Carulli - Waltz Theme

Hi there GMC and welcome to the lesson :)

This time it is a waltz theme by Ferdinando Carulli (1770-1841), an Italian classical guitarist and composer, and author of the first complete classical guitar method, which is still being used today. He also helped a lot in construction of a classical guitar we know today, previously guitars were smaller in size and less resonant.

A waltz is a dance for couples in triple meter, invented in the middle of 18th century in Germany and Austria. At first it was a country dance, but later on it was adopted by upper classes and became a standard dance in ballrooms.

This is a fairly easy piece, and the main focus is introduction to chords playing in classical music.

In this piece there are two main right hand techniques used: TIRANDO and APOYANDO

TIRANDO (free stroke) finger strikes a string in a round angle without muting or stopping the sound. Mainly used in chords and arpeggios.

APOYANDO (rest stroke) finger strikes a string in a downward angle, causing finger to rest on neighboring string. Causes a rounder and louder tone than tirando, and it's mainly used for emphasizing a melodic line.

The next lesson will be the variation of the waltz theme.


Key signature: C Major
Time signature: 3/4
Tempo: 120 bpm

Have fun! :)

Dejan