Tárrega
Tárrega — Prelude in E major (No. 4)
Detached chords
Level 5/5 · 49 bars · Practice tempo · 76 bpm
Count three eighth notes and detach the chords while sustaining the notes Tárrega marks long. Practise the position changes without a fixed tempo first. The original marking is Allegro; 76 quarter notes per minute is a practice reference.
Skills to prepare
- Detached chords
- Barres and position changes
- Slurred grace notes
Before learning the piece
- Sound the notes of a seventh-fret barre separately before playing them together. Practise this skill.
- Play a pull-off three times, keeping the destination as clear as the first note. 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
Count the opening rest as the first of three eighths, then bring the two voices in together.
Phrase 2 · bars 3–4
Keep the inner E at fret nine through bar 3, then release the barre to move down towards the open strings.
Phrase 3 · bars 5–6
Let the upper chord in bar 5 ring through all three thumb strokes; detach only the bass notes.
Phrase 4 · bars 7–8
At the start of bar 7, slide into the small B, then pluck that B again with the chord.
Phrase 5 · bars 9–10
Play the lone low B in bar 9 before the two upper chords; the thumb waits until the next bar.
Phrase 6 · bars 11–12
On the second eighth of bar 12, listen for E-sharp between the two C-sharps even as you accent the top note.
Phrase 7 · bars 13–14
In bar 14, bring out the D-natural on the second eighth as you slow towards the open bass A.
Phrase 8 · bars 15–16
In bar 16, hold both upper notes and pull the small D-sharp off to C-sharp without adding an eighth.
Phrase 9 · bars 17–18
Recover the pulse at “a tempo” in bar 17 and continue straight across the double bar.
Phrase 10 · bars 19–20
In bar 19, prepare E at fret twelve before pulling off from F-sharp at fret fourteen.
Phrase 11 · bars 21–22
On the second string in bar 21, let the grace F-sharp resolve to E without masking the inner B.
Phrase 12 · bars 23–24
Prepare the second-position chord in bar 24 by moving the thumb towards the sixth string before its F-sharp.
Phrase 13 · bars 25–26
Sing F-sharp, E, C-sharp with the three bass notes of bar 25, then resume the tempo on B in bar 26.
Phrase 14 · bars 27–28
Keep the high slur in bar 27 light so the accent on the second eighth of bar 28 remains the peak.
Phrase 15 · bars 29–30
At the end of bar 29, set the seventh-fret barre before placing finger two at fret eight on the fifth string.
Phrase 16 · bars 31–32
In bar 32, hold both upper notes at fret nine through the bass rest and the two bass replies.
Phrase 17 · bars 33–34
In bar 33, play the first chord together with its bass B: this return begins on the first eighth.
Phrase 18 · bars 35–36
In the descent in bar 36, release pressure between positions to reach the open-string chord without scraping.
Phrase 19 · bars 37–38
In bar 37, listen for E, G-sharp, B below the held chord and prepare the slide at the end of bar 38.
Phrase 20 · bars 39–40
Separate the three chords in bar 39 by easing finger pressure; keep the hand near the neck for bar 40.
Phrase 21 · bars 41–42
After the low B in bar 41, use the two upper chords to aim for the position of the inner E in bar 42.
Phrase 22 · bars 43–44
Give the “ten.” in bar 44 some weight without adding an eighth; the last chord still falls on three.
Phrase 23 · bars 45–46
Begin slowing in bar 46 as you listen to the bass move from E to G-sharp and then to A.
Phrase 24 · bars 47–49
Move from piano in bar 47 to pianissimo in bar 48; carry that sound into the E chord in bar 49 and let it fade under the fermata.
Watch and listen
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Lesson · This is Classical Guitar
General lesson: listen to the clarity of each attack before trying the detached chords of the prelude.
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Sources and transcription choices
The notes follow the credited sources. Fingerings, phrase divisions and practice tempos are editorial learning choices. How our transcriptions work.