Carcassi's Opus 60 no. 3 is a very tuneful piece that's well known among classical guitar students and is worth learning. It's a lower intermediate piece in terms of technical difficulty, and as an 'etude' or 'study' it's also designed to offer some technique improvements.
Etude in A
Matteo Carcassi
Download the Score.
Download a free PDF copy of Etude in A.
|
|
About Etude in A
In this etude, triplet-arpeggio technique is the main focus, but it also provides a good opportunity to practice barre chords high up the neck as far as the 9th position.
Key
The home key is A major and, typical of the style, it modulates to the key of E major at bars 7 & 8 - the end of the first section. Bar 9 begins the second section, still in the key of E major. The second section is three times as long and is a lot more interesting in terms of chord and key changes before it goes into a modified version of the first section in the home key of A major.
Timing Matters
The metre is 'four time' i.e., four beats per bar, but each of the four beats is equal to three triplet 8th notes instead of two normal 8th notes. The triplet '3' sign is only shown in bar 1, but it applies to every occurrence of groups of three beamed 8th notes throughout the piece. Another interesting but short rhythmic feature is in bar 16, where the flowing triplet rhythm stops and and ps replaced with a simple phrase of four 8th-note notes that you can play as written or slow the tempo to whatever you think provides the most effective intro to the return of the main theme staring in the next bar (bar 17). The tempo rubato sign lets you choose your own timing for those four notes, and the a tempo sign in the next bar is an instruction to resume the original tempo.
Key
The home key is A major and, typical of the style, it modulates to the key of E major at bars 7 & 8 - the end of the first section. Bar 9 begins the second section, still in the key of E major. The second section is three times as long and is a lot more interesting in terms of chord and key changes before it goes into a modified version of the first section in the home key of A major.
Timing Matters
The metre is 'four time' i.e., four beats per bar, but each of the four beats is equal to three triplet 8th notes instead of two normal 8th notes. The triplet '3' sign is only shown in bar 1, but it applies to every occurrence of groups of three beamed 8th notes throughout the piece. Another interesting but short rhythmic feature is in bar 16, where the flowing triplet rhythm stops and and ps replaced with a simple phrase of four 8th-note notes that you can play as written or slow the tempo to whatever you think provides the most effective intro to the return of the main theme staring in the next bar (bar 17). The tempo rubato sign lets you choose your own timing for those four notes, and the a tempo sign in the next bar is an instruction to resume the original tempo.
Listen to Etude in A
The video below contains the score changing line by line along with a software-generated audio track of the score. For best viewing, watch it in a high quality setting. The settings control is the cog-shaped icon at the bottom right of the screen. It only appears after you click PLAY.