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stephenmcelligott

Feb 03, 2020

Moments in Solitude video

in Classical Guitar

https://youtu.be/FLxajfGdAH8

Hello I did this quick private linked video looking for feedback on my attempt at moments in solitude. It still sounds a little too fast and mechanical in places but would appreciate where you think I'm going wrong. Sorry for the bad mobile phone quality on the microphone. It's all I have.

Thanks

Stephen

3 comments

Nathan Deakin

Feb 05, 2020

Hi Stephen, congrats on learning this piece, you play it very well. How many takes did you get it in? Usually takes me around 300 times before I can manage to play through a piece without mistakes, recording pressure!

It doesn't sound too fast to me at all, and not really mechanical either if you've only just learned it. You'll get more fluency the more you play. My only critique would be to go softer on that bass note, you gave it a good twang a few times there! I can't play bass notes without doing this unless I cut my thumb nail. If I have any nail it gets stuck on the string and hampers plucking, so I always keep it short and play bass notes with the flesh part of the thumb. Please keep posting your videos any time you learn a new piece, more the merrier.

stephenmcelligott

Feb 05, 2020

Thanks Nathan, you're being far too kind, but yes I agree I'm too heavy with the bass and need to tone it down a bit. In addition to this toward the end I mistakenly hit a bass note that's not in the piece at all. This is the second take with my mobile phone, as I made a booby on the first. It's really strange what recording pressure can do to you as I felt the pressure all throughout this take too. Classical music is not my comfort zone so this could explain why my nerves are even more amplified than usual.

Nathan Deakin

Feb 05, 2020Edited: Feb 05, 2020

I've been on this site for about a year and a half and there's no difference yet. The camera's rolling and you're trying to get it right, just adds some extra pressure, I hope this goes away eventually! The videos I've posted are shortly after learning them, have a look for my Cavatina and Natalia threads. It was a few months after learning Natalia I realized I'd completely missed out a section so had to go back to the tutorial.

I think it will be interesting to see the difference after I've practiced them for a year or so to see what the progress is like. I've slacked off a bit over the holidays so need to get going again. It's good to have more people posting videos, always inspiration for me. Have a look at the Catedral thread Alex posted, he plays very well.