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Prelude 1 Moderato in D Minor by Francisco Tarrega (1852-1909)
Time 1:11

Here’s another prelude to add to my tarrega “prelude” collection. This one is 40 measures with drop D tuning. This song is played at moderate tempo with plenty of walking bass chords. Lovely ending with octave artificial harmonics for 4 measures. I play artificial harmonics with my right hand index pressing lightly on the string. For these notes you will have to make adjustments on the left hand note for note. The right hand must do the light touch AND the downward thumb pluck while the position of the light touch must be 12 frets away from the fretting hand.

Technique and Tips
40 Bars. Time Signature 2/4. Drop D Tuning

Bar[13]-[15] and [28]-[30]
I worked on these pair of 3 measures most of the time learning this prelude. Bass notes are accented on the downbeat. The fingering of chord requires some practice (groups of chords jumping up along the frets).

Bar[37]-[40]
10 octave artificial Harmonics in the last 4 measures. When you play these harmonics the left hand is not ide. You will have to make sure the left is 12 fret apart from your right index position. The last notes are double notes. (harmonics + E). Switch to a natural harmonic. the artificial harmonic with the right index and thumb wont work-at least for me. Lightly touch the 12 fret with your left index and play a regular natural harmonic.

excerpt from tarrega prelude moderato in E major

Further Reading
I learnt Prelude 1 Moderato in D Minor from Ben Bolt’s Tarrega in Tabulature. This highly recommended book comes in multiple languages (english, japanese, french and spanish). Ben Bolt features 25 songs of Francisco Tarrega and talks about hand techniques. Book include an audio companion cd and is ring bound so you can lie it flat.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 at 3:33 am and is filed under 1.SONGS, Francisco Tarrega. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.