Professional Documents
Culture Documents
film Jeux Interdits (Forbidden Games), in which the performer was Narcisso Yepes. The piece was immediately popular, and in Europe is still referred to as Jeux Interdits. The Romance is harder to play than the Sors Study in B Minor because of some stretches and extensive barring in the second section. However, there will be some who will go to almost any lengths to play the piece, so here it is.
H.
I. The second half is harder than the first due to the sustained bars and some large stretches. However, what seems impossible at first becomes feasible with repetition. J. The sign is for a double sharp, which raises the original note by two half steps. It is sometimes noted with two sharp signs side by side ( ). The same notes could have been written by writing three Ds, with the middle one having a natural sign (). However, three Ds in a row would disguise the musical line. A double sharp is cancelled by a natural sign, with a sharp to the right of the natural if the note is to revert from double sharp to single sharp (the usual case). This could have been written by the C that begins the next measure, but is not strictly necessary because of the barline. The move to the seventh position bar is a tough one, but there is no solution except extra practice. E. Usually a four-string half bar is better than a three-string one; however, in this case covering three strings is as much as most people can manage. The second finger can be used to guide the hand down to the second-position bar in the last line. Overall this is an easy piece for the right hand once the arpeggio pattern becomes familiar. However, the left-hand stretches require a certain opening up of the hand which comes with
regular playing and practice. Never push the left hand too hard. If it begins to feel strained, stop playing and lay the hand flat on a table with the fingers slightly apart.
The Portamento
The portamento is a nice technique. It can make a position change easier, but it can also add a sound to the movement which, like a slur, adds smoothness to the musical passage. Heres an example:
216 page
The first note is played and held for almost its full time value. Then, with the note still sounding, the finger travels up the string to the fifth fret in time to play the E on the second beat. The small note indicates simply that the E is played normally to distinguish it from the slide (see below). The finger maintains a light pressure on the string, and there is a slight scoop sound as it moves up. This linking sound should not be too pronouncedthe real secret is to leave the first finger in place until the last possible moment, and then to travel quickly up. This is the kind of technique that requires experimentation until a satisfactory sound is achieved.
K. L.
The C is played. The note is held for almost its full value. Just before the next beat, the finger slides up the string to arrive at the E exactly on the beat. The D will be heard, but obviously with diminished volume. Like the portamento, it has the effect of adding smoothness or legato to a passage.