Lagrima finger placement

[sbutler]

Neil, after watching the "weekly review, Dec 14th" , I really got hooked on your version of Lagrima. I found Hectors lesson and started trying to figure it out. The first few measures are simple enough,(even I, the trained monkey can do it) but when the song travels down to the 12th fret region, I get lost in the most efficient fingering. Hectors lesson doesn't get into that much detail.

Any chance you could add a little supplement to the existing lesson, explaining your preferred finger placement? Or if anyone else is working on it, I'd certainly welcome the input.


Scott

[TGNeil]

Hi Scott,

Here are a few things that might be helpful, or at least what I recommend for the part starting with measure 5 (I think).

1st beat notes played with fingers 3 and 4, followed by a barre at IX, then at VII, both of these with F4 playing S1. After that I keep a full barre through the next descents even though it is not really necessary. It just makes the melody and bass lines a little smoother. Barres go from V to IV to II. Another nice trick is to use F4 for the E on S2 when the barre is at IV.

I hope this doesn't cloud more than it clears up but I will probably get to my own lesson on this piece soon.

Neil

[thereshopeyet]

In Hectors lesson the small sub note reads.....

Lagrima is an intimate piece that requires a careful observation of the instrument тАЩs palette of sounds.

What does the red text say ? I assume it's a typo for instruments palette of sounds.
Full Note:

Lagrima is one of the simple preludes for guitar composed by the great Spanish guitarist Francisco Tarrega (1852-1909). The piece is very popular among classical guitar students. There are several recorded versions of Lagrima, including the ones done by Andres Segovia and Julian Bream. Consistent with other Tarrega compositions, Lagrima is an intimate piece that requires a careful observation of the instrumentтАЩs palette of sounds.

:S

[TGNeil]

HTML error, they happen.

[sbutler]

TGNeil wrote:

Hi Scott,

Here are a few things that might be helpful, or at least what I recommend for the part starting with measure 5 (I think).

1st beat notes played with fingers 3 and 4, followed by a barre at IX, then at VII, both of these with F4 playing S1. After that I keep a full barre through the next descents even though it is not really necessary. It just makes the melody and bass lines a little smoother. Barres go from V to IV to II. Another nice trick is to use F4 for the E on S2 when the barre is at IV.

I hope this doesn't cloud more than it clears up but I will probably get to my own lesson on this piece soon.

Neil

Thank you Neil. Oh and Merry Christmas the Hogan clan.

Ok, so when I read this the first time, I had huhhhh, what did he just say, look. But, at a second glance, I deciphered the code. And no, it doesn't cloud things up. You've given me enough tools to figure this out. (it may take a year or two) Its just that you've spoiled me with a lot more detail in your lessons. That is of course, your being a tough teacher and make us work it out on our own. B)

So, because of my shoulder problem, I can only work on it in bits then rest. But It is certainly a song that has grabbed me. In the immortal words of Jason Mraz "I won't give up".

Thanks for the timely response Neil.
Scott

[sbutler]

Just now taking a closer look at the Lagrima tab after Neils comments, and there are definitely some things here that are simply not possible. There must be some errors in the way this was tabbed out.

Measure 6, S1 0 2 5 isn't the way Hector or Neil played that measure. Measure 12 has a stretch from S1 -2, S2-4 and S6 at 7. Got to be a better way for that one.


FYI

[TGNeil]

I just took a look at Hector's score and indeed there are mistakes in the tab, which are fingered correctly in the notation. The last 2 notes in measure 6 are played up the neck in the position you are already in, not on S1. The clue for this is the finger numbers written on the notes.

Same problem in measure 12 where the clues are the finger numbers and the roman numeral.

See if you can take it from there.

Neil

[thereshopeyet]

Scott
Thanks for asking the question.
I've kept a note of this for myself when I try Lagrima.
It'll be a while though.

Dermot

[sbutler]

thereshopeyet wrote:

Scott
Thanks for asking the question.
I've kept a note of this for myself when I try Lagrima.
It'll be a while though.

Neil, do you intend to have the pdf corrected ?
Just wondering as others may miss this topic?

Or... is that the way you like it?

:S :S

Dermot, my guess is that Neil may do a supplemental issue (lesson) to Lagrima. I think he may use it as an example on how to read music along with Tab. If that happens, I believe Neil will shine a little more light on it.
Scott

[TGNeil]

Now to really shed some light or add fuel to the fire...

I have just added what I think is a facsimile of Tarrega's original publication, although this one includes a 1925 date, 16 years after his death, to the lesson. It appears he (or someone else) added some altered fingerings in pencil after the fact. Different fingerings certainly create a different sound/effect/mood/focus on certain lines.

As someone who has worked on different fingerings for many pieces, and changed some over the years, these editorial decisions can change with the wind and are usually not influenced by what might be easiest or most efficient, unfortunately. As I consider whether or not to tackle this as a lesson, it gets more and more involved (not an uncommon occurrence around here), and the general quantity of new material can suffer because of it.

So, I encourage anybody working on this to look at the original and see what you can get out of it...

Happy Hunting,

Neil