Ernesto García de León's 20 Studies, Op. 50 is an ingenious collection thataddresses fundamental questions about how to develop and maintain guitar technique. It is designed toserve guitar teachers and students as well as performers and concert audiences. Since it explores notjust the technique of our instrument, but its musicaland expressive aspects as well, it makes daily technical work enjoyable, not tedious?even for someone only beginning to study the guitar.

For guitar teachers and students, 20 Studies canserve as a basic curriculum or it can complementother methods or other sets of studies. For performers, it provides a complete overview and tune-up ofthe guitar technique in one graded set of daily studies that can be played in less than half an hour. Thiswarm-up then provides the player delicious concertrepertoire?as the complete set, or in smaller groups,or in combinations with other music by ErnestoGarcía de León.

These musical exercises are also useful to rectify,reform or rehabilitate the guitar technique.

The materials out of which the twenty studies aredeveloped are first idiomatic patterns of the guitarand then the variety of musical styles so appealing toand characteristic of Ernesto García de León. For example, classic examples of the music of theCaribbean coastal basin in general and thecomposer's native state Veracruz in particular appearunvarnished in #12 (a rumba veracruzana) and #20(a son). The other studies blend elements of Mexicanmusic in general?songs of the revolution, nativedances, boleros, children's songs, and so forth?withelements of European classical music, Beatles, NewAge music, jazz and other musical styles, in a wayintended to appeal to the player and to the listener.

As the summary on pages 34 and 35 illustrates,the first sixteen studies explore basic formulas for theright hand. At the same time, they also address thefull range of left hand techniques?including balanceand positioning, independence of the fingers, longitudinal and transversal movements, shifts by substitution, by displacement, by jump, and by positions,barring, stretches and contractions, damping, pivoting, crossed movements, and movements with fixedfingers. The last four studies concern the slur.

Though each of the basic right- and left-hand formulas explored in the twenty studies is relativelysimple in itself, each is a building block of a solidtechnique. Mastery of the complete set of twentystudies?less than half an hour of music?integratesall the formulas and develops the technique to a levelat which an enormous range of the guitar repertoirebecomes available.

English - German.

The Sonata for guitar solo was conceived in 1981 and premiered in 1984 by the author. It has been revised several times, the final version was finished in 1999 and dedicated to the great guitarist Zoran Dukic. It follows the outline of Classical Sonata Form but is heavily influenced by the rhythmical, melodic and harmonic language of jazz and traditional Balkan music.

8.75 x 11.75 inches.

This collection of Latin-influenced pieces is ideal for the classical or fingerstyle guitarist seeking challenging new material that spans a number of genres and is melodically, harmonically, and rhythmically engaging. For the classical guitarist, the collection offers an excellent source of solos inspired by traditional forms and styles while providing new works that will readily compliment the traditional classical guitar repertoire. Fingerstyle players will discover attractive pieces, appreciating the many syncopated rhythms. The composer himself, with a degree in classical guitar, performs on a modified steel-string instrument. Written in standard notation only, the author's detailed fingerings and online audio recordings will facilitate learning these delightful pieces ranging from intermediate to advanced levels. Includes access to online audio. At Mel Bay Publications, we are privileged to hear a lot of new, original music. With Michael Bellmont's guitar compositions, we guarantee that once you hear them, you'll want to play them yourself!