Tag: Heitor Villa-Lobos

A Curated List of Recent Recordings: Villa-Lobos Complete Works

Published on by Leo Garcia1 Comment

As students begin to get serious about developing their concert repertoire, I like to recommend recordings to study and listen to with the score. So instead of scribbling on their score, I thought I would start to post suggestions on Six String Journal.

This week, I’ll suggest a few recordings of the works of Heitor Villa-Lobos. Villa-Lobos’s Five Preludes, Twelve Etudes, Brazilian Suite, and his Choro Nº1 are some of the guitar’s most beloved solo repertoire. Villa-Lobos uses the guitar so indulgently and exploits resonance brilliantly.

Julian Bream, Manuel Barrueco, and Alvaro Pierri’s recordings of these works are wonderful. But there are other recordings that really stand out to me. The first and probably my favorite is Fabio Zanon’s recording of the complete works. Zanon’s playing is beautiful, his guitar sounds heavenly, and the engineering (I think it was the legendary John Taylor) is excellent.

Another great recording is Jose Antonio Escobar’s recording of the Five Preludes, 12 Etudes, and a Modihna. I love the sound of his guitar (Paco Santiago Marin XXX) and the recording is sonically perfect.

Here is a link to Alvaro Pierri’s recording of the Choro, Five Preludes and 12 Etudes. This recording made me listen to what can be done interpretively with these great works. Pierri has a special take on these.

And last for now, here is Norbert Kraft in a recording of the Twelve Etudes. Solid from the first note to the last.

Here are a few great videos of the Five Preludes.

I know I’ve left many videos and recordings out. There are so many. Any favorites that I missed?

Virtuosos Tal Hurwitz and Mateusz Kowalski playing Etude Nº2 by Heitor Villa Lobos

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Two different players take two different approaches to one challenging etude in one post! Both videos were wonderfully recorded by Siccas Guitars.

Though this video of Tal Hurwitz is from 2013, it displays such a keen sense of musical and physical balance that I thought I would repost it to inspire Six String Journal readers.

Here is an interview with Tal.

And, for those who have not heard this newer video of young superstar, Mateusz Kowalski, it displays a fresh and relaxed approach to the etude.

Here is a recent interview with Mateusz.

Happy practicing.

Thomas Viloteau plays Villa-Lobos

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French virtuoso, Thomas Viloteau just posted a new video of Heitor Villa-Lobos’ Suite Populaire Brésilienne. As usual, the performance is strong and thoroughly enjoyable. Thomas plays with his precise and beautiful touch and manages a never-faltering lyricism and strong pulse throughout. Very inspiring!

Here is a link to an interview we did with Thomas a while ago! INTERVIEW

Heitor Villa-Lobos Etude Nº1 – Right Hand Fingerings

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After repeated requests for more videos, I’m eager to share this post and upcoming video series on Heitor Villa-Lobos’ Etude Nº1. In this first part I’ll explore the advantages and disadvantages of the standard fingering that Andrés Segovia wrote in the published edition. I’ll then offer some options for practicing the Etude. In Part 2, I’ll go through some options to overcome the disadvantages and finally arrive at my preferred fingering.

For a reduction of this, check out my first post on Villa-Lobos’ Etude Nº1.

 

Heitor Villa-Lobos Etude Nº1, Part 2

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images-1.jpgThe image I hold while playing Heitor Villa-Lobos’ Etude Nº1 is one where I am sailing above the canopy of the amazon rainforest as if it were an endless gentle green ocean. Putting this image into practice presents many challenges for the guitarist but simply having an image helps to move the fingers smoothly and with little resistance. Commanding the right-hand to execute the arpeggio to comfortably create the waves of this amazonian ocean, the crescendos and decrescendos, requires some persistence, though. And to truly master the image, it is equally important to investigate how the left hand moves from harmony to harmony, how softly we transition from chord to chord, and how the right hand waxes and wanes over the strings. Ocean waves have an inherent softness to them. To approach this quality in both hands, I’ve brainstormed a bit to list some key tips that I’ve focused on over the years:

LEFT HAND

  1. Release the finger responsible for the first note of the next harmony either at the fourth quarter note or last eighth note of the previous measure.
  2. Practice the transitions from the end of each measure into the following measure. For example, practice the last 4 sixteenth notes of a measure with the first four sixteenth notes of the following measure.
  3. Do not think block chords! Instead, imagine the left hand placing fingers more subtly. When possible, prioritize the left hand finger placement in the order that the notes are plucked.
  4. Work on avoiding finger noise in the second part of the etude by lifting slightly or shifting on the softer parts of the fingertips.
  5. Release pressure on inactive fingers to keep the left hand light.

RIGHT HAND

  1. In order to build endurance for the right hand, practice it alone while visualizing the left hand. What does it feel like to play the arpeggio with rhythmic precision 48 downloadtimes? This is the amount of times you would play it in the Etude before getting a break with the slurs.
  2. Once the right hand feels locked in, bring the left hand back. Are there pauses to adjust for the left hand?
  3. Think of the right hand in eighth notes, quarter notes, half-notes, and whole notes.
  4. Practice bringing out upbeats.
  5. Explore dynamic schemes to develop your own interpretation.
  6. Use aural refocus to think in larger gestures.
  7. Use rhythms to develop a thorough understanding of the patterns, transitional strengths, and transitional weaknesses.
  8. Practice planting a from the beginning and then a quarter note after it is played for right hand stability.
  9. If you use the standard right hand fingering, try planting both m and a.
  10. Use other right-hand fingerings to extract more insight from this wonderful etude!

Hope this helps.

 

 

Best of YouTube: Tal Hurwitz playing Barrios, Villa-Lobos, and Aguado.

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Here is a moving performance of Israeli guitarist, Tal Hurwitz magnificently interpreting Agustín Barrios Mangoré’s Un Sueño en la Floresta. The elements of this video are spectacular. From Tal, who seems to invoke Barrios’ spirit effortlessly, to the hall’s acoustics, to the rich sounding guitar (Friedrich?), to the production (Sanel Redzic), all the elements of the video come together into a piece of art.

While there is no doubt of Tal’s mastery, I’ve seen very few who so effortlessly and musically perform Heitor Villa-Lobos’ Etude Nº2.

And to contrast from the south American composers, we can step back into the delightful world of Dionisio Aguado’s Rondo, Op. 2, Nº2.

Very inspiring on so many levels!

Villa Lobos Prelude Nº2 Arpeggios

Published on by Leo Garcia5 Comments

images.jpgAside from the lush harmonies and hauntingly evocative melodies of Heitor Villa-Lobos’ music, the physicality of strumming or arpeggiating through all six strings, of sinking a fat thumb rest-stroke into a deep melody, of sliding all four left-hand fingers across the fretboard through diminished 7th chords produces a visceral joy unlike any other I experience when playing the guitar.

One great example of a passage providing this physical joy is the arpeggio section of Prelude Nº2. While there are a few tricks for making the left hand slide around with more facility, I’m going to focus on some possible right hand fingering solutions that have helped my students over the years.

There are three patterns to master with the first offering most possibilities. Try to work on all patterns carefully until they all feel fluid. The thumb should play through both the 6th and 5th strings. I prefer using a light rest stroke so that I land on string 4 and am ready to proceed from there.

Pattern 1

ppimamip – This fingering seems to be the favorite for most of my students. Thumb gets overworked a bit and when it is next to other patterns the right hand has to shift its position across the strings increasing the margin for error.

pimaiiip or pimaiiii or ppimaaaa – These options work well but require careful practice to sound precise. I prefer the first for clarity and I cannot get the last to work for me but have seen other guitarists use it successfully.

pimamami – This fingering can work well as m is the longer finger and can reach out of a stable hand position for the first string.

villa lobos prelude 2 fingerings 1

Pattern 2

pimapima – This one is pretty straight forward but requires a clear movement from the thumb to move through two strings as if it were one.

villa lobos prelude 2 fingerings 2

Pattern 3

mipmipmi or aipaipai or amiamiam – The favorite is the first option. While the last option (no thumb) works well to keep the hand in place, I find that involving the thumb allows faster speeds. I prefer the second pattern.

villa lobos prelude 2 fingerings 3

Once you’ve determined which patterns feel right to your hand, work them up and then work on mastering them back to back with the other patterns.

Pattern 1 + 2

villa lobos prelude 2 fingerings b

Pattern 1 + 3villa lobos prelude 2 fingerings

Hope this helps!

Coordination and Right Hand Arpeggios

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One of the easiest ways to improve right-hand arpeggio studies like Heitor Villa-Lobos’s Etude Nº1, Leo Brouwer’s Etude Nº6, or Francisco Tárrega’s Estudio Brillante, or the parts of pieces where arpeggios occur for an extended time is understanding when exactly the left-hand fingers must place or release to prepare for the next note or chord formation. Often, fingers are placed too early or too late, and both situations either overexert the fingers, the nerves, or worst of all, the musical intent. Arpeggios are, after all, broken chords. It is very rare that all fingers should place at once if they come in ‘broken’.

Sequential planting of the left-hand fingers is a skill that choreographs left hand movement to a deeper and more subtle level than simply grabbing at the next chord frantically at the start of a measure.

Here is a simple but effective exercise to help develop the principle of timely left-hand finger placement. The key is to time the placement of the new finger in relation to the meter and when it is due to enter and to avoid arbitrarily placing it at the beginning of the measure.

Go through each exercise a few times plucking every single note of the arpeggio. Once this feels comfortable and the timing is starting to feel synced with both hands, slur the entering note in time to develop a sense of pulse in the left hand, too.

Exercise 1

right hand ar[eggio coordination.jpg

Exercise 2

right hand ar[eggio coordination 2.jpg

Exercise 3

right hand ar[eggio coordination 3.jpg

Exercise 4

right hand ar[eggio coordination 4.jpg

There are infinite ways to expand this concept but one of my favorites is to move into cross-rhythms with accents. My idea of fun!

Exercise 5

right hand ar[eggio coordination 5.jpg

Explore your arpeggio pieces to see if you can apply this concept and let me know if it helps!

Yuri Liberzon – Technique

Published on by Leo Garcia6 Comments

 

Yuri and I recently got together in my studio to play guitars, talk shop, and brainstorm advice to share with Six String Journal readers. Originally, we were going to post a list of tips and common mistakes guitarists of all levels should watch out for but there is so much valuable insight in what I recorded – from the warm up exercises below, to learning new repertoire, and more – that I’m simply going to post it as an interview next time. Perhaps a formal podcast is up next but in the meantime this will certainly keep everyone’s fingers busy.

Here is Yuri demonstrating one of his favorite warm up exercises (and the music) with videos of him playing it in various ways.

Yuri's Warm Up Scale Pattern.jpg

This next video, he demonstrates what he likes to do before building up to the exercise above. Notice that he plays through the scale with i, m, a, and c, before moving onto im and am. 

Here is true gold, Yuri works on extensors and ami, too.

And, finally, here is Yuri commenting on balance and tone.

Hope that inspires everyone!

Villa Lobos Etude Nº2, Part 2

Published on by Leo GarciaLeave a comment

I was going to write about a warm up sequence that builds right hand endurance, speed, pulse, and legato. It was going to be a good one. But, I walked past my music stand and Heitor Villa-Lobos’s Etude Nº2 was taunting me.

FullSizeRender.jpg

So here are a few more thoughts and approaches I’ve found helpful while working on this over the last few weeks.

Right Hand Alone

We all know the value in practicing the right hand alone. It allows us to focus on what might be a potential lack of understanding as to where the trouble in a passage lies. Focusing on the right hand also allows us to feel the rhythm correctly without the hindrance of a faulty left hand or a left hand that cannot keep up. In this particular etude, there are two movements that recur often. Practice these movements or if necessary, build them up to comfortably play them at your target tempo (120+ bpm).                .

Sweeping with p:

villa lobos 2 open string 1b.jpgvilla lobos 2 open string 1a.jpg

Cross-string arpeggio with various fingerings:

villa lobos 2 open string 1c.jpg

Slow and progressive warm up on these two movements helps develop a more ‘in the pocket’ feel and if you can retain the feel when incorporating the left hand, forces the left hand to behave more reliably. Remind yourself that if you cannot play those movements well at your target tempo, you will simply not be able to play the piece at that speed. So, set that metronome and get to work.

Left Hand Without Shifts

Though shifting in this piece does not present too many challenges, there are a few. Practicing a passage without a shift allows us to deconstruct a movement with two potential problems: the change in hand position and the shift. Try playing the first measure with no shift and focus on how it feels. Then, once that feels fluid, incorporate the shift while retaining the fluidity.

Resting the Right Hand Thumb

Do you know when and on what strings your thumb rests when not using it? Instead of randomly placing it for stability, find spots to rest it that coincide with the next note it will play. Not always possible but it certainly helps when you can get away with it.

Hope that helps. Stay tuned for the super warm up exercise and another Artist Spotlight…