Carcassi Op. 60 No. 7: the study in A minor
The opening eight bars of Carcassi's seventh study, in A minor: the thumb plays a bass line in quarters while the fingers keep an A ringing in 16ths above it, with the melody's notes moving around it. Keeping the repeated note even and quiet while the bass and the melody speak is the right-hand control the study is known for.
Opens in the player looped and counted in, with the metronome on, and speeds up 5 % every 2 loops to 80 bpm. No account or microphone needed.
- Goal tempo
- 80 bpm
- Starts at
- 48 bpm
- Length
- 8 bars, looped
- Tuning
- E standard
- Time
- 4/4
- Level
- Intermediate
- Plays with
- A metronome
How to play it
The thumb on every beat, firm; the three 16ths after it light and even, the repeated A always softer than the bass.
There are two voices. The thumb plays the bass in quarters, a note on every beat; above it, after a 16th rest, the fingers play three 16ths around an A at the G string's 2nd fret, which repeats through every beat.
In bar 1 the bass walks A, C, F, E under the repeated A. From bar 2 the melody's notes move around the A, F, E, D and C, as the bass falls from D to A. Bars 5 to 7 repeat the phrase, and bar 8 ends it with a run up to the A at the top string's 5th fret.
Keep the repeated A quiet and even, and let the bass and the moving notes speak over it. The fingers can keep to their strings: the index on the G string, the middle on the B, the ring finger on the top string.
Mistakes to watch for
- The repeated A louder than the bass or the moving notes, so the music becomes a stream of A's.
- Cutting the bass short when the fingers start: each bass note lasts its whole beat.
- Losing the 16th rest at the start of each beat, so the fingers' notes come in early.
A speed plan
The player starts at 60 % of the goal and plays each tempo twice before stepping up:
- 48
- 52
- 56
- 60
- 64
- 68
- 72
- 76
- 80
That's 16 loops and about 9 minutes before you're playing at 80 bpm. If it stops being clean on the way, stop the ramp there and loop that tempo until it is. With a microphone or an audio interface you can record while you play instead: Demiurg checks every loop and steps up only after two clean ones in a row, and back down after a poor one.
Questions
How fast should I play Carcassi: Op. 60 No. 7?
The goal is 80 bpm in 16th notes, which is 5.3 notes a second. Start wherever every note is clean: the player begins at 48 bpm. Signed in, you can set a goal of your own, slower or faster, on the Exercises page.
Why is the A repeated so much?
It's a pedal: one note that stays the same while the harmony moves around it. Here the bass and the melody move and the A holds them together; playing it evenly and quietly is what the study trains.
Is Op. 60 No. 7 hard?
It's an intermediate study. The notes stay in the first position, but keeping the 16ths even and quieter than the bass takes control. Start well below the goal tempo.
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