Lesson: Etude No.1 by Villa-Lobos for Classical Guitar 

I used to do it like that but it was hard to reduce the string noise from the shift. But ya, the guide strings are nice.

@@Thisisclassicalguitar I'm up to around 100bpm playing this. How long did it take you to play at 177bpm? I also find it extremely hard to keep my right hand in time with the easy bit! The bit that goes from the 12 fret chord all the way down. Should be so easy but my right hand just goes 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

as a suggestion by Adam del Monte, I use this piece as a daily warm up exercise.....I was using 2,3 on Em ...But l think 3,4 is better especially when going to the "B7-ish" shaped chord. It's helped me...people love this tune...even when played Slow by a slow player like me---lol

I use 2,3 because that gives me support, like a balance center for when the text changes to the next chord (way less stamina wasted on changing left hand fingers.)

Me too, definitely

Great to hear it's been helpful!

Glad you liked it!

that's exactly how Segovia used to do. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Eyhn3xoVIKE.html

Thanks so much Peter! I ramble but I do try!

This is Classical Guitar I think you're setting a great example for keeping a running commentary going through a piece of music and thinking about the implications of each movement. Hope you're having a great summer!

Thanks for watching!

Yes, I considered that fingering but couldn't bring myself to recommend it since it is a bit weird. I also, personally, don't always like compromising solid positions and fingers and would sometimes just prefer to focus on a good shift and finger exchange. But of course, it totally depends on the situation.

Glad it helped!

Great! Glad you liked it.

Спасибо за просмотр!

Sorry for the voice to text mess. In my opinion. All of the Villalobos works. Can be broken town down too. Bach meets 20th century impressionistic music. You know what to do in the box sections that are extremely melodic. The 20th century impressionistic stuff. Needs to be played more impressionistically. And in some cases, extremely fast. To get you through the lack of melody. And to be more impressionistic. With tempo. In Volume. Most importantly. Is to not. Squeak your left hand. When playing the chordal plaining parts.For example Prelude Number 2. Starts on the F#. Major chord. With the B&E String Open. Then moves all the way up to a D chord. The only way to really get rid of the squeak is to let go of the wound strings. Or bass strings. This can easily be done by using your second finger on the G string as your guide finger while you move up the neck. If you play it slowly, it's going to be a drag. If you play it fast. I mean super fast. You can get the base. Root 5th. To be 1 sound. And the 4th through 1st strings. To be a different sound. Of course I would vary the tempo. And volume. The preludes are so beautiful. And you have to find the beauty in the preludes, especially the 20th century impressionistic parts. Listen to Eduardo Fernandez play. Etude number 2. At that speed, it sounds gorgeous. You could slow it down. But these are etudes. Studies. Getting you ready. Of course, if you listen to John Williams when he's a little older. He plays it fantastically. I don't know if anybody's ever done it as well. Julian Bream is so macho and so powerful and just rips through some of these pieces. I used to question it now, I love it. Good luck.

Of Of course I'm being very ambiguous. Eduardo Fernandez plays Etude #2 masterfully. And John Williams plays. The preludes. The best. Of course you have to find his newer renditions when he say 50 plus. An Julian Bream. Wow, what a powerhouse.

Glad you liked it!

Glad it was helpful!

My pleasure...

You're welcome! Glad it was helpful.

You're welcome!

Vincent Martin Speed bursts are a great way, I discuss it very briefly in the video. Also on the site article I recommend some technique books.

Glad to hear. Was there something specific that helped?

Serguei Malanitchev they're armonics I think, in the middle in at the end (the upper E at the last chord)

A small empty circle above a note may mean two things: an open string or a natural harmonic. The first case appears often when you are playing in higher positions where you must include an open string, sometimes appearing together with the same note on another string , eg in a chord or arpeggio, to make clear which note is played when and where. The distinction between the first and the second case is usually evident in the context.

Thanks!

No it doesn't, at least not for me. The left thumb shouldn't really be bent or have much pressure on it so not a problem.

For those of you who have the same trouble. I'm playing an E7 / G# ( first position ) and it fits. I tried a diminished (4th pos.) first since the piece is loaded with diminished chords, but it didn't sound as good as the b7, and my sub works with the right hand picking pattern and keeps the bass line intact. With my arthritis and small hands, I am having to make a lot of these types of decisions lately. Thank you Bradford, I would be lost without you 😁

If you are certain your posture and hand positions are optimal then an edit to the score might be the solution for you. I'm assuming if you are attempting this work you are fairly advanced so this lesson might not be of help but maybe there are some reminders in there anyway: www.thisisclassicalguitar.com/lesson-left-hand-stretches-on-guitar/

I'm make a video so hopefully it will be posted soon.

Great!

Anchor as in rest on the soundboard? In general, classical guitarists don't anchor in that in order to keep all our fingers ready and relaxed over the strings. I know fingerstyle players do it on steel-string but classical playing is sometimes more varied and require us to keep the fingers ready for changes.

@@Thisisclassicalguitar Thanks! I'll keep working on my basics :)

Well, healthy exercise with proper technique is generally good. "Hard" could mean all sorts of things.

Yes, especially while practicing.

@@Thisisclassicalguitar Thanks for replying, I played for a few years - half a lifetime ago - and was never taught right hand placement, started playing again a few months back and was really struggling to get the arpeggio section of prelude 4 up to speed, after a brief search for arpeggio advice I found your channel which is proving invaluable, in just a few days my right hand is feeling much more controlled - cant play the arpeggio as fast as I can without sequential placement yet but it's getting there - doing lots of m a exercises too. I can play this pretty quick with free strokes but it can get a little sloppy so I'll practice this with sequential placement and see how it goes. Thanks again for a great channel

Arie Koren seriously?

Took me years too and I'm a guitar teacher. Only Ass Holes can find it easy after spending 5 min on it.

@@markbriggs5110 what

These kinds of issues are usually a combination of positioning and relaxation more than anything. For example my basic lesson on this topic: www.thisisclassicalguitar.com/lesson-left-hand-stretches-on-guitar/

It's an armrest, built into the guitar.

First off, stop playing and let your finger heal fully. Then ease back into playing and avoid any extended practicing of barres. Practice barres a very little each day instead of a whole bunch on one piece. When we practice barres there is so much extended time barring but when we perform it usually only lasts a few seconds. Also, consider using lighter tension bass strings to ease the pressure. Certainly re-examine your barre technique, maybe watch this: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-BoRM9VlUgDg.html

I can't give a right or wrong answer to this as people have their own preferences and methods. That said, I've never seen anyone successfully bring the pattern up to speed and volume with the "c" finger involved and I personally wouldn't spend time on it. Not that it isn't possible, it's just not the norm. My recommendation is to do both the common fingering as well so that you develop the common pattern (which you want to be able to do at least) and you can experiment on the side with other fingerings. At worst you'll be practicing multiple patterns and developing your right hand technique.

@@Thisisclassicalguitar Thanks so much for your response and time.

The low G# in bar 6? It shouldn't be too tricky if your guitar position and hand position (knuckle alignment) is okay. Maybe check out my video here: www.thisisclassicalguitar.com/lesson-left-hand-stretches-on-guitar/

@@Thisisclassicalguitar thanks for replying! I hope you're right, I'm going to watch it today.

@@Thisisclassicalguitar that video was super resourceful and now I can do the stretch part if played slowly. If you don't mind I have another question, I've been playing guitar (self taught) for around 5 years now and I still struggle with 7th chords, my 4th string always sound muted unless I'm doing a LOT of tension and even then it buzzes a little. I've calluses across my index finger but doesnt seem to help. What kind of exercises should I do to improve this? It's hindering my play on this piece a lot. Thanks!

Good suggestion.

This is Classical Guitar Hi .. I need to understand the fingers of the right hand please make it as soon as possible

allegro ma non troppo ~110bpm

Maybe in the future, got a bunch of other content to do first

awesome. please continue. i cant afford a teacher at this time

The info is here: www.thisisclassicalguitar.com/for-sale-2013-dominelli-classical-guitar/

Yes, my nails are fairly short, see my fingernail lesson: www.thisisclassicalguitar.com/fingernails-on-classical-guitar/

This is Classical Guitar thank you for the reply!

In general, yes it is advanced. Although, in terms of the Villa-Lobos etudes it is one of the easier ones depending on the speed you want to achieve.

Not wrong but I know that my way is used by many if not most pros.

@@Thisisclassicalguitar i know that this method is recommended,but unfortunately i learnt without any guidance and the pm method is easy to play with palm resting above the bridge,its very hard to play above the bridge,so i am trying to change it and use your shown technique thanks ffor replying

Hard to say, maybe grade 8 or 9? Always depends on the tempo and level at which you want to perform it.

​@Thisisclassicalguitar How many grades we have?

Dude! Thx for these videos. I've been playing this Etude since around 2000 and I was still able to pick up some new concepts from this video. As a guitar teacher, and especially having two current students working on this, I appreciate the way you go through each of the concepts that are supposed to be gained from doing this etude. As I'm sure you won't mind, I'm suggesting to my students that they follow you and consider some of the advice that you give us. I've seen other videos of yours and I must say, I'm pretty impressed with the high level of effort that you put into your lessons. Much appreciated.