To be honest, I’d never heard of Spanish Romance until this year. Once I found out it was a classical standard, I started seeing it on all these CDs by respected guitarists and compilation albums of “classical greats”. It seems like anyone learning classical guitar will try to tackle it at some point, seduced by such an elegant melody. I have no classical aspirations, and even I fell for it.
I figure I’d record this before I cut off my nails cause I’ve been growing them for about two months1 and I’m completely sick of them. They clack on my keyboard and iPad, and I always have to be annoyingly careful about not breaking them. Unfortunately, this song also sounds way better with some brightness to it when it’s not played with actual nylon strings; I’m still using a set of Silk and Steel, and there’s a certain fatness to the sound when you really dig into them.
I’ve only had Larissa for six months now, but it feels more like six years. There’s so much familiarity in the wood and glossy curves. Even when I’m trying out a guitar several times the price of what she would cost, it never feels as nice.
- Although halfway through I cut them down to 1/4 length and lost a lot of growth cause I thought they were interfering with my rest-stroke. Turns out the problem was actually in my technique. Oops. [↑]
That was nice. You seem very comfortable!
Thanks! I imagine it looks somewhat comfortable cause I’ve probably played this song a few thousand times. There’s still parts I’d like to clean up, but I figure I’d take a break from this song and wait until I’ve had a some more time to practice.
Love the look!
I bought the casquette on my last day in Chartres. I was looking for a souvenir that would fit in my already full luggage, and was shopping with Misun when we walked into a St. James nautical clothing store. The cap was on a mannequin and I thought it was perfect. It was ridiculously expensive (for a hat), but apparently the brand is known to be extremely well-made and durable. It’s also fitted, so it sits perfectly on my head.
I wore it every day since I got back, but that’s cause it was winter and I started cutting my own hair. Now that it’s so hot out (and I’m getting more proficient at the self-cut) I don’t wear it as much anymore.
Good purchase, it’s a great look for you.
High five for home haircutting. It is one of the best-kept secrets of people who retire early.
I’m so pleased you’re attempting such difficult things so soon. It has a couple minute hesitations, but sounds very good, and your finger positions tell me you’ll be more and more comfortable with time.
Just a thought: Now that you’re not working with gut-string classical guitar, why not invest in a set of steel fingerpicks? You can cut your nails and learn to use them instead — they make everything RING. And don’t be daunted by the shift: You can play only with your fingers at first, then you try to play with the finger picks and that gets better and then you can’t play with either your fingers alone or your picks (your brain has to get used to the change) and then finally you can play with either without a problem.
Try it : )
A lot of my hesitations are actually on purpose, to give a bit of languishing life to the piece (though there are definitely parts where I just need extra time to fret a barre chord correctly, in the middle part especially). I think I need to add more contrast between the fast and slow movements so people don’t take those hesitations as mistakes.
I definitely want to try fingerpicks again, but I tried them once and boy was it strange!
I think Buck 65 sampled a version of this piece for a track on one of his free Dirtbike albums? He would have chopped it into 4/4, though.