This is Classical Guitar

Author: Bradford Werner

  • Abel García Ayala Plays Three Pieces by Carlos Chávez

    Abel García Ayala Plays Three Pieces by Carlos Chávez

    Mexican guitarist Abel García Ayala performs Piezas for guitarra (Three pieces for guitar) by Mexican composer Carlos Chávez (1899–1978). This comes via Knobloch Strings and their YouTube channel. Wonderful rhythmic performance by Abel García Ayala with a wide variety of textures and moods. Chávez was a major composer of piano, chamber and symphonic music who only wrote two works with guitar. Here’s the Knobloch YouTube description and a link to more info.

    …These pieces for guitar by Carlos Chávez, are the first pieces written in Mexico for this instrument in the 20th century, in the nationalist style or language…Three Pieces for Guitar is an emblematic piece for the Mexican classical guitar, which emulates the sounds and memories of the music of pre-Hispanic Mexico, of indigenous Mexico. Carlos Chávez transmits us through these three pieces the dances, songs, ritual music, pre-Hispanic priestly chants, rhythms and counterpoints, as well as timbres that generate soundscapes to remind us of Mexico before the conquest.

    Do you want to know more about this music? You can read in our blog the article written by Abel García about this piece. [article in Spanish]

  • Simon Farintosh Plays Distant Light

    Simon Farintosh Plays Distant Light

    Canadian guitarist Simon Farintosh performs his own composition Distant Light that recently won the Ottawa Guitar Society Composition Competition. This comes via Simon’s YouTube Channel. Congratulations to Simon on a beautiful piece and excellent performance. You can find his sheet music edition via Les Productions d’Oz. The piece will also be featured on his upcoming debut album Noctuary which we can look forward to.

  • Noémi Kucsera Plays Vals No.3, Op.8 by Barrios 

    Noémi Kucsera Plays Vals No.3, Op.8 by Barrios 

    Classical guitarist Noémi Kucsera performs Vals No.3, Op.8 by Agustin Barrios Mangore (1885-1944). This comes via Kucsera’s YouTube channel. Beautiful performance by Noémi Kucsera with a nice combination of rhythmic clarity along with relaxed pacing and flowing phrases. Amazing recording location at the breathtaking Subotica Synagogue in Serbia. Plus, I love that chair! This is the first video of hers that I’ve featured so go give her YouTube channel a follow.

  • Estudio Rítmico (Beginner, Free PDF)

    Estudio Rítmico (Beginner, Free PDF)

    Estudio Rítmico – Free PDF sheet music, performance, and lesson video for mid to late beginner classical guitar. For use after my Method Book Volume 1 or during Volume 2.

    Free PDF Sheet Music Edition

    This late-beginner work is influenced by the rhythmic energy of the Estudios of Leo Brouwer which are more at the intermediate to advanced level. His works can be intriguing and motivating so I wanted to recreate some of that energy in a piece with minimal left hand requirements. I recommend completing my Classical Guitar Method Volume 1 before playing this etude. After completing my Grade 3 repertoire book you can consider exploring Brouwer’s first set of estudios. See my lesson videos for the Brouwer Estudios here.

    This is part of a collection of easy supplemental pieces after my free Classical Guitar Method Volume 1. or during my Classical Guitar Method Volume 2. This is a nice easy work without any oddities or awkward fingerings. I recommend playing it near the end or after my Volume 1 method or during my Volume 2 method. The collection I’m forming will add a few extra pieces for students to play before they move on to my graded series or just for enjoyment and extra practice.

    Here is the YouTube lesson link if you want to watch it there.

  • Peter Graneis Plays Due Canzoni Lidie by D’Angelo

    Peter Graneis Plays Due Canzoni Lidie by D’Angelo

    Peter Graneis performs Due Canzoni Lidie by Italian composer Nuccio D’Angelo (b.1955). This comes via Open Strings Berlin and their Youtube channel. Due Canzoni Lidie is a two movement piece written by Nuccio D’Angelo in 1984. I’ve posted performances of this work before and continue to enjoy hearing it and people’s interpretation. Excellent performance by Graneis with some nice meditative pacing along with exacting articulations and rhythmic delivery.

  • Minueto en Do by Barrios

    Minueto en Do by Barrios

    Minueto en Do by Agustin Barrios Mangore (1885-1944). PDF sheet music and video for classical guitar. Comes with both a notation edition with left hand fingering and a separate tab edition. The level is mid-intermediate (Grade 5-6). This is a PDF Download.

    My PDF Sheet Music Edition

    Agustin Barrios was a Paraguayan classical guitarist and composer. He was one of the great performers of his time and a prolific composer. Minueto en Do (Minuet in C) is a short and sweet work with lots of charm to offer and is an excellent intermediate piece. You’ll want to practice your barre technique to prepare for this work since there is a fair amount of barre chord work mixed with melodic lines. Otherwise, it’s a fairly straight forward piece. Follow the melodic moving lines that switch from voice to voice. Here is the YouTube Lesson link if you want to watch my performance and lesson there.

    Promo Cover and Samples

    Minueto en Do by Agustin Barrios Mangore - PDF Sheet Music
    Minueto en Do by Agustin Barrios Mangore - PDF Sheet Music
    Minueto en Do by Agustin Barrios Mangore - PDF TAB
  • Irina Kulikova Plays Allegro Solemne from La Catedral by Barrios

    Irina Kulikova Plays Allegro Solemne from La Catedral by Barrios

    Irina Kulikova performs the third movement, Allegro Solemne from La Catedral by Agustín Barrios Mangoré (1885–1944). This comes via Guitar Salon International and their YouTube channel on a 2022 Eric Sahlin guitar. A very energetic performance by Kulikova with some nice definition to the lines.

    If you’re looking for the sheet music I recommend Stover’s complete Barrios collection.

  • Ferdinando Carulli Sheet Music with Videos

    Ferdinando Carulli Sheet Music with Videos

    Ferdinando Carulli - PDF Sheet Music for Classical Guitar

    Ferdinando Carulli (1770-1841) for classical guitar. PDF sheet music with video performances and lessons. Most of my editions include both a notation-only edition with fingering and a separate tab edition. The free sheet music are notation editions with fingering.

    Ferdinando Maria Meinrado Francesco Pascale Rosario Carulli (9 February 1770 – 17 February 1841) was an Italian composer for classical guitar. He was also the author of an important method publication Méthode complète pour guitare ou lyre, op. 27 (1810), which later was revised and updated multiple times with the final opus number of Op.241. He wrote a variety of works for classical guitar, including numerous solo and chamber works and several concertos. He was an extremely prolific writer, composing over 400 works for the instrument. Read more at his wiki.

    My Sheet Music with Video Lessons of Carulli

    Except for the beginner material most of my editions include both a notation-only edition and a separate tab edition. The free sheet music for beginners are notation editions with fingering.

    Example Videos from the Above Sheet Music

  • Iva Kosić Plays Danza, Op.176 by Tedesco

    Iva Kosić Plays Danza, Op.176 by Tedesco

    Iva Kosić performs Danza from Tre Preludi mediterranei, Op. 176 (1955) by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895–1968). This comes via Siccas Guitars and their YouTube channel. Great performance with excellent dynamic range and phrasing. I love these Tre Preludi mediterranei by Tedesco which come just a few years before his 24 caprichos de Goya, Op. 195 (1961). Below is a short write-up about the work via the album notes by Graham Wade on Bokyung Byun’s Naxos album:

    Tre preludi mediterranei, Op. 176 was written in 1955 in memory of his friend Renato Bellenghi, not long after the composer had visited Florence in the summer of 1954. The preludes, originally revised and edited by the German guitarist Siegfried Behrend, are substantial virtuosic compositions with various unusual features.

    Serenatella (‘Little Serenade’), marked Allegretto, opens with a gently harmonised, lively theme which leads to passages of Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s favourite three-part chords played over a complementary bass line. This preliminary section leads on to a lively Scherzando with similarly voiced chords before a return of the opening theme. The work progresses to a dolce climactic statement.

    Nenia can be defined as a poetic composition written in praise of a deceased person. Beginning in the unusual key (for guitar) of E flat, the work is marked dolce e languido (‘sweet and languid’). It presents a kind of rhapsody in 5/4 time, structured with gentle triplets played freely with much rubato before moving on a tempo, occasionally changing the time signature to 4/4. Soon another mood enters, marked as ‘a little agitated’ but also ‘expressive and lamenting’. A final section marked dolce (and later dolcissimo) advances towards a very calm conclusion.

    The third prelude, Danza, is a virtuosic movement of rapidly alternating treble two-note chords and bass notes leading onto cadenza-like episodes of grand chords and stirring rhythms before the return of the opening textures. An andantino episode, marked ‘languid and a little melancholic’, reverts to a meditative mood before the restatement of the wild dance rhythms progresses to a fortissimo climax of chords in the higher register.

  • Q&A Lesson: Classical Guitar Position Follow-up

    Q&A Lesson: Classical Guitar Position Follow-up

    Q&A Lesson: Classical Guitar Position Follow-up. Thanks to all my patrons and supporters that submitted questions. If you’d like to support these lessons please visit my Support Page.

    Make sure to see my Full Lesson on the Classical Guitar Position.

    If you are looking for organized technique exercises you might check out my full technique book with a variety of scales and exercises from beginner to advanced levels.

    Question & Answer Times

    • 00:00 – Intro
    • 0:57 – Sliding out of position
    • 5:29 – Default Right Hand Position
    • 8:29 – Right Arm Skin Contact
    • 10:46 – Constant Contact or Floating Hands
    • 14:08 – Neck height and Left Shoulder Tension
    • 18:26 – Angled Guitar and Chest Contact
    • 19:46 – Rotating Footstool and Guitar Support
    • 21:57 – Footstool Height
    • 24:16 – Outro

    Here’s the YouTube link if you want to watch the video there.

  • Pastoral, No.9, Op.15 by François de Fossa

    Pastoral, No.9, Op.15 by François de Fossa

    Pastoral, No.9 from Douze Divertissemens, Op.15 by François de Fossa (1775-1849). PDF sheet music and video for classical guitar. Comes with both a notation edition with left hand fingering and a separate tab edition. The level is late-intermediate to early-advanced (Grade 8-9), although short, it is a mature work with a few challenges depending on your tempo and level of musicality. This is a PDF Download.

    My PDF Sheet Music Edition

    François de Fossa is one of my favourite 19th century composers for guitar and one who composed music of significantly higher quality than many of his contemporaries. In fact, he was sometimes referred to as the “Haydn of the guitar”. This work, although smaller in scope than some of his other works, is equally harmonically rich and thematically interesting. Although well known for some time, his music is still somewhat underplayed. This may have to do with the fuller harmonies which he employs making some of the works a handful on guitar. For a full exposure to his solo works I recommend Runar Kjeldsberg’s recordings of the complete solo guitar works which gives you a fuller picture of his contribution to the guitar canon. Here is the YouTube link if you want to watch my performance and lesson there.

    If you’re wondering why this work sounds familiar, the opening fragment is somewhat similar to Saint Anthony Variations Op.56 (also called, Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn) by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897). The theme of the Brahms work is not necessarily by Haydn so the attribution of the wind ensemble arrangement he heard is uncredited in research. The work has an orchestral version and four hand piano version. Due to the dates involved I’d say the similarity is purely coincidental and it’s really just though few opening notes.

    Side note: Hehe, if you listen to the final two measures you can hear Penny (my new puppy) barking…had to keep the take because she was just warming up!

  • Arpèges de Trois Notes by Carulli (Free PDF)

    Arpèges de Trois Notes by Carulli (Free PDF)

    Arpèges de Trois Notes (Arpeggios in Triplets) by Ferdinando Carulli (1770-1841) for Classical Guitar. Free PDF sheet music for mid-beginner classical guitar. I’d recommend playing this piece after completing my Volume 1 method book or during my Volume 2 method book.

    My Free PDF Sheet Music Edition

    This classical era arpeggio etude is from Carulli’s method. Allow all notes to sustain within each chord (within each bar). Keep a steady quarter note beat. Later on you may with to feel the piece in half notes. Practice in black chords and arpeggiated getting the next note needed. Here’s the YouTube Link if you want to watch it there.

    This is part of a collection of easy supplemental pieces after my free Classical Guitar Method Volume 1. or during my Classical Guitar Method Volume 2. I’m focusing on nice easy works without any oddities or awkward fingerings. The collection I’m forming will add a few extra pieces for students to play before they move on to my graded series or just for enjoyment and extra practice.