Hey friends, I didn’t manage to send out the newsletter yesterday because, well, I wasn’t home. 😇
On Saturday, Capy and I went on a bike trip, the same one we tried 2 weeks ago but had to abort because we got so sick. 😅 We’d prepared ourselves since then, packed up the bikes days before the trip to be ready, checked the weather report daily, and as soon as the temperature dropped to a reasonable level, we left the house to try again.
It was funny to stop at the same places where we got sick last time, there was a bit of a catastrophe-tourism vibe to it, but this time, everything went well and we reached our destination: the most beautiful lookout in Hungary, Prédikálószék.
We spent the night there in a tent, watched the sun go down, and ate cheap noodle soup in the morning looking down the hill—it was magical. This trip was very challenging, both due to the elevation and the terrain, but it was worth all the sweat and effort.
We had so much fun, and it was so fulfilling to accomplish something I’d set myself up for a logn time ago. I was quite disappointed at first when we had to abandon our first try, but since then, all I’d been thinking about was when I could try again.
We were so excited and happy to be out there on our bikes, we decided to extend our overnighter into a 3-day bike trip, until Monday evening—hence no newsletter yesterday haha. It was absolutely spontaneous: no plans, no clean clothes, no phone chargers or anything, just pointing at something, trying to go there, and trusting our luck. At one point, we managed to ask a German couple to charge our power bank so we could breathe some power into my iPhone again haha. I mostly remembered how the main bike roads go in this area, so it wasn’t some crazy adventurous exploration, but these were mostly places I’d never seen before with my own eyes, only on Google Maps.
This short, simple trip gave me so much: energy, fun, confidence, but most importantly, a short break to recharge my creative batteries. And I know we all need structure and plans in our life, but there are some things that work out pretty well without overplanning, and this was another lesson in that.
Anyhow, I’ll just leave a few pictures here from the trip, and I’ll be back with a new video and some guitar stuff next week 😊 I have a lot of catching up to do with my practice plans haha.
Finally, here are some funny pictures of me being genuinely overwhelmed and just happy by how amazing my lunch was on day 3 (mushroom sauce tortellini with fresh mixed salad):
YouTube
I’ve slowed down on my upload volume a bit for a couple of reasons I’ve mentioned before in previous newsletter issues. I’m almost finished with my new free course, so most of the time when I record a new video, it’s for that, and I don’t plan to upload those lessons to YouTube as well.
Other than that, I’m still working patiently on the practice journal, and there’s not much free time left between these two projects to make additional YouTube videos lately. ☹️
However, you can find a little preview of the course on my Patreon page—a 12-minute lesson on the different parts of the classical guitar and what’s interesting about them:
And if you haven’t seen any of my previous uploads on YouTube, this might be a good day to catch up on them 👀
My favourite things from last week
Summer is obviously the worst time to practice guitar for me. I find it difficult to sit down and engage in longer practice sessions because, let’s be real, being outdoors and doing outdoorsy things just seems more fun. Walking by the river, biking up a hill, drinking a good craft beer in a swing bed at your favourite outdoor beer garden (which only opens over the summer) isn’t something I usually do any other time of the year.
I was thinking about what would be the best way to commit to practicing more now that I’m back home, and the answer is: a little refreshment in my repertoire. So I’m spending some time learning new and fun pieces that are, in fact, not classical pieces.
Hornet is one of my favourite characters from the video game Hollow Knight, so I’m learning this arrangement of the Hornet theme now:
She actually has her own dedicated game coming out ANY TIME NOW—I’ve been waiting patiently for like 5 years 👀—and this is a song from the new game:
And the arrangement I intend to learn:
Inspired to dive deep into guitar practice? I’ve got you!
I offer lots of resources and learning materials for guitarists, let me sum up a few:
My Favourite 11 Exercises is an easy to follow booklet including several exercises suitable for advancing beginners to advanced level players.
Get my Spanish Romance course to learn this iconic piece and some fundamental classical guitar techniques like arpeggio, barree, legato from scratch!
My YouTube channel: If you want to learn some useful tips/tricks, you'll find 300+ free videos here.
Get my digital Tárrega collection: Each piece comes in sheet music (with and without fingerings) and TAB, with a special tremolo version of the Étude in E Minor also included.
Private lessons and my availability can be found on my website.
Hugs, Betti