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Douze Etudes - Etude No. 1

Title

Douze Etudes - Etude No. 1

Composer

Heitor Villa-Lobos

Difficulty

12

Reading

5

Position

X

Duration

Medium-Short

Era

Modern

Source

Villa-Lobos Solo Guitar, Collected Works

Publisher

Editions Max Eschig

Notes

This is one of the most famous etudes of all guitar literature, and it has some bite. It is a very complex right0hand arpeggiating pattern, with chords that are relatively easy to play and switch around. The biggest difficulty comes when the pattern changes, for the couple bars where there is a fast arpeggio up the neck and then it slurs its way back down. As for reading, there is a very tricky section beginning in measure 12, until one notices it's the same diminished chord shape all the way down the neck for the next ten measures or so.