Preludio número 1 in the Boije engraving, in D minor: a study in connected melody, sustained voices and artificial harmonics. Tune string 6 to D; leave the other five in standard tuning. Play the 40 bars without repeats. The app adds a practice tempo of 60 quarter notes per minute and an opening mf; the source says Moderato.
Skills to prepare
- Connected melody and sustained voices
- Position shifts and small barres
- Artificial harmonics
Before learning the piece
- App checkpoint: play five descending slurred pairs with an even tone and only one attack per pair. Practise this skill.
- App checkpoint: hold a small barre through two melody notes, five times without tension. Practise this skill.
- App checkpoint: bring out the melody above three softer notes, in five steady attempts. Practise this skill.
These checkpoints belong to our learning path. They do not set a deadline for your progress.
Tablature and fingerings
The six lines represent the strings, with high E at the top. Numbers show frets; 0 means an open string. The letters p, i, m and a indicate right-hand fingers.
Read the complete static tab · Download the alphaTex file
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Your phrase-by-phrase plan
Work on a short passage. Aim for five clean attempts in a row, then connect two phrases. Bar numbers follow our transcription, including a separately numbered pickup where applicable.
Phrase 1 · bars 1–2
Keep both notes of each slur at the same volume.
Phrase 2 · bars 3–4
Let the melody finish while the bass line moves.
Phrase 3 · bars 5–6
Prepare the shift to the treble notes before leaving the small barre.
Phrase 4 · bars 7–8
Keep the melody prominent above the inner notes.
Phrase 5 · bars 9–10
Let the bass last through the melody in bars 9–10.
Phrase 6 · bars 11–12
Keep the pulse through the melody's position shifts.
Phrase 7 · bars 13–14
Play the slurs without a new right-hand attack.
Phrase 8 · bars 15–16
Keep the bass fingers in place as the melody descends.
Phrase 9 · bars 17–18
In bar 18, hold the high D on string 2 through the middle voice's descent.
Phrase 10 · bars 19–20
Prepare the leap to fret 13 before the last eighth note of bar 20.
Phrase 11 · bars 21–22
In bar 22, keep the slide on string 2 relaxed all the way to fret 3.
Phrase 12 · bars 23–24
Keep the bass slide as gentle as the melody.
Phrase 13 · bars 25–26
Let the bass notes finish during the melody's responses.
Phrase 14 · bars 27–28
Recover the same evenness in both slurred notes.
Phrase 15 · bars 29–30
Leave the bass fingers in place during the slurs.
Phrase 16 · bars 31–32
Balance the four notes in each chord.
Phrase 17 · bars 33–34
In bar 33, let both open D strings ring under the middle voice.
Phrase 18 · bars 35–36
Keep the sustained D audible while the bass line moves.
Phrase 19 · bars 37–38
Artificial harmonics: touch 12 frets above the stopped note and pluck with a.
Phrase 20 · bars 39–40
After the harmonics in bar 39, let both ordinary D notes in bar 40 finish before the rest.
Watch and listen
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Performance · Guitar Salon International
A performance of this piece: listen to the continuous melody and changes of tone colour.
English commentary. Link and metadata checked for our selection.
Lesson · This is Classical Guitar
Before bars 37–39, review artificial harmonics; this general lesson does not teach this prelude.
English commentary. Link and metadata checked for our selection.
Sources and transcription choices
The notes follow the credited sources. Fingerings, phrase divisions and practice tempos are editorial learning choices. How our transcriptions work.