Classical Guitar (Romanza) - Novice/Intermediate

Romanza – Anon

This is a very famous and beautiful classical guitar piece with a simple yet flowing melody and arpeggio accompaniment. The first page is of grade 3 standard, the second page elevates it to grade 5. Although the piece may initially appear easy, the real skill in playing this is the use of expression. Without putting feeling and emotion into the music, Romanza will remain merely an exercise. By using dynamics (volume, both loud and soft), tone (produced by the flesh and fingernail picking the string in “sweet spots”), and through the use of rubato (literally meaning “robbed time” – slowing down at a point in the music but then speeding up to make up for lost time before returning to the original tempo) you will produce music with soul and depth. That is the real skill in playing this tune.

Use the thumb of the picking hand to play all of the bass notes. The three high strings should be plucked with the index (G string), middle (B string) and annular (E string) fingers. The picking hand should be poised over the appropriate strings at all times.

D.C. al Fine = Go back to the start (D.C. is short for “Da Capo”, which translates as “The Head”) until you reach the Fine marking which is where the piece ends (end of page 1).

NOTE: Soundfiles for this piece will be uploaded shortly. Please click on the URL link below to hear the piece (make sure pop-ups are enabled on your browser or press "shift" when clicking on the link). When the new window has opened, click the triangular play button in the right hand corner of the screen to hear the music (you will need Flash installed to hear/view the music).


http://chrispearcemusic.com/downloads/romanza.php

Classical Guitar (El Testemen De N’Amelia) - Intermediate

El Testemen De N’Amelia – Miguel Llobet

Here is another haunting and beautifully melancholic piece for the nylon string guitar. This is of about grade 6/7 standard due to the awkward artificial harmonic section. To produce the artificial harmonic, place the index (1st) finger of your picking hand 12 frets above the tabbed note directly over the metal fret (as if you were going to play a “natural” harmonic). Pick the string with your annular (3rd) finger of the picking hand whilst keeping your index finger of the same hand in place over the metal fret. This should result in an artificial harmonic. This action will take some practice. Matters are made even more difficult when it comes to picking a bass string with your thumb whilst you pick the harmonic with the 1st and 3rd fingers. Once again, this piece requires much expression to bring it alive.

NH = Natural Harmonic
AH = Artificial Harmonic

NOTE: Soundfiles for this piece will be uploaded shortly. Please click on the URL link below to hear the piece (make sure pop-ups are enabled on your browser or press "shift" when clicking on the link). When the new window has opened, click the triangular play button in the right hand corner of the screen to hear the music (you will need Flash installed to see/hear the music).


http://chrispearcemusic.com/downloads/amelia.php