Fernando Sor Study No.20 for Classical Guitar

A Legato Study in A Major.

Fernando Sor’s complete studies Opus 60 is one of the most famous etude collections for the guitar and is undoubtedly one of the most musical compared to other 18th-19th Century composers for the guitar. Fernando Sor lays out his vision for playing the guitar in this work and as such it's not a method book even though the first few studies are accessible to most new players. The studies range from grades 1 - 7, although most are around grades 4 - 5.

It's not a method book, instead Fernando Sor lays out his vision for how you should play the guitar.  As such it's hard to initially see the intent as you work through the studies as they don't always logically follow on from one another. However, the one thread through it all though is his insistence that you develop and make use of legato technique(s).

In this video I'm looking at No.20 from Opus 60. No.20 is in the key of A major, the objective is a lesson in economy playing and legato technique.

Bars 1 - 8: Sequential planting of left hand fingers. Hold each finger down after planting so that the notes ring over one another.

Bars 9 - 28: Sequential planting again, but take care with the right hand fingering, using P for the lower pitches and I, m for the upper pitches.

Bars 38 - 44: A section that uses tenth intervals, so be mindful of the large string skips, again alternate P and I, m fingers.

The sheet music I'm using is Ophee/de Kloe's Chanterelle edition: https://www.spanishguitar.com/Product/3153/30/The-Complete-Studies-For-Guitar-(opheede-Kloe)_Sor,-Fernando/