Excercise #12 WALTZ, "CUENTO AZUL”
Ok, we’re gonna learn our first song,
It’s a very simple waltz,
Which is called “cuento azul”,
The first thing we’re gonna do,
Is to hear it so you can know how it is,
Here, the bellows technique that I’ve taught you is fully applied,
About sound stopping,
Check how it is, and then,
I’m gonna explain it to you step by step,
So you can play it…
That’s the song,
how do we study it?
This is very important,
And this goes for all songs,
Whether it’s a simple song,
Or concert songs.
The first thing I do,
Right hand,
E, D, C, E, D, C, F, D… ok?
Then I open the bellows…
I stop the sound…
The same when we close…
sound stopping, ok?
Once more…
and closure…
done.
Then, part 2…
F, E, D, F, E, D, G, E…
Open…
see how the hand doesn’t move…
ok? Part 3, the hand is still there, C, D, E, F, G,
It’s a song with 5 fingers only,
So we don’t have to move,
That’s why it’s easy,
It’s very simple.
G, F, E, G, F, E, F, D, It would be…
stop… The same when closing…
Stop. And part 4 would be
F, E, D, F, E, D, E, C…
Open…
cease it with the bellows and…
Perfect.
So, we’re gonna check,
Part 1…
that part 1 is a “1”, ok?
On the musical score we write down “1”, part 1,
Part 2, part 3, and part 4,
So part 1 would be…
done. Now part 2…
done. Part 3…
done. Part 4…
done, ok?
Now, when I get it,
-look how I haven’t even touched the bass- Ok?
I’m gonna play it all at once,
It’s supposed that depends on difficulty,
How many times are, the important thing is for it to turn out well,
Part 1 has to turn out well,
If it’s hard and I have to review it 30 times,
Til I get it right, it’s ok,
If I get it by the 4th time, it’s ok,
Because this is not something so complicated, ok? In this first instance.
So, now I’m gonna play the whole part A,
Which would be, part 1…
It’s really important this ceasing that I’m talking about…
Otherwise hear how it would sound…
Get it, right?
So you have to be really, really, really meticulous with the endings,
Because that’s what gonna put the final “touches”,
It’s like getting to a new home, beautiful and everything,
But it misses windows, doorlocks,
That destroys all the beauty in the house,
This is the same, always be careful about endings.
The bass, the bass accompaniment,
There are different ways to play the bass section,
There are different ways,
And there are ways to use it that are more popular,
It’s not that one way is worse than the other,
But there are some that sound better, ok?
For example,
I’m gonna play the bass…
And the chord…
2, 3, 1, 2, 3… ok.
How is this supposed to be?
The bass, the bass doesn’t last the whole quarter note,
Because it’s 1, 2, 3,
the bass, the bass,
Because this is the chord…
This is the bass.
So the bass get til halfway only,
It would be… ok, right?
So, the bass is long,
But it doesn’t get to be tied to the 2nd quarter note,
It’s not…
“and why, dear teacher?”…
Because the natural -always look for the natural thing-
The double bass sounds…
It doesn’t sound…
But…
And neither…
The natural thing is to sound…
So I have to emulate that…
So I play… silence and chord,
And if you see, I play the chord shortly,
It’s to give it some swing.
You have to play, ideally, With swing, with flavor, with elegance,
If I play the bass for too long, Hear how it sounds…
So if I play…
vs…
So, long bass, ok?
It’s a little longer, without tying it,
And the chord is really small,
And for it to sound “small”,
I can’t sink it till the bottom…
But is the tip…
So that remains hidden,
That’s how it sounds good,
And it’s what really works,
And it doesn’t mess up with the melody.
So, together would be…
Longer bass, short chord…
What I have to imagine, It that here is red,
It’s like the metal was red, Hot, melting,
So I have to…
It’s like I burn with an iron,
I have to take my hand off immediately,
If it stays more, I burn.
So 1…
ok?
So, that’s the right way to play the bass…
Right?
There are some books that recommend, That you play everything staccato,
which would be…
And that for me, is a no no, I find it has no body,
It sounds like empty…
And if I play it too long it sounds very full
So, the balance is between,
Playing the bass a little longer, And the short chord, would be…
ok?
So, part 1…
G…
part 1 closing…
C
part 2…
G and C…
I close part 2…
Opening part 3…
G…
Part 3 closing, C…
Part 4 open with G…
closing…
Now, with the nerves on the stage,
From people who’s coming to see you, At some concert,
And it’s your first presentation and everything,
The most probable thing is that,
Imagine you forget,
and you confuse the bellows,
When it was open, we’re closing,
And when it was close, we’re opening,
That produces, first, you get nervous and make mistakes,
So make sure of studying it, Opening and closing,
So you know how to react when it’s opening, And when you’re closing,
Because if you look,
If I have my hand more stretched here,
I’m playing the bass, ok?
I have a lot more stretched my hand there,
But when I’m here… it’s different,
I shrink it a bit,
So it’s the whole feeling of playing like this…
And playing like this…
That’s why it’s studied like that, Opening and closing.
The 3rd step in order to study,
Would be putting our hands together, put our hands together, So…
and it ends, closing…
That’s part 1…
and it ends,
I studied, I review it many times, And now with part 2…
Y repeat, part 2, closing…
Part 3…
closing part 3…
Part 4…
close, the same…
Part 1 and 2 now only, 1 and 2…
I close…
stop, repeat…
close…
stop!
Part 3 and 4…
Now full 3 and 4…
ok? Now, when I’m getting to master this,
-I’m playing it faster-
But it supposes that till you get it, You progress,
If part 1 doesn’t turn out well, I can’t move to part 2,
If part 2 doesn’t turn out well, I can’t move to part 3,
As you’ve been studying, With no mistakes,
because you haven’t made mistakes, ok?
Because, as it is an easy melody,
This thing about opening and closing,
You haven’t been studying with mistakes,
If you had studied all of this-let’s say- All of this song at once,
you would have been wrong,
“oh gosh again, I closed the bellows”
“oh gosh, it was opening, closing”
As this has been so fast and meticulous,
You’re gonna realize that in a few minutes, You’re already playing a song, ok?
And the right way.
So, what do I do now?
I grab the whole part 1,
-it’s supposed that I already studied that, I practiced that-
I grab the whole part 1, it would be this…
2…
3…
4…
done.
I’ve got the song, right?
But obviously I’m pulling the bellows,
I’m confident because I know how to play,
You’re gonna be with your fingers all shaky yet, or too week.
Exercise… we’re gonna play the same,
But, when it’s supposed that we don’t know the song-
We’re gonna play it in 4 different ways,
So we can study well, And then we’re gonna play it fast, ok?
First, staccato, The staccato is short…
And the staccato goes… it’s not just the finger…
But the forearm…
So, I play it once with the bass and everything with staccato, It would be…
“And, why with staccato, teacher?”
“why?, what is it for?”
Because the staccato “exposes” the hand,
As I take it out, I’m afraid of making a mistake…
I can do this, see… So when I lift,
That gives me… when I pass that insecurity,
When I play it normal, It turns out very solid, ok?
So I have to do things that Give me insecurity,
So when time comes, I’ll be able to respond.
So, staccato,
I apply staccato, it’s gonna sound different,
It’s supposed to be an exercise, It’s not that the song sounds that paused,
I play it with staccato…
I play the full thing, done…
It’s gonna be hard, it’s gonna be hard, But it’s a really good time investment,
Because then, I’m gonna play it like… “hey, play the accordion, play something”
And you play something solid,
Not something that “I sort of studied” or “it doesn’t come out well” or
“wait 2 or 3 more weeks”,
This can work.
Then it comes the tie, The same but tied,
Which is, like it’s the song,
It would be more normal…
close…
Open…
close…
I applied staccato, tie.
Now it comes the staccatissimo,
Staccatissimo?
The staccatissimo, is the same that staccato,
But It’s more abrupt, it’s…
More confidence it gives me,
Because I’m more scared of making mistakes, ok?
So I play it…
Lifting…
lifting…
Gaining space…
It’s supposed that if I play the staccatissimo,
And I don’t make mistakes,
I can move on to the next one,
If I keep making mistakes, I have to fix it.
And the last one would be the legatissimo,
Which would be, pressing the keys,
Pressing them using deadweight,
It would be…
I’m pressing there…
So, what do I do there?
I’m forcing my mind and fingers, sending the signal,
Forcing them to pass there, Between those notes,
When I studied them, I play it normally,
I can speed it up a bit, I can speed up,
because it’s already mastered,
This is already mastered,
So then I loosen up, I relax, I go to the beach,
Under a palm tree,
By myself, and I play relaxed,
I’m not in some class, no, Full relaxation…
Ok? That’s how it’s done.
Now, this part, Is the same system,
I’m gonna play the other section,
And you are gonna have to split it,
So we don’t explain it step by step,
You know what you have to do,
The last part would be letter B, it would be…
Close…
open…
close…
Here, the logic that I’m using for the bellows is each 4 bars…
1…2…3…4…
1…2…3…4… sorry,
1…2…3…4… close
1…2…3…4…
And I play the whole song once, As a wrap,
And you have a first song, Well played, studied,
And in a short time,
What this video has last,
Is what’s gonna take you To study a song of this kind.
Complete…