Just Ask Segovia

**Liarspoker** · 10-19-2021, 02:35 PM

Originally Posted by Marinero

Are you studying with a university-trained CG teacher? M

No, I did my grades a few years ago so am happy playing by myself. I have no intention of doing my diploma as that would involve too much work. I'm happy doing my thing at the moment.

I was under the impression that those who have been playing classical fairly seriously since the 90's would be able to read through this piece no problem but I guess that I was wrong.

Edit: My teacher at the time gave me Study 9 which I liked so I went out and bought the book. Haven't done much with it since so it's nice to have it out to work with.

**Marinero** · 10-19-2021, 03:03 PM

"I prefer some other fingerings sometimes such as the last chord in bar 13 but I can see why Segovia fingers it like this." Liarspoker

Hi, L,
The half-bar chord is fingered that way to prepare for the Dm acciacctura in the next measure(14).
Play live . . . Marinero

**Donplaysguitar** · 10-19-2021, 04:07 PM

Originally Posted by Liarspoker

Question: How do you get people to stop posting on a thread?

Answer: By asking them to learn a piece, record it and post it

Unfortunately it seems that there has been no interest in working through this tune together but that's ok as I'll keep working on it myself.

I see that Estudio 1 is a grade 7 piece. The fingerings aren't that bad although I prefer some other fingerings sometimes such as the last chord in bar 13 but I can see why Segovia fingers it like this.

The whole point of the piece is to play chords legato and therein lies the difficulty.

Also thanks to Segovia for bringing the tempo of the piece way down from andantino to lento.

I'm enjoying the piece and am probably spending more time on it then I should but isn't that always the way?

Whose "grade 7" is it, if you don't mind mentioning it? I didn't find it listed at all in either ABRSM or RGT.

**grahambop** · 10-19-2021, 04:29 PM

Possibly he was thinking of Sor Opus 6 no. 9 (= Segovia no. 13), that one seems to be in the grade 7 ABRSM syllabus.

Segovia study no. 1 is the ‘previous’ one i.e. Sor Opus 6 no. 8.

Can get a bit confusing!

**Liarspoker** · 10-19-2021, 04:46 PM

Originally Posted by Donplaysguitar

Whose "grade 7" is it, if you don't mind mentioning it? I didn't find it listed at all in either ABRSM or RGT.

Trinity

Just looked and I scored 20/22 for it.

**Donplaysguitar** · 10-19-2021, 04:54 PM

I forget about Trinity, thanks.

**Donplaysguitar** · 10-19-2021, 04:55 PM

Grade 7 is pretty high on the food chain for a study group, at least if it's leveled about the same as most others here.

**Liarspoker** · 10-19-2021, 05:01 PM

Oh sorry. I got muddled up with Rob's thread. The piece he performs is a grade 7 Trinity piece for which I received 20/22 marks when I played it in the exam.

I'm not sure where I got grade 7 from for Study 1 but maybe that's for the faster version. Segovia slowed it down considerably for us.

The last time I looked at this piece I was conversing with someone from RIAM so perhaps it is/ was part of their program. Never the less I have grade 7 written at the top of the page.

**Donplaysguitar** · 10-19-2021, 05:07 PM

I'll try it tonight. If I can play it without too much trouble it may not be grade 7.

**Liarspoker** · 10-19-2021, 05:15 PM

Originally Posted by Donplaysguitar

I'll try it tonight. If I can play it without too much trouble it may not be grade 7.

I think that if you play it slow it might be 4 or 5?

See what you think. Maybe I got the grade 7 from Delcamp. Google is your friend.

Edit: I see that the Australian music board has it as grade 6 (on Delcamp).

Edit 2: The This Is Classical Guitar website had it as a grade 7 piece. I'd say that's where I got it from

**Donplaysguitar** · 10-19-2021, 06:30 PM

6 or 7 is subjective so I guess it's in the ballpark.

**Marinero** · 10-19-2021, 06:57 PM

Originally Posted by Liarspoker

No, I did my grades a few years ago so am happy playing by myself. I have no intention of doing my diploma as that would involve too much work. I'm happy doing my thing at the moment.

I was under the impression that those who have been playing classical fairly seriously since the 90's would be able to read through this piece no problem but I guess that I was wrong.

Edit: My teacher at the time gave me Study 9 which I liked so I went out and bought the book. Haven't done much with it since so it's nice to have it out to work with.

What???? I have no idea what you're talking about or from where this bizarre and unwarranted attack originated from what I've written in a helpful and sincere manner . . . but I'm absolutely certain ,now, . . . your response is that of a hopeless fool.
Play live . . . Marinero

P.S. Do you actually think that all players on this Forum are going to drop what they're doing in their lives to play the role of an organ grinder's monkey for a college dropout's entertainment????? M

**Donplaysguitar** · 10-19-2021, 09:40 PM

Ok I read through it, it’s not too bad but has its tricky parts for sure. It would take a while to work up.

I was pleasantly reminded that I used to play study 5 which I will pick up again. It’s in Noad’s book 1, after page 150 or so.

Ok, so maestro Sor isn’t always boring, but I still find the variety in the above mentioned book by Yates to be a breath of fresh air, in classical guitar land.

**Liarspoker** · 10-19-2021, 10:52 PM

Originally Posted by Donplaysguitar

Ok I read through it, it’s not too bad but has its tricky parts for sure. It would take a while to work up.

I was pleasantly reminded that I used to play study 5 which I will pick up again. It’s in Noad’s book 1, after page 150 or so.

Ok, so maestro Sor isn’t always boring, but I still find the variety in the above mentioned book by Yates to be a breath of fresh air, in classical guitar land.

Glad that you tried it Don. It would be great if you could post your version as well. Obviously take your time to practice it and see how it develops. It's a nice short term goal and a bit of fun.

I like practicing those little tricky parts. For example the little G7 Em Am move towards the end of line one is a little tricky to get smooth for me. But it sounds so nice just practicing this in isolation.

I must check my Noad book. I've probably played Study 5 before but gave forgotten.

The Yates book does sound interesting but I have enough classical guitar books to last the rest of my life

**Woody Sound** · 10-20-2021, 08:23 AM

Originally Posted by Liarspoker

Bet he didn't have one of them cool pointy guitars either

Oh?

**Donplaysguitar** · 10-20-2021, 11:25 AM

Originally Posted by Liarspoker

Glad that you tried it Don. It would be great if you could post your version as well. Obviously take your time to practice it and see how it develops. It's a nice short term goal and a bit of fun.

I like practicing those little tricky parts. For example the little G7 Em Am move towards the end of line one is a little tricky to get smooth for me. But it sounds so nice just practicing this in isolation.

I must check my Noad book. I've probably played Study 5 before but gave forgotten.

The Yates book does sound interesting but I have enough classical guitar books to last the rest of my life

Thanks. I have more than enough books too. Recently threw some away, barely made a dent.

I would be more motivated about Estudio 5 than 1. At my age it has to sound really good or I won't go for it. Let's see if a study group forms.

**Liarspoker** · 10-20-2021, 01:02 PM

Originally Posted by Donplaysguitar

Thanks. I have more than enough books too. Recently threw some away, barely made a dent.

I would be more motivated about Estudio 5 than 1. At my age it has to sound really good or I won't go for it. Let's see if a study group forms.

I'd be interested in doing Study 5 as well but after Study 1.

It might be an idea to do a piece per month instead of doing a study group on the Sor/Segovia book (which would be a daunting task).

We could select the monthly piece by poll much like the practical standards thread.

**Donplaysguitar** · 10-20-2021, 02:26 PM

That sounds cool.

I like the ABRSM selections per level, as one example. They break each level's recital choices into one piece each from three periods (see below) and provide about 10 choices per period, to select from:

Periods:
Renaissance/Baroque
Classical (Common Practice Period)
Modern (very late 19th century through today)

**Liarspoker** · 10-20-2021, 05:27 PM

Originally Posted by Donplaysguitar

That sounds cool.

I like the ABRSM selections per level, as one example. They break each level's recital choices into one piece each from three periods (see below) and provide about 10 choices per period, to select from:

Periods:
Renaissance/Baroque
Classical (Common Practice Period)
Modern (very late 19th century through today)

I have the grade 3-5 Time Pieces volume 2 book. It's got a nice mix of pieces though I personally prefer the earlier music.

Maybe we could start a new tune on November 1st?

But how would we sort the grades? Maybe grades 3-5 are fine till we find our feet with it?

Just Ask Segovia-img20211020222516-jpg

**Donplaysguitar** · 10-20-2021, 07:12 PM

Yep 3-5 works. Start date of November 15 is a little better for me but others can start right away and I’ll catch up.

I don’t know if something will start up here or not but if so will likely post some Carulli, Carcassi, Shand, and other stuff from that Yates book even if they’re level 2, because they just sound too good.

I’ll also say that Vincent Lindsey-Clark is a wonderful modern classical guitar composer and his two books “Simply Swing” and “Simply Spanish” have some great selections in them. Somewhere in the level 3-5 range, depending on the tune/piece.

**Liarspoker** · 10-21-2021, 03:52 AM

Originally Posted by Donplaysguitar

Yep 3-5 works. Start date of November 15 is a little better for me but others can start right away and I’ll catch up.

I don’t know if something will start up here or not but if so will likely post some Carulli, Carcassi, Shand, and other stuff from that Yates book even if they’re level 2, because they just sound too good.

I’ll also say that Vincent Lindsey-Clark is a wonderful modern classical guitar composer and his two books “Simply Swing” and “Simply Spanish” have some great selections in them. Somewhere in the level 3-5 range, depending on the tune/piece.

November 15th actually suits very well as that'll give me a bit more time with Study 1.

We can organise a poll for the new piece closer to the starting date.

**Marinero** · 10-23-2021, 04:25 PM

Here's Segovia's performance of Paganini's "Romance" (the Ponce version) preceded by Paganini's written score performed by Evangelos Assimakopoulos. This is one of the most "improvised" pieces in the CG literature based on Paganini's original score. Which do you prefer and why?
Play live . . . Marinero

**Donplaysguitar** · 10-23-2021, 09:36 PM

It’s not fair to compare old recordings to new, but I prefer the less busy original from Pagannini to Ponce’s version.

I seem to recall hearing it played a bit faster by another player but don’t perfectly recall. That also seems preferable, but what do I know.

**Dave70** · 10-24-2021, 08:36 AM

I like the Ponce variation! You can hear the original in it, but there's many little added surprises. I wouldn't say I prefer Ponce's over the original because it needs it for the contrast.

**Donplaysguitar** · 11-17-2021, 08:47 PM

Originally Posted by Liarspoker

November 15th actually suits very well as that'll give me a bit more time with Study 1.

We can organise a poll for the new piece closer to the starting date.

I cheated because I like this simple piece from Carulli. It's 19th century so is a little more modern/romantic soundig than Sor. I just did a quick read through the first part of Stanley Yates' Book one Saturday morning and liked this one so turned on my DAW. (it's far from perfect but I'm too busy to go back).

Cheers.