You may not know the song Recuredos de la Alhambra by its name, but you may very well have heard this striking piece. It is one of those pieces that nearly every classical guitarist aspires to master. Like many classical pieces, it also lends itself to being played on an acoustic, pick style.

Pieces of this sort are much easier to play classical style, since a classical player will use their thumb to play the melody notes and will use their ring, middle and index finger to play the tremelo-picked notes. Playing the piece pick style on an acoustic is another story alltogether. Essentially, you need to shift your picking hand extremely rapidly when switching strings in order to maintain evenness between the melody and the tremelo notes. It is certainly a daunting feat but with dedication it is definitely achievable.

In this lesson I will break the piece into its 3 logical sections. You will find that the skills you gain from practicing the first section will translate to the other sections since the entire piece repeats similar picking/melody patterns.

I hope you enjoy learning this brilliant piece! You will need tremendous patience with this one...

Recuerdos de la Alhambra is essentially comprised of 3 main sections with repeats. In this first section, you will move through a series of chord forms where the lower notes form a melody line while the upper notes are played tremelo style. This is a common style in classical and flamenco music. After learning this section, you will be fully equipped to take on the remaining sections since they all follow the same basic structure.

The tab above is based on a transcription by Paul Henry in his book The Francisco Tarrega Collection: Book/CD Pack.You may find some of the fingerings a bit awkward, but they lend themselves very well to smooth execution, which is of course a must for this piece!

You should listen to several renditions of this piece to get a feel for tempos that the piece is played at. On Rhapsody there are many renditions including ones by other instrumentalists. Click here for Rhapsody.

Since each measure is essentially of the same structure, you should start off by simply practicing the first measure until you get a feel for the rapid shifting of your pick required as you move from melody notes to the tremelo picked notes. You will find that some of the chord shapes are a bit awkward. You will certainly want to hone in on the trouble spots and give them more attention as you work your way through the piece. I hope you enjoy learning this beautiful, challenging piece!

Later,

Brian Huether

If you persevered through the first section of Recuerdos de la Alhambra then you are well armed to take on the middle section. In this middle section, you will continue to move through a series of chord forms where the lower notes form a melody line while the upper notes are played tremelo style. In this section, the piece takes on more of a major tonlity compared to the minor tonality of the opening section. This dichotomy between sorrow and uplifting contributes to the sheer emotional energy of the piece.

The tab above is based on a transcription by Paul Henry in his book The Francisco Tarrega Collection: Book/CD Pack.You may find some of the fingerings a bit awkward, but they lend themselves very well to smooth execution, which is of course a must for this piece!

You should listen to several renditions of this piece to get a feel for tempos that the piece is played at. On Rhapsody there are many renditions including ones by other instrumentalists. Click here for Rhapsody.

Hopefully by now you have a feel for recurring picking pattern of the piece. Again, you should start off by simply practicing the first measure of this section until you get a feel for the rapid shifting of your pick required as you move from melody notes to the tremelo picked notes. You will find that some of the chord shapes are a bit awkward. You will certainly want to hone in on the trouble spots and give them more attention as you work your way through the piece. I hope you enjoy continuing to learn this beautiful, challenging piece!

Later,

Brian Huether

In this third and final section of Recuredos de la Alhambra, you will continue to be exposed to the same melodic and picking patterns as from the previous two sections. By now, hopefully this recurring pattern has been reinforced in your playing and as such you should find this final section all the more easier to learn.

The tab above is based on a transcription by Paul Henry in his book The Francisco Tarrega Collection: Book/CD Pack.You may find some of the fingerings a bit awkward, but they lend themselves very well to smooth execution, which is of course a must for this piece!

You should listen to several renditions of this piece to get a feel for tempos that the piece is played at. On Rhapsody there are many renditions including ones by other instrumentalists. Some of the more notable renditions are by Segovia, John Williams, Christopher Parkening, Julian Bream and Pepe Romero (3 versions by Pepe!) Click here for Rhapsody.

Okay, now it is time to piece the three sections together. If you are not familiar with musical directions in sheet music (such as Coda, D.C. al Coda, etc), then it might not be clear how to perform this piece in its entirety. Essentially, if we consider sections one, two and three as A, B and C, respectively, then the piece is performed as AABBABC. If you are viewing this section apart from the previous two, then click here so you can view the entire guitar lesson with all three parts. I have added some directions in the tab that will help you follow the musical directions. To sum up these directions, here is how you piece the piece together:

1. Play section A (measures 1-20).
2. Repeat section A (measures 1-20).
3. Play section B (measures 21-36).
4. Repeat section B (mesaures 21-35, skip measure 36, play measure 37).
5. Repeat section A (measures 1-20).
6. Repeat section B (mesaures 21-35).
7. Play section C (measures 38-58).

My recording includes the entire piece. If you want to focus in on this last section, then you can listen in at 4:28. I also included a MIDI file of the entire piece. If you have recording software, you should be able to play the MIDI file in it and adjust the tempo to suit your progress.

I hope you have enjoyed learning this brilliant, challenging piece!

Later,

Brian Huether