The ten-hymn selection (including among others Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing and How Firm a Foundation) largely avoids chordal style harmonization, but rather employs the open strings of the instrument in a creative way to make the melody and accompaniment sound rich, vibrant and easier to play. Most arrangements are in standard tuning (with occasional dropped D tuning) and include extensive fingerings.
The author's intent while arranging these carols was to maintain their traditional flavor while making them idiomatic for the guitar. They are intended for guitarists with intermediate to advanced technique, and are ideal for performance at intimate gatherings as well as the concert stage. Standard classical guitar notation and symbols are used throughout. Includes access to online audio.
In this book, guitarist and music historian David Grimes presents 20 “small sonatas” or sonatinas, complete with detailed performance notes and bio sketches of each of the contributing composers: Leonhard von Call, Matteo Carcassi, Ferdinando Carulli, Mauro Giuliani, Francesco Molino, and Antonio Nava. While flexible, the early 19th-century sonatina form usually consists of 2 - 4 contrasting movements, here in guitar-friendly keys, making these pieces ideal for performance by intermediate-level students. In all but the most challenging passages, Grimes has intentionally kept fingering to a minimum to allow students to form their own concept of this critical skill. Then, as many bass notes in these pieces are played on open strings, the player must develop a sense of when to selectively damp dissonant tones or observe a rest— exposing and overcoming yet another shortcoming in the education of many guitarists. Most classic guitar teachers are familiar with the easy didactic studies by Carcassi, Carulli and Giuliani; Favorite Sonatinas offers more highly developed, but not yet virtuoso pieces by the same Italian triumvirate— plus three more composers in a similar vein— promoting confident, enjoyable sight-reading by guitarists of all levels.
O’Carolan for Classical Guitar is the fourth and final volume of Guido Böger’s classical guitar arrangements of the 214 compositions of the itinerant blind Irish harper, Turlough O'Carolan (1670–1738). This last collection includes 58 solo pieces, including O’Carolan’s variations on two Scottish airs. These settings are generally intermediate in difficulty and reflect the beauty and lyricism of the original melodies, most of which are tribute tunes named for O’Carolan’s patrons: Colonel O’Hara, John O’Connor, Mrs. O’Connor, Lady Wrixon, General Wynne, Captain O’Neil, The Landlady, etc. The works are meticulously written in standard notation and are ideal for sight-reading practice, personal enjoyment, or concert performance. Moderate left-hand fingering and string numbering are provided in these well-crafted arrangements. Along with his previous Mel Bay editions, Turlough O'Carolan Irish Harp Pieces for Classical Guitar, O'Carolan Favorites and O'Carolan Airs, this book completes Guido Böger's comprehensive O'Carolan series. The set of four books would make a great gift, particularly for an Irish guitarist.
This collection of 47 favorite guitar picking tunes includes reels, jigs, waltzes, fiddle tunes and more, each arranged for classical guitar in standard notation. As these melodies lend themselves well to jamming, this collection is sure to bring any guitarist many hours of picking pleasure. Includes access to an online audio recording of the arranger performing each piece on classical guitar.
An exciting collection of Balkan music featuring songs from Bosnia, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Romania and Serbia. Enjoy captivating sounds and compelling rhythms on this exhilarating musical journey through the Balkan Peninsula. Fully fingered for an enjoyable sight-reading experience.
In the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the parlor was a room set aside for particular functions. Before the advent of the radio, it was the place where formal presentations were staged, including amateur and semi-professional concerts. This classical guitar solo collection for the intermediate to advanced player offers nine engaging and lyrical European and North American favorites of this bygone era. All of the solos are presented in standard notation only and played on authentic reproductions of period instruments on the book’s online companion recording. Author Joseph Mayes plays works by well-known guitarist-composers Carulli, Coste and Giuliani as well as the lesser-known but deserving “Kathleen Mavoureen—Romanza” by Frederick N. Crouch arranged by Charles de Janon, and Felix Arndt’s “Nola,” one of the era’s most popular ragtime piano themes, here transcribed and arranged by William Foden and the author. Includes access to online audio.
Choro is a popular instrumental-music tradition flourishing in Brazil and around the world. It preceded, influenced, and in turn was influenced by samba and bossa nova. Its repertory is vast, including thousands of choros composed by all manner of string, wind, keyboard, and percussion players—in addition to the guitar classics by João Pernambuco and Heitor Villa-Lobos. This landmark publication gives guitarists access to this seemingly endless repertory, empowering its readers to turn a choro written for any instrument into a convincing and idiomatic solo guitar arrangement. This process is taught through examples provided by Dr. Stephen Guerra, a versatile guitarist/composer intimately familiar with both classical and Brazilian guitar (violão brasileiro) as well as the choro idiom. This book is intended for both students of Brazilian guitar and classical guitarists seeking to add choros to their repertory and play them authentically. It includes: • Original solo arrangements plus lead sheets and online recordings of 10 choros for the intermediate to advanced classic guitarist. • Biographical and performance notes regarding the selected composers and compositions. • Insightful suggestions for further reading, listening, and study. • Extensive endnotes explaining arrangement choices, notation practice and influences. Dr. Guerra focuses on classics from the pioneering generation of choro composers culminating in the artistry of João Pernambuco, Pixinguinha, and Heitor Villa-Lobos; among others, these include compositions by choro pianists Chiquinha Gonzaga and Ernesto Nazareth, samba singer-composer Noel Rosa, choro bandleaders Joaquim Calado and Anacleto de Medeiros, and Brazil’s early flute virtuoso, Patápio Silva. Includes access to online audio.
With this collection of 26 folk hymns, author Peter Irvine brings shape-note music into the home, and provides adaptable music for a variety of instrumental ensembles. This format allows for instruments such as the mountain dulcimer, Native American or transverse flute, penny whistle, fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and so forth. Anyone can play shape-note music, even when Sacred Harp gatherings or “singings” are not easily accessible. The hymns in this collection are drawn from various classic shape-note sources like Southern Harmony (1835) and The Sacred Harp (1844). Presented in lead-sheet format (melody, chords, and lyrics), and written in keys accessible to all C instruments and several D instruments such as the penny whistle and mountain dulcimer, the material offers plenty of arrangements. Hymns can be sung by a soloist, in unison by a small group with chordal accompaniment, or a mixed ensemble.
In this popular book concert guitar soloist Gerard Garno presents a variety of guitar solo arrangements on 25 hymn and gospel favorites. A unique feature of this book is the inclusion of a simple fingerstyle solo, an advanced fingerstyle solo, the hymn text and tune with chords shown and historical notes on each selection. Written in notation and tablature, these solos sound equally good on steel or nylon string guitars.
