"CV"

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jai Kasthuri on July 17, 2010 at 10:13pm

Nicely explained. One extra detail I would add - if you should come across a C with a vertical line through it, then it means a partial barre. It is left to the player to figure out how many of the strings need to be 'barred'.

Permalink Reply by David Pelham on July 17, 2010 at 6:36pm

John has it absolutely right. There seems to be a lot of variation in how publishers notate and mark up music. My instructor has even pointed out inconsistencies within a single piece! So, beyond the inconsistencies and variations there is the occasional non-sense. Sometime fingerings are just plain crazy (IMHO), and notes are misplaced on the staff now and then. I guess it would help if the typesetter was musician!

Permalink Reply by Michael S. Jackson on July 18, 2010 at 11:00am

Thank you, John, and all for the great responses! Taking what John wrote, and what Jai wrote, I started thinking. I was playing that part with a partial barre (the first 4 strings) but it was a bit awkward going to the A and especially the C on the first string. I was doing the pinch via open A on the fifth and B on the first string (fretted at 8). I thought, did the transcriber mistakenly omit the vertical line in the C? Or did he mean to barre all 6 strings? So I revisited and fretted the 6th string A with a complete barre. Easier and flows better - I'm all for economy of motion! While I do like the sound of the open A vice the 6th string barred A, I just need to work at making the barre very clear and resonant. I just re-read this and I hope it makes sense. Seems the only thing harder, and more prone to mistakes, than transcribing notation is trying to write about it. Thanks, again, for your great advice! M

Permalink Reply by Donna Zitzelberger on July 19, 2010 at 2:28am

Hi Michael,

How are you liking the book? I'm always in the market for collections of beginner pieces for students. The Tarrega piece you are working on is a favorite one of mine to teach - it's very beautiful and my students love it. I tried to search for the book but only found it available in UK (I'm in California - USA). I found "Library of Easy Classical Guitar Solos" by the same author but it's over 200 pages and would overwhelm a beginner. Do you mind listing the titles of the pieces? How do you like the accompanying CD - sometimes I have found that accompanying CDs tend to race through the pieces. Thanks so much! Donna

Permalink Reply by Michael S. Jackson on July 19, 2010 at 10:45am

Donna - I am using three books right now: Mauro Giuliani's 120 Studies for Right Hand Development (Revised and edited by Paul Brelinsky); Sight Reading for the Classical Guitar, Levels 1 to 3 (by Robert Benedict); and the subject Fifty Easy Classical Guitar Solos (with CD by Jerry Willard). An acquaintance also gave me a one page copy of Estudio Study, Esquema Armonico, Harmonic Diagram. The contents of the 50 Solos are:

Study in C - Sor
Lesson - Sor (2 of them)
Andantino - Kuffner (2 of them)
Waltz - Aguado
Andantino - Carcassi
Waltz - Carulli (2 of them)
Study - Carulli
Andantino - Sor (3 of them)
Andante - Sor (6 of them)
Nonesuch - Anonymous
Andantino - Giuliani
Allegro - Giuliani (2 of them)
Study - Sor
Branle - Anonymous
Allegro - Carulli
Andante - Carcassi
Minuet - Krieger
Moderato - Sor (2 of them)
Allegretto - Sor (2 of them)
Espanoleto - Sanz
Andante - Carulli
Study - Aguado
What if a Day, a Month, or a Year - Anonymous
Rujero - Sanz
Minuet - de Visee (2 of them)
Contradanza - Ferandiere
Volte - Anonymous
Greensleeves - Anonymous
Allegretto - Giuliani
Bouree - Krieger
Study - Giuliani
Mrs. Winter's Jump - Dowland
Bouree - Leupold Mozart
Packington's Pound - Anonymous
Petite Piece - W.A. Mozart
Estudio - Tarrega

I realize a lot of these are not titles, but then again, some of these guys didn't title their stuff but rather they named them after the style or time. The book seems to introduce more complicated movements (right and left hands) as the book goes on. For instance, the first one is almost completely single string with just a couple of dual strings plucked. The last one (the one I wrote about) moves up the neck, as we have been discussing. The CD is all up to speed. I know some CDs slow the pieces down, but these are not overly complicated and it really helps to hear what they are supposed to sound like. One more thing, if you don't mind. I took lessons last year and for 6 months all I did was work from the only book my teacher had me buy, the 120 Studies. I got though #56 before I finally got bored and quit. Well, there were other reasons (financially). I have been playing 5-string banjo for 30 years and my right hand does not need a lot of beginner attention (the movements are exactly the same, except banjo doesn't use the annular finger). It also took 3 weeks for my teacher to tell me that I was holding my guitar on the wrong knee ( upper leg) and then he did so only because I complained that I couldn't play the exercises and had a lot of pain trying. But I was not playing anything except a bunch of boring right hand exercises. It didn't even help that much with my left hand pinky - which gives me a lot of trouble. The point is, I believe an teach needs to keep the fire going. I hope you can use this book and guide the student into more challenging pieces while at the same time letting them have input on what they want to learn next. I have been jumping around Greensleeves, Petite Piece, Andatino by Carcassi, Allegro by Giuliani, and Estudio by Tarrega. I found all of these books at Amazon so I was surprised to hear you had difficulty finding the 50 Easy Solos. Good luck!