Practice Hints for Spanish Ballad (26.4)

         This selection will be a good challenge for you. Again this piece can be practiced in chords which should let you progress much faster.

          In this piece a first and second ending are being used. Play to the first ending.

and then repeat from the beginning of the piece. When you get to the bottom of the page, skip the first ending and jump into the second ending

         The same rule applies to the second page. Below the second ending of the second page you will see the following: D. C. al Fine. This means go back to the beginning of the piece and play till you see the word Fine.

         Watch the change in key signatures. The second page is written in four sharps:

          It will take you a while to figure out the higher notes. Don’t loose patience. This piece is not as hard as it might seem.

          As in the minuet, you will have to practice in chords. The chords are not as obvious as in the minuet since they are spread out over the whole measure.

Line one, measure one:

This is the chord once
you ignore the repeated notes.

There are also some new symbols in this piece:

                       This tells you to bar (placing your first finger across all the strings) the fifth fret with your finger.

Bar the first four strings.

C = Cejilla = Spanish for fret

Note:

        When you bar a fret and you see a 1 as a fingering, remember that you are already playing that note.