Home › Forums › Showcase Your Playing › Prelude in D Minor (Francisco Tarrega)
- This topic has 25 replies, 12 voices, and was last updated 3 years, 1 month ago by Geoff.
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March 7, 2021 at 12:50 pm #240895
This is a piece by Tarrega I had never played before that requires a Drop D tuning as is very common with his compositions. When I looked at the sheet music, i did not think it was going to be too hard to get down but, as is so often the case, I was wrong. There was a progression starting with the F-chord on the 8th bar that required a lot of attention to get right and, hardest of all, was the progression starting from the A chord on the 13th bar. Unusually for Tarrega it seems like this piece has to be played to the measure, can’t mess about with the timing too much to get more expression. Anyway, here it is from me, mistakes and all.
If any of you are interested, I stumbled on this Kiwi guy who goes by the name of Joshua Rogers. He is a fabulous classical guitarist and gives a great lesson on how to play this piece:
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March 7, 2021 at 1:02 pm #240898
Nice piece. Very well played. Doesn’t appear so easy but you made it seem effortless.
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March 7, 2021 at 1:11 pm #240904
Thank you Richard. Its certainly not the way i was feeling while I was playing it -:)
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March 7, 2021 at 1:06 pm #240900
Very cool, Geoff. Your hard work definitely paid off on this one… it sounded great!
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March 7, 2021 at 1:12 pm #240905
Thanks Dave. It was a solid two weeks of practice to get this one down – Tarrega is hard.
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March 7, 2021 at 2:18 pm #240911
Good start on the piece. I would recommend trying to relax a little ( easier said than done). I heard that Santana recommends looking angry/mad. I like Julian Bream’s style where he looks happy and moves this the beat as opposed the John William who is more machine like but is beyond very good!
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March 7, 2021 at 8:02 pm #240957
Hi Pat. Well, half the skill is to make these things look easy but, like you say, its much easier said than done (Tatyana Rhyskova is an absolute master at that). Personally I don’t think it is not a problem looking passionate while playing in the manner of Santana or people like Pepe Romero. Each to his own. For me, I would like make it look easy and relaxing as you have suggested.
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March 7, 2021 at 3:53 pm #240926
Nicely played Geoff. Looks like you put some time in on that piece. My sister loves classical. I will share it with her. Cheers. Pap
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March 7, 2021 at 8:04 pm #240958
I am very flattered that you would do that. Thank you Pap 🙂
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March 7, 2021 at 6:51 pm #240944
Takes patience and skill to play those classical licks ..nice work!
Live on planet Earth ? You got the blues.
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March 7, 2021 at 8:07 pm #240959
It does Mike and really does. The thing I find is it is much harder to sound immediately great on classical than on electric. Not saying this as a put down to all those great electric guitar players out there but, with classical and other accoustic styles, there are just no effects to lie to you. Everything has to go into your tone and expression.
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March 7, 2021 at 7:23 pm #240954
Little bit of Tarrega history: for a while in the 1990s a short guitar phrase by Tarrega was the most heard and most recognized piece of classical guitar music in the whole world. Why?
It was the first telephone ring-tone, when you didn’t have choices.Nokia, the first to provide a built-in ringtone, chose a short phrase from Tarrega that the whole world probably still recognizes.
Remember this? It’s from Fransisco Tarrega’s Gran Vals: -
March 7, 2021 at 11:18 pm #240975
Well played Geoff. Not familiar with this one from Tarrega and definitely finger gymnastics needed here! Learnt in 2 weeks so that’s very good, you must be a very competent sight reader. Loved your harmonics to end the piece. All the best!
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March 8, 2021 at 9:47 am #241029
Hi Gary, It was a cool piece to play but, interestingly, this one seemed to be less Romantic in style. Listening to others playing this and, on attempting it myself, it seems like you can’t mess with the Rythm too much – it felt more classical to me.
I can sight read reasonably well up to about the 8th bar on the guitar. Past that point, not quite so well. Playing harmonics like that is new to me, I had actually never been exposed to the technique of using the index and ring finger to get them. I still have a way to go on playing great harmnonics but glad you liked them.
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March 8, 2021 at 1:27 am #240980
Very nice playing.
Tarrega was the founder of the modern guitar technique, especially the posture of right and left hand and of the classic guitar in its present form. His pieces are really not easy to play.Dieter
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March 8, 2021 at 9:49 am #241030
Hi Dieter, saying his pieces are not easy to play is putting it mildy. This piece was a little different but the thing I like about playing his stuff is you can often pause a little for expressive effect – gives you time to breath on those difficult sections.
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March 8, 2021 at 10:05 am #241032
Hi Geof,
In a previous life I played classical guitar, but never Tarrega. I preferred Villa Lobos. Now I don’t touch a classical guitar anymore, I find it too difficult and too heavy for my fingers. You did that well and I know it takes a long time to master such a piece.
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March 8, 2021 at 2:53 pm #241047
Hi Luc, I have done some Villa Lobos in the very distant past. His compositions are very tough to play.
I was interested to see from your profile that you have some flamenco in your playing too. I have not really been exposed to flamenco much and I don’t think there are many on this site who have dipped their feet in that world. I can only wish to have played flamenco. For me, its the Spanish guitar tradition that floats my boat the most much as I enjoy the blues and other styles.
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March 16, 2021 at 10:35 am #241706
Hi Geoff,
Somewhere around the age of twelve I saw a TV program with Carlos Montoya and then recorded it with my tape recorder. I had never heard such a teasing playing, I did not know it was possible. I remember very well that he played long pieces of legato. Later I discovered other guitarists like Segovia (we are talking about the 60s here) who also surprised me.
In the late 1970s, after playing classical for a few years, I started playing Flamenco, with the idea that Flamenco is the European Blues. And although I practiced about two hours a day, at one point my guitar playing stopped progressing. There are many reasons for this:
– It was very difficult and very expensive to take lessons.
– The peña Flamenco de Amberres stopped,
– I was practicing the wrong way.
– The rhythms were too difficult for me.
– I was not born or raised with Flamenco
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– But the main reason is undoubtedly that for me Flamenco is not the European Blues, but rather the Spanish / Gypsy blues and that I feel completely at home in the regular (Anglo-Saxon) Blues. And that is what I prefer to play now.Luc
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March 16, 2021 at 11:45 am #241713
Hi Luc. All i can say is, yeah, Flamenco is a completely different mindset to all of the other guitar styles including classical.
My first guitar teacher exposed me to it and I loved it but I decided to put my attention to classical. I don’t really think of flamenco as being the blues at all – its all harmonic minor and dorian to my limited understanding.
Correct me if I am wrong but isn’t the flamenco guitar kinda different to the classical? Like not being as resonant for better rythm playing. (I believe the sound hole is not as deep).
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March 16, 2021 at 12:42 pm #241718
Geoff,
I still have a hand-built Flamenco guitar, which I bought after a long search and visiting various luthiers in Spain.
I noticed then that there is a big difference in sound between the different instruments, but externally they all seem (roughly) the same and I don’t see any difference with a classical guitar. However, the strings on a Flamenco guitar are slightly lower, because they have to buzz very lightly. You can hear this for example on the recordings of Paco Peña.
In the beginning, the Flamenco guitar was only available as an accompaniment to singing and dancing. The guitar has to be loud to get above the vocals, stomping feet and palmas. Due to the slightly buzzing strings the guitars are a bit louder and the rhythm is more pronounced, but I suppose they are also constructed to sound louder and project further.Luc
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March 16, 2021 at 11:46 pm #241748
Thanks Luc, I learned something. I did not realize the strings on a flamenco guitar were lower or about the slight buzz.
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March 16, 2021 at 8:28 pm #241737
Classic is hard stuff and you played it very well.
You make me want to get my classical books out.
Nice harmonics at the end.
Well done.AndréM
AndréM
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March 16, 2021 at 11:47 pm #241749
You should do it Andre. Its fun. Thanks about the harmonics, I am relatively new to playing harmonics I admit.
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March 17, 2021 at 9:57 am #241781
Again Geoff! Fantastic playing! Speaking of the Key of D, do you know Pachebel’s Canon in D? I know it’s D major, but man I bet you could tear that puppy up for sure!! Great playing. Bob
Bob U. (aka Bobby Ut)
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March 17, 2021 at 10:34 am #241786
Thanks Bob. I should know Pachebel’s Canon in D but I don’t. Gonna look it up -:)
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