Carora by Antonio Lauro: A Study Guide

The time has come for Carora by Antonio Lauro, one of the most important works in contemporary Venezuelan and worldwide guitar repertoire. 

From David Russell to John Williams and Alirio Díaz, among many others, countless great guitar virtuosos keep this piece in their repertoire. 

So you shouldn't be the exception, and you should start practicing this piece, which is of medium-to-high difficulty. 

Are you ready for Carora by Antonio Lauro? We know you are.

Carora by Antonio Lauro

Carora by Antonio Lauro is part of the guitar repertoire of a great many master players. 

The difficulty of this piece is considered medium-to-high, but newer guitarists can still begin to take their first steps with it. That's because you can adjust the tempo to make it easier. 

So our recommendation is to start practicing it with the metronome set to 100 bpm until you have the movements down. 

At the same time, another piece of advice regarding the metronome is that, as you master the piece at 100 bpm, you gradually increase the tempo in increments of ten until you reach the actual performance speed. 

We won't lie to you: if you're a beginner on the guitar but have a solid foundation, this piece can take you up to a month to learn in full, but at a slower tempo, much slower than the original. 

That said, this is nothing to worry about, and it would be a big step forward for you as a beginner. 

The Edition Revised by Alirio Díaz

The score we're providing as a visual guide so you can practice Carora by Antonio Lauro is the edition revised by Alirio Díaz himself. 

As a result, the score includes the changes that this master guitarist felt were incorrect and in need of correction. 

This means that, as you look through the score, in some sections you'll see a measure printed twice: the upper one is the original (incorrect) version, and the lower one is Alirio Díaz's correction.

Now, why are we giving you this version of the score? Well, we're doing it so you can take a moment to analyze what changed in the notation and in the sound. 

Style

As for the style of Carora by Antonio Lauro, it's a piece classified as a Venezuelan waltz. 

So if you've already practiced “Vals N°3 Natalia”, you may already be familiar with this new piece we've put together for you. 

Tempo

Carora by Antonio Lauro is a piece that is written in 3/4 time with an eighth-note subdivision that is typical of the Venezuelan waltz. 

Likewise, the tempo for performing this piece is the quarter note at 184 bpm on the metronome. This means that Carora by Antonio Lauro is a moderately fast piece. 

On that note, our recommendation is still that no matter your level on the guitar, start at a slower tempo such as 100 bpm so you can master the piece section by section. 

Harmony

Harmonically, this piece is worked out in the key of A minor, which is why you'll come across both the harmonic and melodic scales—in other words, accidentals on the sixth and seventh degrees of the A minor scale.

The harmonic function of A minor is a constant, and you'll always notice phrases repeating in a loop. So it won't be hard to identify the chords, but the positions and the height up the fretboard will require you to spend some time on them. 

Remember to download the score as a PDF file and study it to understand the differences that exist thanks to Alirio Díaz's corrections. 

We also recommend searching YouTube for a video of this piece performed by Nicholas Petrou, which is the best version for study purposes.