Practice tips for Rachmaninoff Op 3.2

[RJVB]

I've long been attracted to Eddie Lang's transcription of Rachmaninoff's prelude Op 3 #2 (the piece he once said he regretted having composed). I found a transcription a while ago already, and have been working on it (on my Cabaret) for the past 2 months or so:

It's a very guitaristic transcription with chords/positions/shapes that transition more easily than I would have thought but there's at least 1 part that feels really awkward: measures 27 & 28 (about 1:32) in the above video, or 22 & 23 in my own cleaned-up version:



So far I see little better than take this as almost 3 repetitions of {2+4,1,3 ; 1+2,3,1} but the back-and-forth between a "claw" shape and a barré shape is, well, as I said, awkward. And tricky. I can more or less get the 1st barré chord clean because I can take the time to put my left hand in a suitable position with the thumb for enough up the neck (towards the heel). For the 2nd barré I don't have that leisure and on a 12-fretter my arm gets really close to the guitar body. Result: my index finger doesn't stop the last note properly.

I do notice Lang himself slows down considerably when he's getting to those 2 measures, after starting out the triple meter B section with a brisk 104bpm (but should he not have had?).

The 1st beat of measure 19 is also a stumbling block, with its need to put 2,3&4 at the same fret on adjacent strings. On a steelstring there isn't even a point in trying to put those 3 fingers in a natural arrangement; I have to make a triangular shape with the middle finger behind the 2 others. Somehow I manage to do that on the archtop (2nd finger is already on the 2nd string) but for some reason my fingers and/or strings don't seem to want to co-operate on the Cabaret.

The barré chords from that other section are also a tiny bit easier on the archtop, btw, probably because it's a 14 fretter.

Any practice tips beyond the usual rince,repeat until it comes naturally, or maybe different fingerings?

[RJVB]

BTW, I've heard classical guitarists comment rather negatively on Lang's performance here (awkward and laborious being the keywords), and I have to admit it sounds a bit as if he was just doodling without being aware that he was being recorded.

I can't deny this recording (and arrangement, and is that a Russian guitar?) sound more fluid

[orri]

BTW, I've heard classical guitarists comment rather negatively on Lang's performance here (awkward and laborious being the keywords), and I have to admit it sounds a bit as if he was just doodling without being aware that he was being recorded.

agree, it sounds more like work in progress (or something he is reviewing) rather than ready for performance/recording.


As for practise tips. I think it is just the usual stuff.
Start slow (probably slower than your first "slow").
Break it down into small parts and use practise rhythms/patterns.
Try to identify if there are any issues you need to work specifically on and try to invent exercises to work on that (again, start slow).
Be aware of you body. Check if you're tense somewhere you shouldn't (not only fingers, neck, face, legs etc. too) or if your breathing isn't relaxed.


For this passage you could for instance break it down into triplet pairs.

Set your metronome to a slow tempo, play the first triplet on the first beat, second triplet on the second beat, then rest for 1 or 2 beats, and repeat the same triplet pair.
Then you can play the bar but add a rest beat after each "claw", then do the same except add a rest after each "barre". There are a lot of ways to break this down. Be creative. Find what works for you.

[Jonah]

I can't deny this recording (and arrangement, and is that a Russian guitar?) sound more fluid

Yes, it is traditional Russian 7 string guitar with open tuning. Last decade it seems there is a revival of it - probably more in the trens of general historicallly informed performance trend...
It was totally forgotten... when I was a kid I still could see some here and there as it was used for comping by Russian poet/singers like Vysotsky, Okudzhava, Galich, Visbor (a movement a bit similar to French chanson) - and 7 string guitar in 50s-60s was quite common to have at home to use for comping when there are guests and party or something...
but later I saw it was often tuned like Spanish guitar with one string taken away and then totally gone under influence of rock and pop music...
and now there are really a lot of players again

Eddie Lang indeed sounds very awkward but I think he probably thinks just in terms of different idioms and style...

to be honest once you have a piano and some skills (this prelude is not really difficult) I do not see why you would want to play it on guitar))
Though I liked that performance

[RJVB]

to be honest once you have a piano and some skills (this prelude is not really difficult) I do not see why you would want to play it on guitar))

I've heard others say that, and it's when I usually think when people evoke or play Bach, Weiss etc. on the guitar.

This is a little bit different: Lang and Rachmaninoff were almost contemporaries and the arrangement is for an instrument that was still rather new at the time. You could even see it as an example of the exploration some players did to find different repertoire for the instrument, get it on the map of the "serious ones" so to speak. (There's even someone in the archtop section on the AGF who claims that archtops could have replaced the classical guitar, or take a similar role in American classical music.)

I don't play piano, so for me the choice is simple. I like the harmonies, and the challenge to interpret the piece in a way that either evokes the piano version or something completely different instead.

FWIW, I've also been working on an arrangement of an orchestral suite - Anitra's Dance from Grieg's Peer Gynt. That one's for 2 guitars, and was done by none other than Augustin Barrios (and contrary to what you might think given the original, this one is very playable).

[ghoststrat]

I haven't posted here in while, but I lurk on occasion. I saw this and figured I comment.

I grew up with this piece being played constantly in the household. I 'learned' it (read: took what I wanted, figured it out on guitar, and left the rest) and played it with my quartet. Here's a couple of excerpts (from many years ago), for better or worse. We used to play the entire thing, but I always hated the way I handled the chordal part. Maybe I'll deal with it again now.

Live excerpt (volume is kind of low):

This piece is a part of my blood, no matter how poorly I play it. I can't think of another piece that's more a part of my musical DNA except for maybe the Rach 3.

Good luck, I hope you get a lot of enjoyment out of playing it.

[RJVB]

Thanks, I do, even with the few still-awkward passages. It's fun on all three of my guitars in fact even if I think it sounds best on my (not really standard) classical.

Thanks for the audio links (can't listen right now...)

[RJVB]

URL]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE3N7846dzA[/URL]

I've been focussing on trying to get the entire chord placed at once (left hand), maybe I should try a single-finger approach like this for a while...