Tárrega
Tárrega — Prelude in B minor (No. 6)
Pizzicato at the bridge
Level 5/5 · 26 bars · Practice tempo · 50 bpm
Alier calls for pizzicato throughout. Rest the edge of the right hand on the strings near the bridge, adjusting the pressure so each pitch remains audible. For the harmonics in bar 4, release the damping contact and let the harmonic ring. The suggested practice tempo is 50 quarter notes per minute.
Skills to prepare
- Pizzicato at the bridge
- Natural harmonics
- Slurs and a slide
Before learning the piece
- Play five damped bass notes and sing their pitches to check that they remain clear. Practise this skill.
- Match the volume of the plucked note and its slurred resolution five times. 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.
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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
Rest the edge of the hand lightly near the bridge so the bass retains its pitch under the slurs.
Phrase 2 · bars 3–4
In bar 4, touch node XII on the three treble strings, then node VII on the fifth string.
Phrase 3 · bars 5–6
Count a sixteenth and a dotted eighth at the end of bar 5 and let the thumb answer in time.
Phrase 4 · bars 7–8
In bar 8, listen for the bass moving from F-sharp to F-natural before the fermata.
Phrase 5 · bars 9–10
Sustain the low F-sharp and let the D pull off to open B above it.
Phrase 6 · bars 11–12
Use the open bass D to shift into the upper register with a relaxed left thumb.
Phrase 7 · bars 13–14
Pluck the start of each short slur and let the left hand sound its destination.
Phrase 8 · bars 15–16
Alternate the inner string and the first string, spacing the sixteenth notes evenly.
Phrase 9 · bars 17–18
Start broadening the pulse at the ritardando in bar 17 and give the fermata in bar 18 its space.
Phrase 10 · bars 19–20
Listen to the descending bass and prepare the fingers together before each chord.
Phrase 11 · bars 21–22
Slide from E to the small G on the second string, then pluck the sustained G again in bar 22.
Phrase 12 · bars 23–24
Count two full beats for each chord, listening for the change from A-sharp to A-natural.
Phrase 13 · bars 25–26
Prepare the bass B on the sixth string before the last chord and let the half note last.
Watch and listen
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Lesson · This is Classical Guitar
General lesson: listen to the clarity of the attack before working on the damped sound 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.