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Spanish Fandango week 1

From Winners eureka method page 28.

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Comment by IAN SALTER 17 hours ago: Stop attempting to play tunes that are beyond your capabilities. For a month, study only the initial exercises in the Bradbury tutor book and the earlier one by Ellis and then post some recordings of them.

Comment by Austin 15 hours ago: In the Eureka method, it's a very easy tune, Ian.

Comment by Joel Hooks 12 hours ago: Bradbury does not have you elevate the bass or play this until the very end of volume one. Given, his arrangement is more substantial, but there is a reason he waits so long.

I would say that back to the basic exercises with a strong focus on counting and time is the best path forward. Follow the graded path and if you are able to cleanly play all the pieces in Bradbury when you get to Spanish Fandango you will be able to play it.

Comment by IAN SALTER 9 hours ago: On reflection, my strongest recommendation is that you concentrate on exercises 1 to 27 in the Barnes and Mullins book.

Do read the 'The Importance Of Practice And Patience' on page 12.

Don't use a metronome if it is going to be a distraction.

Focus on playing each exercise exactly as it is written and don't rush through them.

I look forward to hearing your recordings.

Comment by Joel Hooks 9 minutes ago: Well, Austin, you are not playing what is written in Winner's anyway. That is fine, but if you are missing measures and your improvised variation is not in time or coherent so it might be better to just play it as published.

Spanish Fandango is one of those pieces that is found in more instruction books than not. I believe it first shows up for banjo in 1868 Buckley's Guide, but I would have to double check. For a time I had great recall of those early tutors but since I have turned my focus to later stuff those early works start to blur together.

The variations for SF are pretty much endless. Since you are in the beginner phase, I recommend raising the 4th as instructed. But at a certain point you might start to realize that most of the "bass elevated" pieces may be played in standard. For SF it requires a little rearranging. Instead of playing the root C, I will play the octave match of the high note. Works for me anyway. The octave interval exercises are the key to avoiding raising the bass. That said, time spent with all the interval exercises is a good idea.

And don't forget to focus on alternate fingering.