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If you wanted to learn just ONE classical guitar piece...


LiveMusic

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I'd like to learn at least ONE classical guitar piece. Romanza (also called Spanish Romance?)... I like it and it doesn't seem that difficult. Anything else come to mind?

 

I like Moonlight Sonata on piano and wonder if it's real hard to learn on guitar?

 

------------------

Duke

 

This message has been edited by LiveMusic on 04-24-2001 at 02:22 PM

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Originally posted by LiveMusic:

I'd like to learn at least ONE classical guitar piece. Romanza (also called Spanish Romance?)... I like it and it doesn't seem that difficult. Anything else come to mind?

 

I like Moonlight Sonata on piano and wonder if it's real hard to learn on guitar?

 

Try Lagrima (Tears) by Tarrega. It is a lovely, simple piece. You might find a transcription of the slow movement of Beethoven's moonlight sonata, but it will probably be transposed to another key, more suitable for guitar.

 

Ian

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Yes, the Spanish Romance (Anon.) is pretty popular and certainly easy enough to learn even if you don't play much classical. There is a recording of it on one of Christopher Parkening's CD's, among others.

 

Another famous classical piece that's pretty easy to learn is the Bach Bourree in E minor from the E minor Lute Suite BWV 996. As I recall, Yngwie played this on the Alcatraz live disc...

 

Other famous staples of the classical repertory which are a bit more difficult include Tarrega's Recuerdos de Alhambra and Estudio Brilliante, and the Villa Lobos Preludes for guitar.

 

Somehow I don't think Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata would translate very well to classical guitar, although I suppose that after hearing Yamashita play his transcriptions of Dvorak and Mussorgsky, anything is possible.

 

My favorite classical guitar composer is Augustin Barrios. He really came up with a lot of interesting techniques to expand the range of the classical guitar. John Williams and David Russell both have CD's devoted to Barrios' music, or you can hear Barrios himself play it--he is certainly one of the earliest guitarists to make recordings, as far back as 1910 or so. Highly recommended.

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Originally posted by tthoyt@hotmail.com:

 

Another famous classical piece that's pretty easy to learn is the Bach Bourree in E minor from the E minor Lute Suite BWV 996. As I recall, Yngwie played this on the Alcatraz live disc...

 

That piece has the highest pay off/effort ratio of any piece of music on the guitar I think... A novice can learn the front of it in a few lessons and in the process learn a wealth of things immediately. while being able to play something unaccompanied that sounds like "music", and pretty sophisticated music at that.

 

To play it *well* is another thing. I'm a heretic: Yngwie plays it with more emotion than most "trained" classical players I think. Yngwie really should ditch his recent bs "rawk and roll" influences and concentrate on doing more hybrid neo-baroque stuff...

 

Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" is fairly straight forward, the advantage of that over Bouree being people have heard it at weddings and so forth. It has some tricky bits though, but one can do "non-standard heretical" work arounds if neccessary. The ghost of Segovia is just grumpy, he won't bother you....

 

Some of Vivaldi's violin work comes off nicely as single string things, if you can do vibrato.

 

Pachelbel's Cannon in D can be arranged fairly well, although with certain problematic bits - but again, it's well known.

 

Some Sor pieces are easy and straight forward if you want to have something that sounds more "stereotypical classical guitar".

 

Then sit down and learn Pagannini's 5th and 24th Caprice, that's a lot of fun and guaranteed to improve one's technique.

 

The trick is to practice a piece beyond just knowing it so that it will stick; I wish I could remember how to play all of that stuff now - I'd have a full repertoire, I can only remember the "fun" parts these days....

 

http://www.mp3.com/chipmcdonald

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/ "big ass windbag" - Bruce Swedien

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and the Villa Lobos Preludes for guitar.

 

These are beautiful pieces, but, several are not... consanant. They take a few listenings to appreciate fully. Don't listen once and pass them by.

There's a decent recording of Julian Bream playing these, from the RCA series that featured individual butterflies on the CD covers. They may be out of print.

 

Taco Bell's Canon... Yeeesh! Beautiful, but the classical equivalent of the pop song overplayed. My favorite version is the a capella version by the Other Guys, U. of Illinois' glee club. They started with Pachelbel, and morphed it right into Green Day! "Dooo you have the time..." And the lead singer for the cut was dead on to the Green Day singer's timbre. Hilarious.

 

A beautiful tune for classical, but from the rock genre and slow, but sweet is Silver Wheels, by Nancy Wilson of Heart. I've never taken the time to work it out, but the tempo is slow, and the arrangement SOUNDS simple.

 

Neil

It's easiest to find me on Facebook. Neil Bergman

 

Soundclick

fntstcsnd

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I'm getting ready to start Classical guitar lessons next week. I'm excited and apprehensive at the same time, I'm a somewhat experienced and knowledgable guitar player but I've never really played fingerstyle before. And I know fully well going in just how hard it's going to be to get my fingers out of the bad habits they are in right now.

 

I really enjoy Classical and Flamenco guitar though, so I know it'll be worth the effort in the end. It's just going to be hard to keep that in mind for the first few..... YEARS!!! HAHAHAHAHA I hope it doesn't take quit THAT long.

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I learned Clair de Lune on guitar years ago, really tough but rewarding. I imagine I'd have to practice it alot to pull it off now. Sounds good on electric guitar too.
Down like a dollar comin up against a yen, doin pretty good for the shape I'm in
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Originally posted by tthoyt@hotmail.com:

.

 

My favorite classical guitar composer is Augustin Barrios. He really came up with a lot of interesting techniques to expand the range of the classical guitar. John Williams and David Russell both have CD's devoted to Barrios' music, or you can hear Barrios himself play it--he is certainly one of the earliest guitarists to make recordings, as far back as 1910 or so. Highly recommended.

 

Hey "tthoyt",

 

I ADORE Barrios! Your post inspired me to go and re-visit some of his music. As I was playing it I started thinking to myself "No-one has ever written better music for the guitar. His music is so logical, so guitaristic, so exciting, so melodic, so harmonically satisfying, and so beautiful. The Vals No. 4 is exhilarating to play. The mood swings... the elegiac slow movement where the bulk of the melody is borne by the "D" string. The "campanella" right hand workout. The fast moving chordal coda. Whew!

 

Great stuff!

 

Ian

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Hi Ian,

 

That is an excellent way of putting it--no one has ever written better music for the guitar. Barrios had such an amazing talent for exploring the unique capabilities of the instrument...those wonderful harmonic twists and turns in the The Cathedral, and the sublime melody of Un Sueno en la Floresta.

 

Funny you should mention Vals Op. 8/4. Hearing John Williams play it at a concert in Royal Festival Hall inspired me to study classical guitar more seriously. I don't get to play too much classical anymore but that is one piece I do still enjoy playing.

 

Trevor

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while not exactly classical per se, guy van duser's live arrangement of john philip sousa's "the stars and stripes forever" is one i'd like to know how to play.... damn that's fluid and rousing!

 

-d. gauss

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Paganini's 24th Caprice is a cool piece to learn for the guitar and is a great way to learn how to voice lead, and learn harmonic motion all while learning a beautiful piece of music! Paganini is definitely my favorite so check this out (the fifth movement is my favorite).
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  • 2 years later...

I'd pick : Agustin Barrios - La Catedral - 3rd Movement(allegro solemne) I love that one.

 

You should definitely check out Barrios' work ;

"Una limosna por el amor de Dios" is an excellent treomolo theme.

Am Ende Steht Der Sieg
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I'd like to learn "Fur Elise" on classical guitar. I can play "Greensleeves", which is really cool around Christmas time. Paganini's caprices are good, and I also like a piece called "fugato"(spelling?) that I've got in a Guitar Pro tab program. I'm going to learn that one all the way through one of these days. :thu:

 

Also, "Black Gold" by Soul Asylum is cool. :D

BlueStrat

a.k.a. "El Guapo" ;)

 

...Better fuzz through science...

 

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I like learning just about all of it. Paganini is cool to play Yngwie-style (I know most of are gonna hate me for saying that), and I like listening to Bach and Beethoven all the time. My all-time favorite classical piece though would have to be either the third movement to Sonata una quasi fantasia or more commonly known as Moonlight Sonata, or Pachelbel's Canon and Gigue in D. The former is just fast as hell (Presto agitato) and the latter just plain beautiful.
Shut up and play.
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Very surprisingly nobody mentionned the "master"

 

ANDRES SEGOVIA

===============

 

anyway the bouree of bach and romance anonyme are the nicest pieces to start with, as not that difficult, also most of the preludes of Fernando Sor are nice studying pieces.

 

I started approx 35 years ago with above mentionned pieces and ended approx 31 years ago

with the chaconne of bach so count on some years before you play the difficult pieces...

 

fred

gigging favorites at the moment LP Special order 1973 and PRS custom 24
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Here's a player that does interpetations of various artists, and sounds great. Alex de Grassi.

 

I have a couple of his cd's, one is a collection of his interpetations of Simon and Garfunkel, and another of him doing James Taylor's songs. Both very well done.

Living' in the shadow,

of someone else's dream....

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...Back to the topic...

 

Hey, how about recomending one of those book/tab/CD packages. For sure there must be some out there for guys like ___(who started the topic)___ and me that just want to play some simple, begginer's classical pieces (meaning easy). I wonder if this would help me get some... just kidding; but who knows!

 

Who would have thought? Guitarists aquiring some class!!!

 

Joking aside, please do recommend us some on where to start. Why stop at one piece? Let's learn a few!!!

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I'd suggest "One Red Rose That I Mean" played by Bill Harkleroad on Capt. Beefheart's Lick My Decals album.

 

If you haven't heard it, don't be put off by what you may've heard about this composer's music or what you might think from hearing most of his work---this is an achingly beautiful piece of guitar work & will surprise you both when you hear it & when you try to play it.

:thu:

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