Taught by renowned guitaristÂ
Nikita Koshkin
In his series of progressive etudes, Nikita Koshkin introduces crucial musical and technical concepts in the context of ten inspiring, unique, and thought-provoking short works. The cycle begins by covering basic skills, such as finger alternation and simple melodies, and slowly introduces ever more complex concepts, reaching all the way up to full-string barres, virtuosic scales and arpeggios, complex articulation, and counterpoint. A basic understanding of musical and guitar-specific notation is required to begin learning the first study. However, the beauty and subtle complexity of musical concepts introduced throughout the cycle is masterfully combined with the technical approachability of the first few etudes. This series has been commissioned by tonebase and written specifically for tonebase subscribers.
Progressive Study No. 1
The first study of this cycle focuses on alternation between your right-hand thumb and your other fingers, creating implicit polyphony and allowing you to focus on right-hand stability through intelligent fingerings.
Progressive Study No. 10
In the final study of this collection, Nikita Koshkin challenges you to apply your musical awareness to the ever-changing rhythmical groupings of the 7/8 meter. This acts as an additional challenge to the technical difficulty posed by rapid chord sequences, advanced articulation, longer scales, and ornaments.
Progressive Study No. 2
This study on three-note chords is structured like a theme and variations, beginning with a meditative slow theme before blossoming into an arpeggio section and returning to a more contrapuntal final variation.
Progressive Study No. 3
This three-part study introduces new technical and musical challenges, such as a faster tempo, more complex slurs, three-string barres, and hemiolas.
Progressive Study No. 4
In this study, you will be learning about natural harmonics, uneven divisions of even meters, five-string barres, and larger chords which will require the application of new techniques and a deeper understanding of Nikita Koshkin's musical language.
Progressive Study No. 5
This elegiac etude evokes the sound of the cello by opening with a long melodic line on the fourth string, encouraging us to spend some time crafting beautiful legato throughout the movement and bringing out more explicit two-part counterpoint.
Progressive Study No. 6
Written in the form of a march, this etude emphasizes the crucial notion of articulation, requiring a lot of attention to be spent on differentiating between short and long notes. Reminiscent of Koshkin's early style, the study features full six-string chords and large shifts.
Progressive Study No. 7
This faster-tempo etude introduces the important musical notions of imitation, inversion (mirroring intervals), and retrograding (playing notes in the reverse order). It involves quick alternation of arpeggios, scales, and slurs within the same phrase, as well as contrasting themes.
Progressive Study No. 8
This tremolo study challenges the player to create long, interconnected phrases and patiently develop dynamics over the course of large sections. As the tremolo subsides, it gives way to a piu mosso section characterized by wider dynamic contrasts and jagged rhythms.
Progressive Study No. 9
Study no. 9 is a slow and spacious work encouraging the player to craft and maintain a series of fragile, intimate, and ephemeral moments. It combines natural and artificial harmonics with the rhythmical challenge of performing quarter-note triplets at the same time as binary patterns.
Introduction
Nikita Koshkin introduces his Ten Progressive Studies, a tonebase commission.
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Unlock Course →Russian guitarist and composer Nikita Koshkin is known for his many famous compositions on the guitar, most well-known being his Usher Waltz which was played by John Williams.
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