Mauro Giuliani 120 Arpeggio Studies for Classical Guitar

Mauro Giuliani (1781-1829), along with Fernando Sor, was considered to be one the
greatest guitar virtuoso from the early 19th century. He also played the cello and was a
prolific composer.
These exercises (published in 1815) thought out principally for the right hand get pro-
gressively harder and all studies are listed with their original number next to them. It's
amazing how the right hand only uses a simple alteration between C Major and G dom.
7 chords over three bars of music.
I have posted a selection of 8 exercises which I think are the ones that represent an ad-
vanced standard of right hand technique. I fell that this group summarizes all that
should be achieved all in a nutshell.
Whichever set of exercises you decide to work on, we should always take into account
important musical factors like dynamics (p, mf, f, cres., decres.), articulation (staccato,
legato, accents), tone control (tasto and pont and everything in between), tempi (slow/
fast, accelerando/decelerando) and most importantly voicing (placing emphasis on the
bass, middle or upper voices).
Here are some suggestions for developing a solid right hand arpeggio technique: play
the exercise on open strings, combine free and rest stroke, establish rhythmic precision
and alteration (change the values from long to short and vice-versa), play any series of
exercises sequentially as if they were a concert piece, use two different chords and al-
ways be observant and listen to yourself, this is not "zone-out" time.
http://www.stormthecastle.com/classical_guitar/Collection/120studies-for-right-hand.pdf

Noon Concert Series presents Christian Laremont, Guitar Wednesday, November 4 @ 12:00 pm

THROCKMORTON THEATRE: Upcoming Events

The Throckmorton Theater http://throckmortontheatre.org/ is a nonprofit, live
performing organization. I am grateful and proud to have played there. The
Theatre's mission is to unite the local community through the transformative
power of the arts delivering artistic programs in all the creative fields. Many
thanks to Lucy Mercer who is in charge of the Artistic Programming.

Rondo Allegretto (Grande Sonate in C, op.22) - F. Sor

F. Sor (1778-1839) was a Spanish classical guitarist and composer (operas,
symphonies, string quartet, piano, voice and ballet). He was the first to convert
the guitar into a miniature sized orchestra (observation made by L.V. Beethoven).
Generally speaking Sor's guitar music depends on a solid independent lower
voice, dialogues between the voices and the frequent use of three-voice tex-
tures. Sor's writing style was a representation of his advanced conception of the
textural possibilities of the instrument.
The Grande Sonate op.22 is a multi-movement piece set in the four movement
scheme of the high-classical Austro-French string quartet or symphony esthetical-
ly influenced by Haydn and formally modeled after Pleyel. It was published in
Paris in 1825 and most likely written in Spain during the period 1800-08. The
Rondo Allegretto is an extended five-part rondo A-B-A-C-A (ending with a coda)
that presents elements of the sonata form through its transitions and theme
types.

Preservice Music for Wedding in (Hidden Villa) Los Altos Hills, CA 5/16/2015

Casals and the Art of Interpretation

Pablo Casals (1876-1973), considered to be one of Spain's greatest cellist and
conductors during the first half of the 20th century, was born in a Catalonian town
called Vendrell (not far from Barcelona). He was a prodigious child and by the age
of 11 he could play the piano, violin and flute, and would later master the cello.
His professional career (which started in 1897 spanning 73 years) saw him as a
soloist, chamber music member, conductor and composer. He once said, "Can you
imagine. They say I'm a great cello player. I answer, I'm not a cellist. I am a
musician!" This phrase sums up Casals' mind of thought and philosophy.
After having read Casals and the Art of Interpretation various times (written by D. 
Blum and published for the first time in 1980), I've decided to share the main
ideas of this highly recommendable book. Here's a link in both English http://www.download-genius.com/download-k:Casals+and+the+Art+of+Interpretation+David+Blum.pdf.html?aff.id=2338&aff.subid=77 and Spanish http://www.libros12.com/casals-y-el-arte-de-la-interpretacion/ where you can download a free pdf version of the book.
Here are some general observations on interpretation which I found to be very
valuable for any musician:
Repetitiveness should be avoided. Repetition in music of either a note or phrase is
just like the repetition found in written or spoken language.
"The Art of Interpretation consists on playing what's not written down."What we see
on paper doesn't express the real meaning of music. This is precisely our job as
musicians.
Rhythm, according to Casals, is the most essential element to all music, if it is to be
considered so. And all fingerings should be subordinate to the musical phrase/con-
text.
Keep it simple without complications. He would always claim that "I like what is
natural."
He emphasized many times that we first have to recognize the expressive possibilities
of each phrase and to be able to do this it's necessary to use a range of dynamics, be
flexible/natural with the rhythm, color and intonation. Varying the dynamics is the
easiest way to bring a melody to life...

Two Practical Examples

This is the fifth of a series of technique exercises that I've published for the
guitar. It focuses on different ways of approaching, learning and also im-
proving your musical/interpretation skills. The two pieces featured are
"Study Num. 1" by H. Villa-Lobos and J.S. Bach's "Luatenpraludium" in
Dm. Once a piece is learned, the next challenge is to perfect and improve it. 
How can this be done? Here you will see some examples that can help give
you insight on how to achieve this sometimes difficult feat.

"The Entertainer" Transcription for Guitar

         

"The Entertainer" subtitled "A Rag Time Two Step" (a popular early 20th

century N. American dance and style of music common among rags) was 

completed in 1902 by the African-American composer Scott Joplin (1867-1917).
He wrote several ragtime piano compositions or "rags" (his most famous being
"Maple Leaf Rag"), operas, ballets, marches and waltzes. Ragtime preceded
Jazz which would become the dominant popular music in the U.S. by 1917.

It has an A B A C D structure or four 16 measure segments of music. Syncopation 

(a basic characteristic of this style of music) is omnipresent.

The piece became famous in 1973 with the release of the multiple Oscar winning  

film The Sting ("The Entertainer" was featured as the theme music and the 

soundtrack won an Oscar).

It was originally composed for piano in C (remember the piano was the main  

instrument of Ragtime) and there are countless transcriptions for many different 

instruments and instrumentations. Here's my arrangement for guitar in the key of G
with some right and left hand fingerings.