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Leo Brouwer – Estudios Sencillos
“Simplicity for the fingers, complexity for the ears.”
- Leo Brouwer
Outline 1. Origins
2. First series of five
3. What does “simple” mean?
4. Unique technical concepts
5. Intro to contemporary music
6. Second volume of etudes
7. African musical elements
8. Structure
9. Gregorian chant
10. Etude No. 6
11. Etude No. 10
12. Two different approaches
13. Villa-Lobos studies
14. Additional Resources
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Origins The Estudios Sencillos started as a small group of five etudes written from 1960
to ’61 and gradually extended over the next forty years to thirty individual studies.
Maestro Brouwer’s initial motive for writing these etudes came from his experience
teaching the so-called “etudes for beginners” by the great composers of the 19th
century including Carcassi, Coste, and Sor. These etudes all failed to effectively
isolate and develop individual techniques, and therefore, Brouwer found that
“beginners were fighting with difficulty” when trying to play them.
Carcassi’s Etude No. 1, “Allegro”
First series of five Brouwer composed the first group of five etudes to help his beginning students who
were “breaking their fingers” on the aforementioned traditional etudes of the 19th
century. Years later while he was traveling in Japan, he found young children playing
the etudes quite successfully. This is exactly what he wanted with this initial set.
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What does “simple” mean? Musically, the pieces are actually quite advanced. They have complicated
harmonies, rhythm, and broken lines. However, they are “simple in the way to
play,” meaning the act of physically playing them is very manageable, to the point
where “a boy of 5 years old can play them.”
For example, Etude No. 1 is for developing the thumb. If the thumb is working, the
rest of the piece will as well. This allows the student to simply focus on developing
one isolated technique at a time.
Leo Brouwer’s Etude No. 1 from Estudios Sencillos
Unique technical concepts The focus of every study in the entire set of Estudios Sencillos is unique. In fact,
Brouwer never repeats technical concepts or musical patterns used for
development.
For example, Etude No. 1 is for the thumb, No. 2 is for left hand finger
independence, No. 3 is for speed, No. 4 is for small barres, and so on.
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Intro to contemporary music Each study uses a different “little element” of contemporary music that is simple
and organic. With these etudes, Brouwer is not trying to force contemporary
sonorities on the students, but rather “very discretely” introduce them to the
sound of this modern compositional style.
Second volume of etudes When Brouwer created the first five etudes in the early 60’s, he never intended to
make another set. However, the beginners who were playing them kept asking him
for more, so he made another five, and then another five… all the way up to 30!
Not all teachers were overly excited about the idea of having new sets of Brouwer’s
etudes to teach their students. They would tell him, “I don’t like the sound of your
studies, but for some reason, my students all want to play them.” To Brouwer, this
was a success.
African musical elements In addition to the technical aspects, the etudes introduce beginners to new,
foreign musical elements. One trend throughout the etudes and all of Brouwer’s
music in general is the influence of African musical elements which he became
obsessed with as a child and continued throughout his life.
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A good example of this influence is found in Etude No. 5 where the African
cinquillo is mixed with the European polka to create a Cuban rhythm called
the “danzon.” The combination of these two foreign elements creates a rhythm
that is one bar syncopated followed by one bar straight. This “danzon” rhythm is
used throughout the study, and although it sounds quite natural in its context, it is a
unique element to the music of Cuba.
The “danzon” rhythm - a combination of cinquillo and polka
Structure Back when he was a student of Brouwer’s, the Uruguayan classical guitarist
Eduardo Fernandez analyzed the entire set of Estudios Sencillos. A trend he found
across most of the etudes was they each started in one place, worked up to a
moment of climax, and returned to the original point.
This discovery was a complete surprise to Brouwer who never analyzed his own
music. However, he understood it came instinctually from his fascination with
structure. In fact, Brouwer’s obsession with structure regularly led him to music
shops as a young boy where the owners would allow him to stay for 3 to 4 hours
each day, listening and analyzing stacks of musical scores.
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Gregorian chant What Eduardo Fernandez’s discovery made Brouwer realize is that the etudes were
heavily influenced by the Gregorian chant, a genre he had studied extensively.
The structure of the Gregorian chant is actually built to mirror a human life - birth
that grows to a climax and then decay to death. It was his study of this genre
that in the end dramatically influenced the structure of this simple set of etudes.
Gregorian chant structure, mirroring a human life
Etude No. 6 The focus of the sixth study is on developing the student’s arpeggios. To maximize
this etude’s efficiency, Brouwer created a second formula that is often completely
ignored by players. This other formula is equally important to master for a student’s
development.
The progression of harmony in this study is “quite cliche,” even predictable at times.
This is done on purpose to keep the focus on the technical development at hand.
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Etude No. 10 Many of the traditional etudes from the 19th century fail to approach the
development of natural virtuosity. When Brouwer wrote these studies, one of his
goals was to make “beginners play like virtuosos.”
The tenth study is a perfect example of this. The speed and agility of this etude
makes it sound like a competition piece but the movements themselves all fit
perfectly under the hand, even a beginner’s. After playing this piece, many
students feel like their “hands can run like Paco de Lucia!”
Two different approaches In his time listening to performances of these etudes, Brouwer has identified two
primary approaches. The first being a virtuoso approach where the students
simply “play the etudes for the fingers” and don’t care as much about the music.
The second way is the student who plays the guitar like it’s an orchestra. They have
taken all the pieces of the etude and constructed an interpretation, “like building a
house.” Brouwer uses this word “constructing” on purpose. He encourages
students to employ the materials that are give by the composer (melodic patterns,
harmony, atmosphere, etc.) and construct their own interpretation as opposed to
just learning the piece from “A to Z.”
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Villa-Lobos studies There have been countless etudes written over time with the primary goal of
technical development. However, the truly great etudes are the ones that use
musical elements to develop this technique.
The best example of this are Heitor Villa-Lobos’s Douze Etudes which Brouwer
portrays as the holy grail of guitar studies. Many great composers since have tried to
reach the level of this set, but for Brouwer “there is no result.” To him, the secret of
the Villa-Lobos etudes is in the fact that “he did great music while at the same
time breaking the fingers of the people.”
Additional Resources Leo Brouwer’s Estudios Sencillos are very similar to the twelve written by Villa-Lobos
in that they will undoubtably stand the test of time. Where they are truly unique is
in their general appeal to students of all levels, from absolute beginners to
performing artists. Continue your own study of this amazing set of pieces with the
additional resources offered below.
1. Rene Izquierdo’s lessons on Estudios Sencillos 1 - 10
2. Andrea De Vitis’s lesson on Etude No. 17
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