El Colibri
Declan Zapala explores how to build speed with this energetic miniature from Argentina. It’s a rhapsody of classical technique that’s a challenge worth accepting.
ON VIDEO
Julio Sagreras (1879-1942) was an Argentinian guitarist, pianist, performer, and educator hailing from Buenos Aires. He is a respected figure in the guitar world as he blurred the lines between ‘educational’ and ‘concert’ music. A contemporary of fellow Argentinian Ángel Villoldo [GT334], Sagreras produced a large body of work across seven publications for guitarists to explore the instrument from the very basics through to accomplished virtuosity, all the while giving them material that belonged on stage as well as in the classroom. The piece I have chosen for this month’s issue is a short ‘toccata-esque’ study that really shows off a player’s virtuosity. Despite being short it’s one of the more advanced pieces among Sagreras’ oeuvre, but thankfully for anyone in the early stages of learning the classical guitar it’s extremely approachable when taken at a slow tempo. It’s also why this month’s video features a half-tempo version of the piece to learn from, as well as the full-tempo performance for reference, should you wish to try it.
ABILITY RATING
Advanced Info https://bit.ly/3iNZFCG Will improve your… Plucking speed Key E Minor Tempo Various Octave shifts Broken chord arpeggiation
Because El Colibri jumps between scalic and arpeggiated passages it is recommended to play with a free stroke plucking technique (floating the fingers after each pluck) so that everything can be executed from one single position. To get to grips with this from the outset, work at getting small two- or three-bar sections up to 125 bpm (in time with the slow tempo video) and connecting everything with a smooth legato. What will help to achieve this sooner is focusing on keeping your plucking-hand fingertips as close to the strings as possible before and after plucking - the logic behind that is the further away a finger moves from its plucking position, the further back it has to travel. Think ‘neat and tidy’.
It is well recommended to keep this one going in your practice sessions even when you have moved onto learning other music. As well as being a fun piece to play it makes a great warm-up exercise since it awak
