This collection contains sixty easy Renaissance pieces from various European countries, and from works of well known, but also obscure or anonymous composers, transcribed for the classical guitar mainly from lute, vihuela, and bandore sources. The pieces will be published in three volumes, each volume containing twenty pieces.
I have tried to include pieces of varied difficulty in all three volumes and also to keep the upper level of technical difficulty to the contemporary grade IV level of the A.B.R.S.M. which takes the student to the intermediate level (grades IV-VI).
The pieces in each volume are given in two versions, first as decorated pages in ordinary notation, and then the same pieces are again given in undecorated pages of notation and tablature. Therefore each volume contains two books in one and the choice is left to the user whether to keep the volume as presented, or to construct his own book by inclusion or deletion of unwanted pages, blank pages, etc, for use either as a printed or a tablet-screen book version. The addition of tablature of course results in doubling the number of pages needed for the presentation of the pieces, therefore the staff sizes are here reduced to an appropriate degree which can maintain the two-page view principle of any piece without need for automatic or manual page turners, foot pedals etc.
The inclusion of tablatures which shows a preference for open string combinations whenever that is possible, clarifies sufficiently the left hand playing positions without need for additional fingerings.
Having said that, my professional advice to all guitar students is to abandon completely their reliance on tablatures and study seriously through many easy collections of music such as the present one in order to familiarise themselves to all aspects of musical notation. And always have in mind that tablatures were invented and still are in use only for fretted instruments, and only due to commercial (publisher?s) considerations primarily, while other string instrumentalists neither have them available, nor need them in order to study/play music.

Metronome marks are only suggestions that need not be taken too literally and are placed mainly for guiding a score writer programme such as Sibelius for performance and extraction of audio and video files. To this end many other expression and/or technique and tempo marks may have been added to the score and made invisible.

NAVIGATION INDEXES ? External and Internal links

The second page in every volume is an index divided into three columns. The first column has the titles of the pieces as active invisible links which take the user to the relevant tablature page. The header of that page brings the user back to this index.
The second column has visible links (in frames) to live performances of the pieces either by professional guitarists or students, which are only for getting familiar with the music, but not as suggestions that particular performances should be followed for study purposes.
The third column contains active links to information about particular composers, found mainly in Wikipedia, but sometimes also in other external sources.
The third page in every volume contains a thematic index of active links to the decorated (without tablatures) pages of the pieces. The header of every decorated page brings the user back to this index.
Finally, the titles of all decorated and tablature pages are active links of interconnection between these pages.

This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard?s global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.

ISBN 9782897956813.

The Guitar Foundation of America (GFA) is committed to cultivating Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access in the international guitar community and in the repertoire published for the instrument. Many factors, including a composer's race, gender, and sexual orientation, have historically created a narrow representation of our community in the classical music canon. For this first volume of the GFA Spotlight Series, the GFA commissioned seven new works by composers of color. The second volume of this series will follow with seven transcriptions of existing pieces by composers of color. These commissioned pieces and transcriptions were premiered by students in the GFA Mentorship Program in 2021.
With this collection, the guitar takes a step towards a more inclusive and representative repertoire that nurtures creativity and inclusion for generations of guitarists to come. Growing the canon enriches the musical experiences of our entire international guitar community through exposure to diverse perspectives and voices, complementing the invaluable lessons we learn from the existing contributions of pieces that form the canon.

ISBN 9781609744724. Traditionally the classic guitar has been either excluded or inadequately represented in orchestration textbooks, resulting in much misinformation about its technique, its practicality in various performance contexts, and its character. The guitar's unique tuning, broad timbral variety and intimate nature pose a formidable challenge to non-guitarist composers, for whom an extensive amount of time would be required to gain even a minimal hands-on acquaintance. For most composers this is an unrealistic expectation, leading to time-consuming consultations and extensive drafting or rewriting. The purpose of this book is to provide the non-guitarist composer with the fundamental tools needed to write idiomatically for the guitar. The first of its kind for the guitar, the reference was written in consultation with dozens of composers and conceived with three types of end users in mind: Experienced composers with a concern for writing idiomatically for the guitar. Guitarists who are commissioning a work from a composer who has never written for the instrument. Libraries that wish to add this essential sourcebook to their music reference section.The very structure of the book reflects the composer's own intuition by addressing such questions as: How is the guitar constructed? What does successful guitar music look like? How is the guitar played? How does the guitarist interpret music and express emotion? Which musical elements and gestures are most effective? How do these elements combine to create an effective pacing of idioms? By examining the parameters of successfully written pieces, The Composer's Desk Reference for the Classic Guitar provides an expedient resource of ideas and illustrations contributing to the fluency of both first-time and seasoned guitar composers.

ISBN 9781609742041. This volume contains sixteen pieces for the beginning classical guitar duo. Efforts have been made to include composers of note from various periods such as Tchaikovsky, Dowland, Beethoven, Bartok, and Bach, yet the music is not above the abilities of beginning readers. By and large, the key signatures have only one sharp or flat and the accidentals are minimal. The music falls within first position and difficult bar chords have been avoided. The book will provide beginning duos access to music by great composers that is not beyond their capabilities. Written in standard notation only with suggested left hand fingering. This book contains the score and parts for guitars I and II.

ISBN 9781619115842. 8.5 X 11 inches.

Crystal Harmonics for Guitar provides the guitarist with practical advice on playing harmonics and how to perform them with a crystal-clear tone. The material also covers various notation systems used by composers and publishers and includes examples of harmonics from regular guitar repertoire. Natural harmonic pitches and positions (by string and fret) are presented along with right-hand artificial harmonic techniques. In addition, you will learn how to tune the guitar with harmonics and how to practice passages which include them. This book can help guitarists interpret harmonics and provides composers with notational information to facilitate the reading process.

ISBN 9781609744434. A collection of chansons printed in various collections between 1529 and 1543 by Pierre Attaingnant, the inventor of single-impression printing. The arrangement of chansons for lute or keyboard was an important source of instrumental music in the sixteenth century. The chansons in the present anthology, the fruits of a particularly rich period in French music, are modern arrangements for guitar or lute made in accordance with procedures found in French prints of the time. The musical styles range from the serious, imitative Franco-Flemish chanson of northern composers to the charming, light-hearted, and often ribald chansons that furnished musical entertainment in early sixteenth-century Paris. Although the arrangements are instrumental, text translations are furnished to aid in interpretation of the music and to amuse the modern reader as they amused the listener in the 1530s and 1540s. Standard notation only.

ISBN 9781619116955. 8.5 X 11 inches.

In his quest to compile an anthology of the best pieces by vihuela composers, David Grimes encountered the rich complexity of the music of Luys Milan. He also noticed many discrepancies in fingering and in the notes themselves in various existing transcribed editions. Following a period of exhaustive research the author prepared this authoritative guitar edition of the fifty fantasias in Milan's seminal 1536 book, El Maestro. The resulting edition provides a more accurate sense of the virtuosity of this music. These extraordinary pieces are presented here in standard notation only with extensive historical and performance notes. Of this collection the author writes, It is my sincere hope that this new edition will help bring this glorious repertoire to the attention of more of today's many outstanding performers, and that Milan's fantasias will more often take their deserved place on recital programs, alongside the masterworks of John Dowland and Francesco da Milano.