Asturias – Isaac Albeniz – Revisited….yet again.

[Geoff]

Firstly, I am going to ask you to forgive me for posting so soon after my last one. I am not in the habit of doing that, I promise and the only reason I am doing this is I have finally reworked this piece to the point where I can play it out of my head without the music in front of me. It has been both a rewarding and frustrating experience.

In many ways this is one of the hardest Spanish classical pieces I have encountered. The fast tremolos combined with strums is not the worst of it. Getting to grips with the right expression on the slow section is MUCH harder in my opinion. Like all Romantic era pieces one has to slow down and let it breath in the appropriate spots without losing sight of keeping the melody going – I have tried over and over to get that right and, I can tell you, I am still not quite there yet. This is one of those pieces where I will always think “Better…but not there yet”. It is the reason I have kept coming back to it again and again over the years. In spite of all that, it is one the greats and I love playing it – it is just so powerful and packed with drama.

[Adrian S]

Geoff,

Some lovely playing of the piece, and I thought that the quieter middle section you captured very well. All together very expressive and cleanly played. Well beyond mine and many peoples skills on guitar, well done. A big round of applause from me!

Cheers

Adrian

[Geoff]

Thanks for giving this a listen Adrian.

Classical guitar is it’s own thing and I have some of the skills for that but not quite so much on the electric guitar.

[Garry]

Outstanding Geoff. Personally I feel, your best performance to date. Tremolo was excellent and you definitely added dynamics and flair. You came out of the gate punching! Second section was very expressive and to learn this off by heart! Many kudos to you Geoff. 👏👏👏🌟👏👏👏 Top shelf posting, don’t apologise for the repost. All the best! 😎🎸😎

[Geoff]

Thanks so much Garry. Tremolo is one of those things I have had to work on because it features so heavily in a lot of that Flamenco stuff I have been learning.

[Tremelow]

Fantastic playing, Geoff, it really captured me. I even looked up who that Iaac Albeniz on Google.
You may not be at the point where you want to be, Geoff, but from my perspective you can’t be very far. You brought that piece to life, it was breathing! As a side note, I think the sound of your guitar was outstanding.

Cheers, Kevin

[Geoff]

Thanks for giving this a listen Tremolow and Kudos to you for looking up Albeniz. If I am not mistaken, he wrote this piece for piano. Why not for guitar is beyond me.

You are a good player but do you feel satisfied and that you are at the point where you want to be ? I would be surprised if your answer to that is “yes”. Whenever we play we can always hear where we could be better. At least, that is how it is for me after playing classical guitar practically my entire life -:) In some ways I wish that wasn’t so.

[David L]

One of my favorite classic pieces, played to perfection by our Maestro Geoff. A very difficult piece, one I could never perform well enough. The tremolo technique is challenging, and Geoff has mastered it so well. There is so much emotion in this. Many thanks to you for posting this, Geoff. I was hoping that you would at some point. Kudos to you. This is truly a triumph.

[Geoff]

Hi David, I have posted an earlier version of this one on here before but I wasn’t entirely satisfied with it at that time. I feel this version is cleaner and better than what I did then. This is one of those pieces I have kept dropping and coming back to over the years.

Like you, I think this is one of my all time favorite classical pieces. It’s a classical piece but it has all those Flamenco influences – it really represents Spain to me. The Tremolo is challenging but not as bad on this as some of the Flamenco stuff I have put up because it only engages the index and middle fingers ( On the other stuff like “Song of the Threadspinner” you need to engage the Ring finger as well). The slow section is actually more interesting to play in my opinion.

[Chuck P]

Geoff, hat off to you. Very well done. That looks like a very technical piece and the work you’ve put in is worth much applause and appreciation – thanks for sharing. Those triplets you put in are awesome. You are mastering difficulty very well!

[Geoff]

Thanks Chuck. It is a pretty technical piece but, fortunately, it does not require too much tricky barring.

A lot of Latin guitar music is, sadly, not playable to me because they require so much full barring and my hands cannot do it.

[James B]

Amazing performance, Geoff. I can’t imagine the discipline it must have taken to memorize that piece and play it so well. Bravo Sir Geoffrey! 👏👏👏

James

[Geoff]

Here’s a little surprise for you James.

I tend to memorize more “difficult” pieces better than the “easier” ones because I have to play the difficult ones over and over such that I end up memorizing them without meaning to.

[JoeD1]

As I said already this was fantastic Geoff. I forgot to mention the tone was perfect too! I don’t know if you added echo or chorus but the notes seemed to reverberate as if in a music hall.

Joe

The sight of a touch, or the scent of a sound,
Or the strength of an Oak with roots deep in the ground.
--Graeme Edge

[Geoff]

Hey, thanks Joe. I know you put a comment on this on youtube earlier and I really do appreciate you taking the time to listen 🙂

You got it. I do add a little echo via this Cathedral Reverb effect I have available to me in Ableton. On problem, is I do not have the best acoustics in my recording room – everything sounds a little flat without it.

[San Luis Rey]

Well done Geoff! You effort you put into this sure shows in the performance. Congrats!

Mike

[Geoff]

Thanks Mike.

[Dieter]

There is a lot of love for Spanish music and a lot of hard work. An excellent performance at a very high level.

Dieter

[Geoff]

Thanks Dieter. You are right of course, I LOVE Spanish music.

[Ralph P.]

I agree with Garry…I think this is your best Classical performance yet, probably due to the fact that you memorized the piece and didn’t have to rely on the score and could put all of your focus on playing rather than reading/playing.

Very dynamic and technical piece played very well with great feel and emotions and excellent technique.

You should be very proud of this performance Geoff.

Ralph

Ralph P.

[Geoff]

Thanks Ralph. I would say this one is probably up there and Memorizing helps for sure. You know, years ago, I actually performed this piece in front of an Audience and got a standing ovation. Looking back I don’t know how I did it or why I was crazy enough to choose this piece to do the performance.

With pieces like this one, it is almost like you have to hear the next phrase before you get there. I remember my guitar teacher explaining that to me. That way you can just glide over any mistakes as if they never happened. I can only do that by memorizing a piece like this really well.

[Helen Lazaridou]

Dear Geoff!!!You couldn’t be more proud of yourself listening to your playing and comparing it with let’s say 4 years ago!!Iam definitely proud you are my friend!!!Maestro Geoff as David calls you!!!💕❤️💞💗💕

[Geoff]

Thanks for listening as always Helen. One of the things I like about recording is I can compare what I am doing now to what I was doing back then.

On the classical, there has been some improvement but it is more noticeable, I think, with the electric guitar stuff. I guess, the reason for that, is 5 years ago I came to the electric guitar with relatively little experience.

[Mark T]

Wow, Geoff – this one blew me away 👏👏👏 I hear so many people saying, “Your best one yet” on many submissions, but to my ears this really is your best yet 🎼🎵🎶

The intonation, feel and timing were positively beautiful and brilliant. I thought I knew this piece – but your submission showed me that I only know the beginning of it, and haven’t been aware of the wonderful, slower sections.

Your playing soaks into the soul like a cup of hot chocolate on a winter’s eve! Geoff, your submissions are truly something special, my friend, it’s a privilege to watch and hear you – Mark 👍🎶😎

[Geoff]

Thanks much Mark, I am so glad you enjoyed this because I put a lot into this one.

The fast section is iconic and, I guess, that is why it is so familiar to many people. In my opinion the slower section more interesting to play – very moody is the only way I can put it 🙂

[Guido]

Wow, this is one of my favourite Spanish classical guitar pieces, and you played a brilliant rendition, for sure your best so far (I know I always say that, but really every rendition show your amazing improvements)! I’m especially impressed by your beautiful tremolo technique, but the overall rendition was just brilliant, very dynamic (this is a passionate piece that alternates forte and piano) and enjoyable to listen to. Loved to listen to it!

Guido

[Geoff]

Thanks Guido. Like you, I try to be a fraction better on every recording – I don’t always achieve that but I felt quite good about this one. Annoying thing is I keep playing different ways to play this piece and it’s why I cannot leave it alone.

[Author]

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