Guitar Shanghai

These days in Shanghai is the music fair. A lot of guitar companies from the whole world are here to sell their guitars and other music instruments.

But instead of going to the music fair, I want to introduce Antonio Lauro to you:

Antonio Lauro was born on the 3th of August 1917 in Ciudad Bolivar, Venezulenas. With the age of nine years his family moved to Caracas, where A.Lauro studied music. At that time he mostly played the piano and violin. But later Augustin Barrios Magnore recovered A. Lauro and persuaded him to study guitar. So he studied with Raoul Borges and was introduced in the typical classical guitar repertoire.

As a member of Trio Cantores et Tropico, where Lauro sang the Bass and played the guitar he composed a lot of Valses for that Trio. Later mostly Alirio Diaz, who also was a student of Borges was responsible for making the unrecognized but wonderful pieces wellknown to a bigger audience.

In 1951/52 the militaery junta imprisoned A.Lauro because of his belief in democracy. Shortly before his death in 1986 he received the Premio National de Música, his country’s highest artistic award. (For more information please look at Wikipedia.org!)

Here is the Vals Venezulano Nr.1:

and again on Tudou for my friends in China:

This piece of Dole Dyke is a typical Fingerstyle guitar piece. You can play it on a western guitar or on an acoustic guitar.

There are at least three very important countries for the guitar music: Spain, Latin America and America.

I personally prefer the Latin American Music, but that doesn`t mean that I never want to play Fingerstyle or Blues. Every Style has his special beauty!

And here as a Tudou Video for those who have no access to Youtube:

because the chief cooker just left the restaurant, the spanish week with the guitar music of Julia will change the time: there is no spanish week from 10th to 15th of October in la Finca. The new time will be at the end of October or the beginning of November and announced as soon as possible.

From tomorrow Monday the 10th of Oktober till Saturday the 15th of Oktober every evening from 18.30 to 20.30 o`clock our guitarist Julia Scheuffele will play Spanish and Latinamerikan music for classical guitar in the Spanish restaurant la Finca in Shanghai, Xin Tian Di.

She will make the backround music for people who wants to eat in a high level enviroment. Good food needs good music, because the people who are coming to this place, mostly have a cultural backround and want to hear high level music during their dinner time.

I asked Julia why she agreed to play in a restaurant and she told me her philosophy:
It is very important which kind of music you have in your backround. Even if you eating and talking beside, the music will influence your mind and your feeling. Julia believes that her music can people make more peaceful and happy. So she decide to work as a backround musician.

Because of some unexspected problems i have to delay my flight back to Shanghai and will arrive some days later. I am very sorry for all of you who are waiting for me! Probably we can start with the classes after the 24th of September.

As i didn’t bring my computer to Germany there is only some old video i can post today. Please keep on practice your guitar and enjoy your life! Best Regards…..

As I was a student my guitar teacher always forced me to play every piece by heart. If I didn`t memorize a piece, I was not allowed to learn a new one till I could play the old one by heart and without any mistakes. I continued to do so my whole lifetime.

But working as a teacher I have a big problem: most of my students are not willing to practice like that. If I try to convince them to memorize their pieces, they often tell me, that they can not do that. And if they try, they often need a lot of time to finish one piece. And if they have memorized one piece, they start to forget another one. Why?

Most important reason for that difficulty is the fact, that my students are too busy with school and a lot of other activities. Often they even don`t have time to meet their friends or to play something during the week. Till ten o`clock at the evening they are still busy doing homework. And if they have a little free space, they like to watch TV or play with the computer.

The more busy a child, the worse the ability to imagine music and memorize the guitar pieces. That is really pity. Sometimes I think, it would be better for some of my students to do less at school and to spend more time with “nothing”, till the naturally ability comes back. Because it is “naturally” to remember a song that you ve played severall times. If you can not do this, means, that your brain is over stressed.

To play by heart helps you to develop your imagination and everything your right site of your brain is responsible for. It is evident, that people, who plays by heart have a better feeling as people who needs to watch the sheet.

To play the guitar is more than practice an instrument. To play the guitar means to express the life. To show your “life – feeling” what means to make poesie. But in my eyes that doesn`t mean that you  completely need to play “ad libitum”.

I ve uploaded two different pieces. One is from the third year level and the other one is a very famous piece from F.Tarrega. It is the eighth level of the Shanghai guitar art examination book . Both pieces are very beautiful and full of “feeling”. And both pieces  have a strong rhythm that you can dance, if you want. I tried to respect the dance and to keep the structure. So i didn`t make too much “ad libitum” - and i hope that i nevertheless played with “feeling” .

Originally I want to talk about how to practice these pieces. But I have a lot of privat students, so the time to play my guitar becomes very short. And so I decide just to upload the videos (http://www.tudou.com/home/_61589702 or http://www.youtube.com/user/liatu?feature=mhee) and with the writing I am waiting for another time.

And here is Capricho Arabe of F.Tarrega:

more than videos i like to make sound files. The main reason is, that i think music is something to listen not to watch and the second reason is the fact that youtube is not available in China and all the other hosts offer very bad sound qualitiy.

As i still have a little space on my server i load up the Etudes number 11 from Villa Lobos. This piece is also one of my students pieces in Shanghai, who always wants me to perform their pieces. Sometimes that shows more than explanations.

Listen to my mp3`s is free, because of my philosophy: what you can give to the community, you should give. The internet is a big chance for more equal rights in learning and education. It is neccessary and good for everybody, if there is such a place with free information.

Heitor Villa Lobos: Etude Nr 11

This morning I received an email from Sofia Irala, who is the coordinator of the Barrios World Wide Online competition. This year the second edition of the competition will be hold to celebrate the guitar music of A.Barrios Magnore.

The participants have their videos for the first round to upload to youtube till July 31.

The pieces of the first round are the Estudio Concerto Nr.1 and Confession.

The semifinalists will be announced till August 15. Starting on this date they can begin to upload the third video with the Mazurka Appassionata. The jury will select three finalists, who can travel to Paraguay for the Final in December 3. On the final each participant has to play a 25 minutes concert with pieces of Barrios. This pieces must include Jha Che Valle.

Everybody between 18 and 30 years old can participate the competition. For more information please look at the website: Barrios World Wide