Left Hand Shifting Problem: Part 2. Opening of Villa-Lobos's Prelude # 5.

This is to follow up to an earlier post called "Left Hand Shifting Problem". There, I invited you to explore issues related to maintaining legato (connection) while playing a scale on one string and executing a position change.

If you've made some conclusions from that little dare, you might find this an interesting follow-up.

I'm sure there are many great examples out there that could illustrate the point, but I can't think of very many that are better, more (maddeningly, in its simplicity) challenging, and commonly played than this:  the opening few bars of Villa-Lobos's Prelude No. 5, one of the bread-and-butter pieces of the classical guitar repertoire.

I suggest you focus just on the first two measures:

The challenge here is the same as before: to keep the scale-like melodic top line completely legato. Each note audibly connected to the next.  First of all, taking care to coordinate right and left hand actions so that the top line really sings as you're playing in one position . . . and then. . . doing what you need to do in order to keep the line legato between position shifts. . .

To me, keeping that line legato is an essential component of giving it a kind of innocence (or maybe a faux-innocence?) that this piece seems to have in its character.  But anyway, it's just a scale up and down. It's simple, right? So it should sound simple. . . and connected.  It doesn't need a different articulation on every other melodic note just coz we're guitarists and, you know, we've gotta change positions and it's hard (or impossible!) to keep it legato!!! "But dude, there's a position shift there. . . " is the shitty guitarist's attitude. You and I, we're better than that, right? ;-)

(OK, my only hint is that we ain't gonna get it with lunging fast movements or harder gripping or harder anything. . . Take a few deep breaths and just play with it gently, checking out what you might need to loosen (or not) in the left hand, wrist, arm, shoulder, fingers. . . in order to allow the legato to happen. Also, remember, music doesn't happen note by note, but gesture by gesture. . . Think about that in how you consider your physical movements to execute this passage. . . )

Acknowledgment:  I've got to thank a lovely student at the Sydney Con that I got the pleasure of working on this with, and around whom I was able to develop a few ideas about how to tackle this, ideas that I won't present here just yet so as not to deprive you of the pleasure of discovering your own answers!

The Heitor Villa-Lobos Preludes were originally published by Editions Max Eschig, and are now published by Editions Durand, Paris. Here is the link to view them on sheetmusicplus.com:
http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/Cinq-Preludes/17417131