Learn to Play Vacances (Demillac) from RCM Level One on Classical Guitar

Vacances (“Vacation”) by Yvon Demillac is a beautiful French piece for classical guitar.

The RCM Bridges Series has many tunes, old to modern, that are fun to play and musically compelling. The early levels especially are must-haves for any classical guitarist.

Watch the videos below for tips on how to practice and learn Vacances, so you play it beautifully.

Click here to purchase the RCM Repertoire and Etudes Level One Book.
(You’ll find many great tunes in this series, and the book is worth the investment.

Click Here for other tutorials from the RCM Bridges Series.

About the RCM Bridges Series:

(From Amazon) Bridges: A Comprehensive Guitar Series serves as the official resource for guitar assessments of the Royal Conservatory Music Development Program. Innovative in its structure, Bridges supports students from the beginner to advanced levels with carefully sequenced repertoire, etudes, and technique. Each of the Repertoire and Etudes books in the series spans all major style periods and a variety of genres, presenting an organized compilation of pieces appropriate for that level of technical development. Nine progressive levels of Repertoire and Etudes scaffold student learning at every stage of musical development. Each book contains a balanced and representative selection of works from the Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and contemporary style periods. From the classics of Aguado to the modern compositions of Zenamon, Bridges connects students to both essential literature and enticing masterpieces never before found together. The Etudes have been carefully selected to support the repertoire and isolate specific technical and musical challenges, making Bridges an ideal collection and a comprehensive teaching resource.

Click here to purchase the RCM Repertoire and Etudes Level One Book.
(You’ll find many great tunes in this series, and the book is worth the investment.

Hi, I’m Allen Mathews.

I started as a folk guitarist, then fell in love with classical guitar in my 20’s. Despite a lot of practice and schooling, I still couldn’t get my music to flow well. I struggled with excess tension. My music sounded forced. And my hands and body were often sore. I got frustrated, and couldn’t see the way forward. Then, over the next decade, I studied with two stellar teachers – one focused on the technical, and one on the musical (he was a concert pianist). In time, I came to discover a new set of formulas and movements. These brought new life and vitality to my practice. Now I help guitarists find more comfort and flow in their music, so they play more beautifully. Click here for a sample formula.

These warm-up and stretching exercises are helping me a lot! Because I’m a software developer I have to stay 8 hours typing on a computer keyboard, so I use my hands a lot during the day. At night, when I have some time to practice the guitar my hands and arms are usually in pain because they have been working a lot during the day, but I’ve found that doing the warm-up/stretching exercises in The Woodshed releases me from this pain and I’m then able to practice after doing them.
You are building a very interesting and working guitar course, because for what I’ve seen so far it really works!

-Ulysses Alexandre Alves

I have lost my entire metallic sound while I am playing now. Even my single note practice sounds more melodious, less tinny. [The Woodshed technique practice] has made a major difference in my tone. Thank you.

-Harlan Friedman

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