Your other hobbies (2025- )

[karadekoolaid]

The pieces themselves are not overly long or difficult, but perfecting them in various aspects is - not just getting the notes right, but the tone and attack of each note, voicing balance, pacing, phrasing and timing, dynamics etc. and objectively, I've only been partially successful on some of these. Nevertheless some of the results are semi-pleasing. I hope you like them.

I think you've done extremely well on those. Well done indeed!
I'm definitely not an expert on guitar techniques, but I am a classically trained musician, so the overall performance is something I'm always "aware" of.
Studies ( or " Études", as they were known) were written to practise a specific technique. My piano teacher used to torture me with Dohnányi studies and Chopin studies, and I'd go home thinking seriously about giving up piano and sticking to singing arias, but still..as I said, I'm not familiar with guitar-playing techniques
If I may ( and you're perfectly entitled to tell me to bu**er off), I'd look at bringing out the melodies in each study; a little "sostenuto" on the melody notes and a slightly more "forte", added to more "piano" for the accompanying notes. If you can phrase the melodies, I think a lot of your concerns might be resolved.
Beautiful, relaxing music!

 

[vernplum]

I think you've done extremely well on those. Well done indeed!
I'm definitely not an expert on guitar techniques, but I am a classically trained musician, so the overall performance is something I'm always "aware" of.
Studies ( or " Études", as they were known) were written to practise a specific technique. My piano teacher used to torture me with Dohnányi studies and Chopin studies, and I'd go home thinking seriously about giving up piano and sticking to singing arias, but still..as I said, I'm not familiar with guitar-playing techniques
If I may ( and you're perfectly entitled to tell me to bu**er off), I'd look at bringing out the melodies in each study; a little "sostenuto" on the melody notes and a slightly more "forte", added to more "piano" for the accompanying notes. If you can phrase the melodies, I think a lot of your concerns might be resolved.
Beautiful, relaxing music!

Thank you for this feedback! Genuinely appreciated.

Yes - bringing out the melody or accenting different voices (or putting the accompaniment lower) is something I definitely need to work on more. It's easier on some pieces, for example the first one I posted where the tune is primarily on the top string and fairly distinct, whereas in other etudes it may switch around to the bass or inner voices which are a lot harder to emphasise. Also, on some pieces it can be hard to see what the composer intended to be brought out melodically and is it just a mechanical exercise or whatever. And then on the classical guitar you really have to work to get a nice loud and solid tone on a melody note which depends on your nail conditions, attack and so on and then you've got sustain (or lack of) on the higher strings to contend with.

I'm still learning and the more you learn the more you realise there is to learn.

Cheers

 

[karadekoolaid]

Thank you for this feedback! Genuinely appreciated.

You're very welcome.
Even though I never pursued a music career, I can still recall some of my singing classes. There's me, thinking my rendering of Schubert's Erlkonig was pretty good, only to get 567 suggestions as to how to improve.
Patience, grasshopper, comes to mind!

 

[Herbaceous]

Not quite a hobby (since I have no interest in pursuing it) but we had a team-building event for work earlier this week and we did a woodworking “workshop”. I used that term loosely since they basically just let us loose in the shop. Here’s the charcuterie board I made.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

These are for my mum. She loves pink and needs new socks. All of the ones I've knitted previously don't fit her swollen legs anymore, so these are much bigger.