�tudes for Solo Guitar
The subject of creating an educational aid for guitar students of an intermediate level that will serve also as a similar aid for theory and composition students fascinates me and motivates my compositional thought for quite a while. The objective was to create miniature complete works for the guitar, as J. S. Bach did with his fifteen inventions, in the ?manner? of an �tude that deals with specific aspects of guitar techniques and musicianship in general.


These �tudes are gradually graded based on their difficulty and style. They cover all the positions of the guitar and explore known and some unfamiliar techniques for the contemporary guitarist.
I used a compositional language more familiar for the level of the intermediate guitarist but without sacrificing my original compositional voice so these pieces could be used as concert works by the advanced musicians as well. My intention is to educate students in a multilevel study environment and to be able to promote the music of our time. During my teaching years I found that students become better musicians when they have been taught to adapt certain performance difficulties and compositional techniques at an earlier level of their training.
Titles:

1 with false optimism

2 with moderate sadness

3 with just the two of you

4 with a touch of impatience

5 with a touch of grandeur

6 with a counterpoint attitude

7 with a touch of shame

8 with a touch of boredom

9 going and never coming back

10 with a peaceful anger

11 without the heavy ones

12 without hope

13 without sense of humor

14 with a masculine attitude

15 with two little bears in mind

16 without hesitation

17 with shameless vibrato

18 with a touch of distress

19 without fear of failure

20 with this and that

21 with a kind motion

22 with a rondo attitude

23 with suspense

24 with everything you may have

Solitudeis Oneself: Three piano pieces:

1 NeverUnderestimate the Difficulties of Simple Things

2 Too MuchBut Still Not Enough

3 Waitingfor Perfection is Waiting Forever

Tranquil, relaxing, "chill",minimalist, expressive music for solo piano.

You can "use" this music formeditation, study, learning, sleeping, relax or praying.

The phrase wherethe title (Solitude is Oneself)comes from belongs to Javier Ad�riz (1948-2011), Argentine poet, one ofmy best teachers and friends (the original Spanish reads "La soledad es uno mismo").

Don'tsee any negative aspects in Solitude. In Spanish there is only one word forSolitude and Loneliness (namely "Soledad"). Loneliness is a state ofisolation, without dialog, feeling abandoned and without external points ofreference. But I conceive Solitude as a highely creative state, in which one isfaced to what one actually wants to achieve, with one's thoughts, with one'sself.

NeverUnderestimate the Difficulties of Simple Things. Lots of times I have seenthis in several persons - and in myself: when something is simple, easy anduncomplicated, we tend to underestimate it too much and its hidden difficultiesend up tackling us. We leave to the last moment a text that seems easy tolearn, and we do not assimilate it as we could. Or a chess game that is(really) won, but we feel over-confident, we play with superficiality, we makeslight mistakes one after the other and loose control of the situation.

Thistitle can be understood as self-referent: this particular piano piece seems tobe simple... until you try to perform it really well and record it.

About the ArtWork / Cover Art of Solitudeis Oneself:

It shows a human face (concretely the composer's)faced simmetrically to its silhouette, in black. This illustration alludes tothe title: Solitude is Oneself. Is oneself (the person) facing his ownsolitude, his internal misterious being. A real human facing his own shadow. Itis not a negative shadow: is the shadow of which Shamanism speaks, the ownshadow from where one draws strength.

The music is dedicated to Mr. Cadmiel P�rez from Rep�blica Dominicana.

Solitude isOneself was recorded by the composer and released as single on Friday 17August 2018 on Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, Qobuz, Tidal, Amazon mp3 and nearly all streaming platforms you canimagine.

In Spotify is here:

https://open.spotify.com/album/6KffxzDSVYJqZuNEK3Bj0h

In Bandcamp is here:

https://juanmariasolare.bandcamp.com/album/solitude-is-oneself

If you readSpanish you can find more about this music here:

https://es.quora.com/blog/musica-neoclasica/La-soledad-es-uno-mismo-m%C3%BAsica-para-piano

This is the collection of classical piano repertoire I created for work with my own students, most of whom were not primarily interested in "classical" music.

In my experience, every elementary piano student should be given the opportunity to successfully play:
Spinning Song (even if you leave out the middle section at first)
Minuet in G (page one)
Fur Elise (page one)

Eventually, they should experience (if not master--that's ultimately up to them) each piece in this collection.

All hand positions and finger numbers are presented so that students can spend their time preparing successfully--not "figuring out" with endless frustration and incorrect solutions.

"Minuet in G" from the Bach notebook is a great example. Let's consider just the first page. Many (most) elementary students would love to play this piece. The RH by itself is easy. The LH is also "not difficult", but it's not self-evident, either. The notes are easy enough, and the fingering choices seem inconsequential. You could play it with several different fingering solutions.

Hands Together: Humans can pay attention to only one thing at a time: in this case, the RH or the LH. Whichever hand is receiving the attention, the other must be on "automatic pilot". You can switch focus rapidly to give the appearance that you are paying attention to two things equally, but that is not what is happening.

So... both hands need to be rehearsed (better word than "practiced") until the correct execution is the "default" behavior.

If that (sufficient correct repetetition) has not happened, then consistent successful performance with both hands is never achieved. Students complain that they wish they could be more "consistent". They don't have a chance, sadly.

"Practice Makes... "

If you said "Perfect" then you've fallen into a sinister trap.

"Practice makes Permanent." When a student actually does what has been assigned, in many cases that is the beginning of the end of their piano career.

Here's the process in general:
Students "write in their own fingering" and then, and then practice (repeat) their incorrect solutions. They are unable to perform the desired piece consistently and don't know why. How long can a student tolerate this ineffective approach?

That's something for us professionals to consider.


Perfect for introducing classical repertoire (similar to Suzuki, Bastien Piano Literature, etc). The advantage here is that all fingering is included so that students play more!

Contents

Minuet in G from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach
Minuet in G from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach
Minuet in G minor from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach
Musette in D from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach
Minuet in F Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Ecossaise in G Ludwig van Beethoven
Sonatina in G Ludwig van Beethoven
I Allegretto
II Romanze
Sonatina (In the Antique Style) Op. 157, No. 4 Fritz Spindler
I Allegro
The Wild Horseman, Op. 68, No. 8 Robert Schumann
Fur Elise (Famous Page 1) Ludwig van Beethoven
Spinning Song, Op. 14, No. 4 Albert Elmenreich
Arabesque, Op. 100, No. 2 Friedrich Burgm�ller
Ballade, Op. 100, No. 15 Friedrich Burgm�ller
Solfeggietto Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Toccatina, Op. 27, No. 12 Dmitri Kabalevsky
Fur Elise (Complete) Ludwig van Beethoven
Sonatina, Op. 55, No. 1 Friedrich Kuhlau
I Allegro
Sonatina, Op. 36, No. 3 Muzio Clementi
I Spiritoso
La V�locit�, Op. 109, No. 10 Friedrich Burgm�ller


These are the documents that I have used to introduce classical music to my piano students. No note is presented without its corresponding proper fundamental technique (fingering). In other words, there is no such thing as a note separate from its hand position and fingering.

The hand position notation is used to better communicate what exactly is being demanded of the student. Students? repertoire is no longer limited by their music staff reading ability. Nor do they suffer from their own painful inability to solve technical issues. This approach restores ?playing music on the piano? to primacy and supports ?helping a student play music on the piano? as the central activity of the piano lesson.

Weak students are able to play real (not simplified) music and not feel penalized. Strong students complete their preparation even more efficiently. In all cases, spending less time on fingering means more time for higher levels of musicianship: coordination, pedaling, physical technique, control, tone, dynamics, tempo, rhythm, articulation, phrasing, expression, emotion, drama, compositional analysis, and historical context.

Good luck!
Scott Camp
scottcampislandpiano@gmail.com

Written May 16, 2021, this is an original clarinet and piano composition in a broken chord etude in the key of D minor. There is a separate clarinet part in the score and the piano part as seen can serve as an independent solo. The accompaniment as heard can be found under "Classical Etude in D Minor Piano Track."

James Michael Stevens is a prolific composer residing in Nashville, TN.

This book includes 4 famous classical music arranged for 8 String Harp. Each piece has two arrangements.

Version 1: For one hand (Right hand or Left hand) without fingerings, teacher can give some performance suggestions for the students, it is suitable for the harp beginner or young harpist.

Version 2: For both hand with fingerings. It is suitable for the progressing harpist.

Contents:

1. Minuet I (from ?Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach?) [Johann Sebastian Bach]

2. Minuet II (from ?Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach?) [Johann Sebastian Bach]

3. Spring (from The Four Seasons) [Antonio Vivaldi]

4. Ode to Joy (from The Symphony No.9) [Ludwig van Beethoven]

Five simple pieces in DADGAD tuning. Over the years, DADGAD tuning has become an important part of my guitar playing, as well as my arranging and composing. As a teacher, I have also had a number of people contact me about helping them learn to play in this wonderful tuning. These Etudes, or studies, are a response to having music that is easily accessible to beginners to this tuning, without being too difficult. That being said, these Etudes are not for guitar players in the beginning stages of learning. Rather, they are for guitarists wishing to begin exploring DADGAD tuning. Players should have a basic knowledge of fingerpicking and chord playing, as well as knowledge of reading tablature.



The pieces are as follows:

Cool Water Falls

Deep Red

Lazy jig

Shades of Green

Final Waltz