Issue 5

In this issue: "El Colibri" played by Irina Kulikova, Sheet music by Antonín Pevala, The album of the issue by Yamandu Costa & Domingo Rodríguez Oramas, Know-How with Sönke Meinen and great music by Duo Dispari

May 22, 2024

Hey!

Welcome to issue 5/24 of our newsletter. We're approaching summer and what could be more fitting than a wave of Brazilian music. "De Vida y Vuelta" is our album of the week by Yamandu Costa & Domingo Rodríguez Oramas, and today's miniature by Czech guitarist and composer Antonín Pevala is also quite fitting for this time of year. Before that, however, we’d like to invite you on a short but very fast hummingbird flight, taking off in our YouTube Find of the Week. And for all those who are interested in backbeat and percussion on the guitar, we recommend our four questions to THE specialist on this topic, Sönke Meinen. Finally, today we have a rather rare combination in the category "Guitar And…".

Happy reading!
Stefan & Willi

YOUTUBE FIND OF THE WEEK
“El Colibri”, played by Irina Kulikova

Higher, faster, further.

A maxim that won’t always work and doesn’t necessarily enjoy a good reputation. The second comparative – faster – is not impressive per se in a musical context. In this case it really is, though, because speed is performed with a sort of bold nonchalance. Chapeau, Irina Kulikova. Just sit down on a beautiful meadow, relax, and off you go at full speed. "Can a guitarist become a hummingbird?" is the title of the video. For our part, the answer is yes. 

What the piece "Flight of the Bumblebee" by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov is for other instrumentalists, "El Colibri" by Julio Sagreras is for the guitarrer@s. A short but fiercely fast flight. Irina Kulikova flies with ease. Our Youtube Find of the Week.

SHEET MUSIC
Antonín Pevala - Feeling Scherzo

Have you ever felt "scherzo"? Or is this the first time you've been asked this question? You might not happen to feel like a movement title every day, after all. Antonín Pevala (CZ/D) describes the title of his miniature as follows: "Scherzo means funny, witty, cheerful, joyful. Or is it rather a feeling when no plan works out and you consequently feel like a joke?" “Feeling Scherzo” plays with this idea in a very charming way. A simple, catchy melody makes its way towards confidence and is bathed in different lights by colorful harmonies. The sort of strange feeling between funny and "being a joke" seems omnipresent. Cool idea, cool piece!

Incidentally, it belongs to a series of miniatures under the name "Lost & Found Impressions". Antonín goes on to describe that "each of these miniatures was inspired by the experience of a specific moment and spontaneously written down in that very moment." A snapshot in the best sense of the word. Antonín will also be releasing this series with the further titles “Lost & Found”, “The Perspective”, “Sunrise over Mikulov”, etc. as an EP. We can be more than excited about this! 

To stay up to date, follow Antonín Pevala on Insta or check out his website.

We wish you lots of fun and the necessary pinch of "Scherzo" when checking out :)

ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Yamandu Costa & Domingo Rodríguez Oramas “El Colorao”, 2023 “De Vida y Vuelta”

The ease and joy with which the two musicians play is truly contagious. We felt like we were beamed directly to a musical tour through Latin America. Yamandu Costa, an exceptional Brazilian guitarist, meets Domingo "El Colorao". The latter plays a kind of ukulele with five strings called a "timple", an instrument found specifically in the Canary Islands (we had never come across this one before). The selection of pieces is as broad as the range of the two string instruments. The titles “Lagrima” or “Tango en Skai” will certainly catch an eye (and ear) or two, and you will also come across some "old acquaintances".

The album sounds natural and honest from front to back. It’s palpable how the two musicians cross-fertilized at the moment of recording. Putting this album on is simply fun and evokes a thoroughly life-affirming feeling. At least that's how we felt. A real treat!

Album link:

We recommend this article for a more in-depth review of the album:

KNOW-HOW 
Backbeat and Percussion with Sönke Meinen

The so-called "backbeat" is one of the first steps towards fingerstyle on the guitar. And a fraction of the sounds and timbres you can elicit from an acoustic guitar. How is it possible to play several elements such as melody, bass, harmony, percussion sounds, etc. on a guitar at the same time? Sönke Meinen is THE exceptional artist who has become an internationally recognized institution in this field far beyond the borders of his East Frisian homeland. He taps into all influences, from folk, pop, classical and jazz to world and film music, and uses them to create his own unique style.

  1. What is a “backbeat” and how do you use it?

A backbeat is nothing more than a click that is produced when the right thumb hits one of the bass strings, causing the string to "slap" on the frets. I don't really like the word "backbeat" because it implies that this click is played on 2 and 4 – and it's not always a "beat", i.e. an emphasis, for me either. Just like "normally" played notes, dead notes and actually all other sounds, I see it exclusively as a guitaristic timbre, which (depending on the volume) resembles the effect of a snare drum or a closed hi-hat. Like most percussive sounds, I tend to use this timbre in groovy contexts – at which point in the bar and how loud it sounds being quite variable. This being said, the 2 and 4 in the sense of the "backbeat" are of course also a good starting point for the first practice grooves!

  1. What are your go-to tips for independence between the left and the right hand?

For me, a decisive moment was when I realized that in guitar pieces, several parallel voices often only sound really independent when you practice them as one voice and focus on the interdependence of the two hands instead of the independence of the left and the right hand. When you act as a guitaristic one-man band of chords, melody, bass lines and percussion, it is not necessary for all these voices to be isolated and practiced to perfection. I find it much more important to concentrate on how they are interlocked, i.e. at which point which sounds can be heard simultaneously. Even if both hands seem to be doing different things – e.g. the left hand plays a bass note and the right hand produces a percussive sound at the same time – I see this as one movement in the context of the piece I'm working on. If I look at my "four-piece one-man band" as a single guitar voice, I can simply get the piece to groove more!

  1. Suppose I want to incorporate percussion into a piece alongside the melody, bass and filling elements – how do I go about it without being overwhelmed by the idea in the first place? 

I admit that this situation doesn’t occur much for me. When I play a piece with percussion elements, they are often so important for the character of the piece that they creep in before the melody, bass and fills are finished. I think the crucial question is: does my piece really need this percussion? I often observe the misconception that adding percussion automatically makes a piece more rhythmic or groovier. In most cases, however, the opposite is the case and it would make more sense to trim the piece down and then play it rhythmically to the point. When I think of colleagues like Adam Rafferty, the grooviest arrangements sometimes consist only of melody and bass line and are particularly easy on the fingers. 

If you still decide to make a piece more percussive, there are two approaches for me: Either to simply play the piece until the first deadnotes and clicks creep in intuitively (if this really makes a piece better, it happens faster than you think!) or to take a more compositional approach. In my case, I like to divide a piece into a melody and a rhythm section and then only add percussive effects to the rhythm section. If I then establish the finished percussive groove in a piece well enough before the melody starts, I can leave out many percussion elements parallel to the melody to make it playable – and it still keeps grooving. In other words, the better you introduce rhythmic elements at the beginning, the more likely you are to hear them in the course of the piece, even if some of them are no longer there!

  1. How do you get inspiration when the creative machine needs some lubrication?

Put down your guitar or music paper and go outside! For me, inspiration usually also means "knowing what I'm writing about" – and I don't find the really inspiring stories, observations or emotions at my desk…

If you’d like to delve deeper into the subject, we recommend Sönke's YouTube channel. Sönke also has a (paid) TrueFire channel called "ACOUSTIC GUITAR LAB". There he provides well-structured guidance and lots of background information on various topics relating to technique, theory and composition.

GITARRE AND…
Duo Dispari plays “Pajdushka” by Miroslav Tadić

Guitar and saxophone! That’s a rather unusual combination, at least in the world of classical guitar. Giulia Pizzolungo (guitar) and Margherita Crisetig (saxophone) interpret "Pajdushka" in their very own way. Originally written for guitar and flute (or violin), the saxophone brings its own warm, soft timbre. And this suits the piece amazingly well. The interplay between the two musicians is finely tuned. Both play very clearly, with a transparent yet full sound. It's nice to hear a piece by world musician Miroslav Tadić with a classical habitus. Anyone who knows him knows that he elicits a very unique sound from the guitar thanks to his many influences from folklore, classical music and jazz, among others. His slightly percussive, delicate touch is musically captivating and always comes with a hint of improvisation. With him, you always get the impression that he and his instrument have literally become one. 

We think it's cool that Duo Dispari have taken on this piece and done their own thing with it! 

The video’s scenery immediately triggers an "I want to go there too..." feeling. Atmospheric, fitting to the piece and the performers. Well done! 

OUTRO

We hope this issue has flushed some guitaristic summer vibes into your inbox.

As always, we’re happy to receive your feedback and suggestions (just reply to the newsletter).

All the best,
Stefan & Willi

New Classical Guitar is a newsletter by Willi Leinen and Stefan Degel from TMBM. You can find our music and more informationen about our journey on t-m-b-m.com.

On Spotify we curate a playlist with our favorite pieces. Feel free to follow our New Classical Guitar Playlist via https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3ZwxJRAsW9Zs2JiS2eLy6a?si=9b2a737f01c043a4&nd=1&dlsi=cd5e59bc6b764954