Renaissance Guitar Lessons

Tanz is a short piece of renaissance guitar music which has a catchy melody and is very fun to play once you are comfortable with the bass accompaniment played by the thumb. Before you tackle the melody, it is a good idea to practice the accompanying bass-line separately until it becomes almost subconscious. You will also need to make sure that your low-E string is tuned down a whole-tone to D, the easiest way to tune tine to ‘drop D’ tuning is to compare the pitch of the string you are lowering to the open D string. Remember – listen, loosen, tighten – tune!  I spent about forty minutes practising before I made this little video – hope you like it.

Tanz

Wilson’s Wilde is a fast paced dance tune, a jolly melody and an uplifting ditty. Because the piece’s time signature is 3/4 it’s a good idea to count – 1,2,3 / 1,2,3 / 1,2,3 / 1,2,3 – to get a feel of the beat. As I mentioned earlier, it’s a fast paced tune so make sure you start off slow and gradually build up to speed. I usually recommend that players start at about half the pace they wish to eventually play the piece at and go up in gradual increments from there. Remember, as always - accuracy first, speed later.

Wilson’s Wilde