes, but very easy to fall into the trap of indulging oneself in the music to the extent of dwelling on notes for effect, particularly if you have visited the city of Granada itself, and fell in love with it’s beauty.

Rubato Effects

The problem with pausing on certain notes is that it’s all too easy to lose the rhythmic pulse of the piece. In his class, Bream stressed to the student that the accompanying notes, the three quavers in thirds above the melody, must be exactly on the beat. And any “melodic bending” as Bream himself put it, or rubato effects, must fall within the same rhythmic framework, and not to take any longer overall than each bar indicates.

Watch a brief extract from the masterclass with Bream explaining;

 http://guitar.markantony.net/video/Bream.flv

The lesson here being that rubato effects can still be incorporated into our playing, but not to the extent of destroying the rhythmic pulse of the music.

At the peak of my classical guitar studies I practiced for around 4 hours a day. Now it’s, er, less than that I reached a plateau where mostly I just needed to refresh the pieces in my playing schedule, and to keep my fingers  in working order for playing. Also, with another job, practice time is far more limited, which often is the case for amateur players.

It’s all very well thinking, the more I practice, the better I’ll get. Not necessarily the case, with any instrument. You can even travel further than you should after taking a wrong turning….By that I mean, if you don’t do the right thing, you can do the wrong thing.  Four hours is a lot of practice, exactly HOW best to fill up that time? So here are a few suggestions;

Avoid Burn Out.

It’s far better to practice in fits and starts. Particularly when learning a new piece. Take a break every five or ten minutes, to let what you’ve learned sink in. Even when playing scales or arpeggios, it’s important to let the hands relax, and not move under stress while fatigued. If you avoid this, your fingers will move far more efficiently afterwards.

Practice by a mirror.

It can be of benefit to actually view your hand positions by looking at yourself in a mirror while you are playing. Even better, if you are brave enough, video yourself playing. This will even get you more accustomed to playing under “observation”, and help keep performance anxiety to a minimum.

Warm up routines.

Work on a method for warming up to your playing. Often this can be simple exercises like chromatic scales, just to get your fingers moving freely.

Exercises and studies 

Sor and Carcassi wrote some great studies, also Tarrega. Often it’s more value to work through a book of these than mindlessly whizzing up and down the fingerboard against the metronome, which you may grow tired of anyway, if practice is aimless.

Practice Goals.

I think nothing will tire your mind more than “aimless practice”, that is, without any direction or goal to set yourself. Even if you have no upcoming gig, imagine one, and prepare a few pieces to perform. It helps to keep a core repertoire of pieces on the back burner, which you can always perform, well within your technical ability. So that, if called on to play at short notice, you will always have something to perform.

 So what kind of practice rituals help  professional guitarists?

Julian Bream.

When in his late thirties, Julian Bream had to re-think his left hand technique, due to a paralysis of his left hand. The problem being, as self taught, he developed some muscles at the expense of others. So every morning, in front of a mirror, he played single notes on each string, making sure his fingers were in the correct position on the fingerboard.

Augstin Barrios.

Barrios was a hard taskmaster…He would practice a section of music, and each time he plaed it correct, he would place a pebble in a bag. When he made a mistake he would empty the bag and start over.  He repeated this until he had a preset number of pebbles in the bag, sometimes 50 or a 100 stones needed to be in the bag! How’s that for playing under pressure…

David Russell.

A favourite tip of mine from David Russell is offering this advice on to play or not to play;

“To play or not to play a piece of music is a choice you must make with care.
Try to have a concert programme that shows what you can do well and not what you do badly. That way you will bring more musical pleasure to your audience.
It is better to listen to an easier piece played well than a difficult piece played badly. Never let your concert playing announce “Look what I can’t do!” Your audience will be grateful.”

If you have any practice tips you found helpful, I’d like to hear them..Most of all, enjoy your guitar :)

image by looking.at.life at flickr.

Ana Vidovic playing La Catedral by Agustin Barrios.