November 24, 2009

Erik Satie – Gnossienne No. 1 (free music!)

I have a little Thanksgiving gift for everyone: a free arrangement of Satie’s Gnossienne No. 1.

Here’s a quick recording of what it sounds like:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Some notes about the arrangement:

I prefer cross string ornaments, so most of the grace notes are written as cross string. This can be change depending on your personal preferences, but I think the cross string ornaments make it easier.
The grace notes should be placed on the beat. They borrow time from the following note.
The phrasing slurs are not mine, they are in the piano score.
A phrase slur generally indicates a slight crescendo and diminuendo. Combined with a bit of ritard at the end of the phrase.
I’ve added some dynamics, mostly at the end of phrases.
All the text in the score is also in the piano version.

If, for some reason, you’d like to download the audio, here’s the file address: http://www.christopherguitar.net/audio/satiegnossienne1.mp3.

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 22, 2009

Theme and Variations – Lennox Berkeley

A great composition by English composer Lennox Berkeley. Just finished recording this one.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

November 20, 2009

Divertissement, Op. 23 – Fernando Sor

I’m on a recording kick! Here’s three more from Sor’s Op. 23.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

November 20, 2009

Bach Prelude, BWV 995

Another audition CD recording.

Bach, J.S. – Prelude, BWV 995

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

November 19, 2009

I’ve been doing some recording lately for an audition CD. This is was made with my brand new Michael Thames Guitar and a Zoom H4. There’s no reverb or EQ added. Just the recorder sitting about three feet in front of the guitar.

Giuliani, Mauro: Variations, Op. 45

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

November 15, 2009

This Week on Twitter

I just shaved (for real, with a razor) for the first time in probably a two years. Usu. I just trim. the things I do for photographs. #
CG tip: want to get really good at damping with the RH thumb? Do the Giuliani 120 RH studies and pay attention to the bass note values. #
21 Tips for Better Guitar Playing http://bit.ly/3WA5xg Some general, easy technical and musical tips to think about. #
Just got back from the photo shoot. In a week I will have press photos. #
Off to my weekly deadlifting session. 335 for 5+ tonight. Should be exciting/noisy. #
Ridiculous. RT @davidjhahn: Musicians locked out of New York musical – replaced with pre-recorded tape http://bit.ly/4rzO7h #
Is Music Music Inc, the makers of Finale on twitter? If so: please make your product better. and more guitar friendly. #
My biggest problem with finale is that it moves things that I specifically placed. (sigh) fuck finale. I should ask them for my money back. #
Listening to @imogenheap 's new album, "Ellipse" http://bit.ly/4BSkLB #
Just started reading "Everything is Miscellaneous" by David Weinberger http://bit.ly/QDjlw (I think that's an affiliate link?) #
Yep it was an affiliate link. I tried out amazon's new "Share on twitter" affiliate button thingy. Convenient I suppose. #
Rallentando vs. Ritardando http://bit.ly/2CbchR some thoughts on why a composer would use both (hint: they have to mean something different) #
http://bit.ly/3SNvcT Fatal Guitar Lesson (guitar teachers will find this funny) #
It's very unfortunate that the person who watches over the wikipedia classical guitar page has such a narrow view of what should be on it. #
Learning a dowland Song to perform with a singer. Scary stuff. Never accompanied a vocalist before. #
Amen. RT @GuitPatrick: So much easier to choose happiness and let the rest of it go. #
Not sure when I learned to sight read better, but apparently that happened this year. #
Uh oh, a search for "no good guitar blogs" brings up me as the first result. http://bit.ly/40ynyu #
http://bit.ly/24RRdR The Giuliani piece I've been working on (Op. 45) First time recording it. Let me know what you think. #
Trying to get used to this recording thing in general. I have record Audition CDs later this month. Scary stuff. #
A new post about changing up the very easy p i m arpeggio to make it more challenging. http://bit.ly/WfxIK #
Wonder if Mr. Thames sent my guitar yesterday. I was supposed to hear from him, but I didn't. Hope he did! #
Prepping my resume to submit for school applications. #
I don't understand applications. Why do I need to upload works experience, activities/awards, education and upload a resume? #
No school tomorrow. Thank you veterans day! #
Guitar was sent today! Should get it friday! (very excited) #
It feels like a reading morning. Not a practicing morning. #
The idea that scarcity creates professional classes is really amazing to me. #
00000 #
Technique practice round 2: alternation bursts, string crossing, slurs on all strings. #
http://bit.ly/4A8OWS Xuefei Yang Concert Review #
Off to teach. Four hours straight tonight. Scary. #
I would say that about 90% of learning music is just figuring out the notation and doing what's on the page expression-marking-wise. #
Guitar is in Memphis! (can you tell I'm excited about this?) #
The guitar gets here tomorrow, but so does @michelle_reinke I wonder who I'll spend more time with… #
RT @Babblenaggs: RT @badbanana Marching bands are actually homeless orchestras. Tragic, really. #
I'm spending my afternoon cleaning. Exhausting work really. #
tryig to figure out the zoom H4. Not going well. All I want to do is play a file back, but apparently I can't! #
I'm going to want to kill myself recording this audition CD. I really hate this crap. I never play anything well while recording. #
Going to have wait on the new guitar to do more recording. Even with a nice recorder, I never get enough bass string/separation of voices. #
If people keep subscribing to my mailing list, I'm going to end up having to pay Mail Chimp. 100+ subscribers already. http://bit.ly/3CbXUh #
New Lovezors image is up! http://www.lovezors.com/ (this is a site I do for fun with @michelle_reinke ) RT if you like it! #
New guitar today! Should get here soon. It's "out for delivery," UPS usu. gets here around 10. #
Guitar's here! See you guys in a week when I'm done breaking it in. #
I actually have dynamics with the new guitar. Can be crazy loud if I want to! #
Break from playing so I can do some teaching. #
Alexandre Tansman's "Variations on a Theme by Scriabin" is an oustanding piece. #
I guess I'll stop playing my guitar and hang out with @michelle_reinke for a while. #

November 10, 2009

Fun with p i m

Sign up for the Newsletter! The Classical Guitar Blog is edited by Christopher Davis.

p i m, Giuliani RH study no. 2. One of the most basic arpeggios, and easy to master.

original

Here’s two ways to make it more exciting.

Start with different fingers. This shifts the accent and completely changes the feel of the arpeggio. It’s strangely challenging even though it seems very basic.

imp

mpi

Put fingers on the same string. This requires more precise sequential planting to get a good sound. In some cases (the last one), it’s very awkward, and one of those instances where you take something further than needed to the original feels easier.

Samestring1

Samestring2

Samestring3

These two methods of varying p i m can be applied to any arpeggio.

Did you enjoy this post? Check these out:

Right Hand Movement (Good Vibrations part 2)

November 8, 2009

21 Tips for Better Guitar Playing

Sign up for the Newsletter! The Classical Guitar Blog is edited by Christopher Davis.

A lot of what a good teacher does is tell the student to do the things written on the page. All those dynamic and tempo and expression markings are important. Do them.
Exaggerate everything. Play Forte crazy loud and Piano very soft. Play staccato very short and legato as connected as possible. Your audience will thank you.
In practice, fix one thing at a time. Never try to fix a whole piece at once.
Practice perfect. Find the way that you can play a passage perfectly and do it. It does no good to screw something up 9 times, get it right once and quit.
Think small. Virtuosity is in the little things.
Technique practice is important, and should be done daily.
That said, no one comes to a concert to hear technique exercises. Don’t forget that playing any instrument is about playing music. Technical exercises are a means to an end.
Just thinking of a group of notes as a unit changes the way you play them. Find the groups.
A phrase is a group of notes. Phrases crescendo slightly towards their climax, and diminuendo away from it — phrases have a shape. Sometimes the phrases are written in for you with phrasing slurs, play them as such (see number one).
The most expressive thing in music is silence. Start and end a piece with a moment of poise, and be sure to “play” the rests. For guitarists that means we have to mute strings.
Not all phrases are created equal. Not all phrases need a huge ritard. The end of a phrase shouldn’t sound the same as the end of a section; the end of a section shouldn’t sound the same as the end of a piece. There’s always a hierarchy.
The most important technical aspect you can work on is relaxation. Guitar playing should feel easy.
The big knuckles (the one connecting your fingers to your palm) on your left hand do not absolutely have to be parallel to the guitar neck. Sometimes an angled position makes things easier. Pay attention to what works, and do whatever is easiest.
If you don’t notice what you’re hands do during a difficult passage, there’s no hope of fixing it. Pay attention. Analyze the movements. Break it down, and figure out what gives you trouble. Practice that. (see number five)
Scales get all credit for making great guitar players, but we spend most of our time playing arpeggio textures. It only makes sense to give arpeggios a fair amount of practice as well.
Keep a practice log. If you can’t remember what you practiced a week ago, how do you know you’ve gone anywhere at all?
Record yourself. It’s enlightening to hear what you really sound like.
Melody gets all the attention, but the bass line matters too. Pay attention to the note values and the bass line’s shape. Changing the way the bass is played can change an entire piece.
Play lines separately. Get a melody or bass line to sound perfect on its own, then put it back in the complete texture an try to make it sound the same.
Left hand fingers can be sequenced. Before plopping fingers down, ask yourself when they really need to be added. Waiting to add a left hand finger can make a hard passage easier.
File your nails the night before or at the start of a practice day. Never in the middle. It’s too much work to get used to the “new” nails.

Did you enjoy this post? Check these out:

Quick Tip: Have a few pieces…

November 8, 2009

This Week on Twitter

Getting ready send out the first Classical Guitar Blog Newsletter with some advice on slurs. Are you on the list? http://bit.ly/3CbXUh #
My feed is broken! Is Feedburner having issues?! #
Just got an Oasis Humidifier. Apparently it needs distilled water. #
My feed is broken. I cannot figure out why. (sigh) I can't even view the original feed. It just redirects to feedburner. #
Figured it out. I have only one thing to say to the wp-insert plugin, but it's not twitter appropriate. #
Lots of people saying that I should send out four email newsletters a month. I don't think I can do that! #
RT @conniesc: playing for Pepe Romero master class tomorrow at USC! Newman Hall, 7-10pm. #
http://bit.ly/3Crfpa Luthier David Schramm took a camera inside a Smallman guitar. You need to watch this, it's very cool. #
attempting to even out my p i alternation, and get rid of accents while I shift around. This pi tremolo in the Berkeley piece is killing me. #
RT @cameronmizell: It might be too early to listen, but not to early to buy! 2 new releases this year: http://ow.ly/y1gR & http://ow.ly/y1hc #
Off to school. relatively productive morning. #
Just sent out my first newsletter. I'm officially freaked out about it. What if people don't like it?! #
I'm starting to think that sidebars on websites or in emails are completely useless. Anything you want noticed should be in the content. #
http://bit.ly/AwsQK The first newsletter! Want to get these delivered to your inbox? Sign up: http://bit.ly/3CbXUh #
Wrote a 40 measure piece. needs editting, but that's tomorrow's job (or my comp teacher's job) #
Whoops. meant ,"pay attention to." I can't be bothered to proofread 140 characters! #
"It's the friends you can call up at four a.m. that matter." — Marlene Dietrich (via @TestMuscle ) #
Seven ways musicians screw up big time (and how to fix them) http://bit.ly/2iTuk1 from @davidhooper #
14.) Fix Yourself. http://su.pr/2itm2A #
15.) Play by the rules (sometimes). http://su.pr/2XqxHL #
http://bit.ly/1Hx2Ob Four Ways to Prepare for a Performance #
Working on an Ebook of slur studies. #
RT @davekusek: "No artist, no label, no writer, no publisher getting paid- just Google selling ads as you listen." http://bit.ly/2m79xE #
I think if I actually practiced electric guitar I would be scary. #
It's too bad electric guitar is not as much fun as classical. #
What to eat every day http://bit.ly/2HlxQX from @nategreen03 #
Of to rehearsal. Then teaching. #
Pretty good night of teaching. I still have one student I'm trying to really inspire. He doesn't seem excited about guitar yet. #
RT @eschnack: "Ready? Modulate!" "What's that?!?" http://bit.ly/2lxMRm #muppetsrule #
Just put my arrangement of Satie's Gnossienne No. 1 in Finale. Going to let @stanleyyates look at it tomorrow in my lesson. #
http://bit.ly/Its7U You can watch Sharon Isbin and other musicians perform at White House via a video stream. Please RT; spread the word! #
Just wrote a little study for a student. Check it out! http://bit.ly/1MgCXw #
http://bit.ly/3MdGTs More studies to practice p i m and p i m i arpeggios. #
Maybe getting a new guitar a couple months early. Waiting to find out! #
I never know what to do when I get emails from companies offering free stuff. Side effect of having a blog I suppose. #
I should see if I can get endorsements from some string company! They'd be more interested in my blog traffic than my playing probably. #
Is it too much to ask that finale can draw a perfect circle in shape designer? apparently yes. #
RT @frankwallace: Link: Download my guitar trio Triptych at Lulu.com http://tumblr.com/xsr3v81e6 #
Interview Dr. Matthew Slotkin this morning. He plays in some very interesting chamber music groups. Here's one: http://bit.ly/3CrtRE #
RT @prenex: Sharon Isbin playing Pixiquinha last night at the White House (Thank you NY CG Society) http://bit.ly/1J7GUb #
RT @MusicianWages: Create Invoices, Get Paid – A simple guide to creating invoices for freelance work, by @cameronmizell: http://ow.ly/zvGq #
I'm terrible at Bach this morning. TERRIBLE! #
Oh wow. Meta tools make putting fingerings into Finale a breeze! #
http://bit.ly/3tH3yA video of the classical music workshop at the white house yesterday. #
What I'm working on this morning: http://bit.ly/2b4agj (short mp3 file), Gavotte I from BWV 995. Needs more bass! #
Editting some video interview with Matthew Slotkin http://bit.ly/1TseAO #
http://bit.ly/XRMt2 Seven Questions with Jason Vieaux from @GuitarWorkshop #
Transcribing a Dowland song so I don't have buy an arrangement for Guitar and voice. More work? Yes. Valuable Experience? Questionable. #
Facebook says the Classical Guitar Blog's "post quality" is 8,750 #
I'm sick. Head cold. Very stuffed up. Going to be cold drugs the whole day. #
I just "Rock you like hurricane" into Finale. Gotta make the students read chord charts with rhythms sometimes. #
Just recorded myself playing Berkeley. @stanleyyates was right. Lots of missed phrasing opportunities. more to work on. #
An Interview with Matthew Slotkin http://bit.ly/26YOmF #
Just wrote some stuff on Baroque standard ornaments. Tonight's project: find/make-up examples of each. #
RT @prenex: #MPLS #Classicalguitar check out our packed calendar of guitar events in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area http://bit.ly/4kQqBz #
It seems the key to getting better at this Giuliani piece is to not practice it for five days then play it. #
http://bit.ly/2Ylb0M The Assad Brothers playing Sound of Bells #
The next arranging project: http://bit.ly/3jslYQ Satie Gnossienne No. 2. Will be a little bit more of a challenge. #
http://bit.ly/1o9HI0 Short films for the end of time. #
The Boston Conservatory and the Longy School of music have discovered facebook ads. I clicked two with specific mentions of guitar programs. #
Just added a page about me to the CG blog. http://bit.ly/3csvhO #
Next step: update the about page to be more a "guide to the CG blog" #
RT @frankwallace: Fabulous news for Barrueco, Frank, Guitar and Baltimore CGS – http://tumblr.com/xsr3wieay #
I will never understand why people think 19C music sound better when you rush through it. Slow down. Enjoy it. #
Putting some things into Finale. A very exciting saturday night! #
RT @michelle_reinke: RT @petapixel: 50 mind-blowing examples of macro photography: http://j.mp/1NNGRK beautiful #
Just typeset and entire dowland tune. gross. #
"Lady, if you so spite me" by John Dowland (voice + guitar) http://bit.ly/2ABB4H Not sure if it's all correct, but it should be! #
RT @prenex: CG folk let's get @danielvolovets a few more followers #
Taking care of my nails, then getting some practice going. I'm getting some photos taken today. Scary. #

November 6, 2009

An Interview with Matthew Slotkin

Sign up for the Newsletter! The Classical Guitar Blog is edited by Christopher Davis.

Matthew Slotkin is a New York City based performer and teacher. He teaches at Mansfield University, and uses his teaching gig as a base for his other creative activities.

I had the chance to catch Matt in concert with one of his very interesting chamber music ensembles, Duo Montagnard, a guitar and saxophone duo. It’s a very unique ensemble with some interesting repertoire. He also performs with a double bass player in Dez Cordas.