Spanish Fingerstyle Guitar with Leah Kruszewski [Class Hub]

Hi all!  Please jump in with any questions or comments you'd like to share between classes.  General music, guitar, and practice questions are also welcome.  

I thought we could start of March by setting a goal as the class.  Both regular live attendees and those who watch the video later are welcome to participate.  

The goal is this: record yourself playing your favorite piece you've learned in Spanish Fingerstyle so far and share it here in our forum discussion.  

Looking forward to hearing you all play : )

Leah

Here are the last few songs we've learned in class: 

Feb 16 - Song of the Shoe Shiner - Cees Hertog.  Notation only.  https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/bridges-a-comprehensive-guitar-series-guitar-repertoire-and-studies-1-sheet-music/19528890

Feb 23 - Calmo - Jaime Zenamon.  (This is from an old edition of the Bridges Royal Conservatory series unfortunately.   You may be able to dig up the score somewhere though!)

March 1 - Study #6 - Jonathan Adams. https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/getting-into-fingerstyle-guitar-sheet-music/20064325

March 8 - Spanish Waltz - from the Christopher Parkening Guitar Method Volume 2 (this classical guitar method is in local music shops everywhere)

On March 15 we learned an excerpt of 'Dreams' by Richard Summers.  It's also part of the Bridges/Royal Conservatory Series at the introductory level.  https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/bridges-a-comprehensive-guitar-series-guitar-repertoire-and-studies-1-sheet-music/19528890

I really enjoy teaching this class, so thanks to all the 'regulars' who attend live!

This is terrific playing Tim!  You're getting a really nice sound out of your guitar, and your technique looks really solid :)  Thank you for sharing your playing with us!

Important note: This student's parent uploaded these videos, which is the ONLY acceptable context for a minor to appear in a video or photo on the forum.  

Wow, really nice playing Tim!  Thanks for recording and sharing :)  Love how you play the triplets smoothly and evenly, with no gaps between them.  You're getting a a really nice sound out of your instrument.

Hi all!  Quick update on the pieces we've been learning lately, for anyone interested in checking out the class or in purchasing a book of the sort of material we learn. 

Usually we learn a short Spanish classical guitar piece, without the need to read music notation.  The goal is to get the piece more or less under your fingers by the end of the class, so that you can just enjoy playing it afterwards. 

I teach the piece by demonstrating and share the TAB when the piece is public domain.  Sometimes I mix things up and include pieces from flamenco repertoire and by Italian composers.  All pieces are appropriate for intermediate-beginners (you should know some chords) and focus on fingerstyle and arpeggio techniques.  

Here's what we've learned the last several classes: 

Torito - Jaime Zenamon 

Soñando (Dreaming) - Jaime Zenamon 

Moonlight - Stepán Rak

Rainsong - Jonathan Adams

Prelude in E Minor - from the Christopher Parkening Guitar Method Vol.2

Valse (Op.241 No.1) - F. Carulli

E Minor Melody - (my own study)

Estudio - José Ferrer

Etude No. 5 - Giuliani

Rumba - traditional flamenco

Roman Castillo - traditional Spanish

Study in A Minor - Giuliani

I've been choosing the pieces at the last minute because I try to tailor them to the level of the students who show up live, but I'll keep sharing the names here for anyone interested.  

See you soon, and thanks for being part of the class!

Leah

Hi all! 

Here's a quick summary of the pieces we learned in the last month:

June 22: Le Papillon - Giuliani

June 29: Guajira - traditional flamenco

-- I recently recorded a tutorial of this piece, in case you need a refresher: https://youtu.be/x2JCZE2q5oE

July 6: Calmo - Jaime Zenamon

July 20: Mi Favorita - 19th century mazurka (composer unknown)

-- I didn't have time to play the whole piece in class, here's a link to a pretty good interpretation: https://youtu.be/bEL8zkq3IJ8

July 27: This upcoming Tuesday we will do an arpeggio and thumb melody based on flamenco Farruca.  

See you there!

Leah

Hi Spanish Fingerstyle regulars!  Here are the songs we've learned the last several classes, with links to YouTube videos where available.  

August 3 - Gerbe de Fleurs (Jose Ferrer)

This is a nice interpretation: https://youtu.be/V67Zhe2L8nE

Info on the songbook included with this video: https://youtu.be/TfdYmS7GnZc

August 10 - Solea Fingerstyle Study (traditional flamenco)

August 31 - Interlude (Christopher Parkening Guitar Method vol 2)

https://youtu.be/sQWM-Go5uik

September 7 - Klangbild 13 (Domeniconi)

https://youtu.be/iE4aczJG418

Today, September 14th, we'll probably learn Klangbild 11 (Domeniconi).  You can hear it ahead of time here: https://youtu.be/j9rzYTG4V2c?t=540 

(I occasionally modify the selection if the experience levels of the live attendees needs it, though!)

Domeniconi’s Klangbilder (Sound Pictures) are simple pieces to play technically, and leave a lot of room for interpretation and expressive devices.  They are terrific for classical guitarists looking to sharpen their interpretive skills.  You can purchase the sheet music of Klangbilder 1-12 here: https://amzn.to/2CTb5ib

Enjoy!  Please do share your playing when you can : )  We love to see what you've been working on.