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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