SKU: GH.GE-11464

ISBN 979-0-070-11464-6. A4 inches.

Work note by the composer:

When I received the news of this commission, I had no idea what it would lead to. Writing for guitar solo is not the same as composing for orchestra where you have forty voices where you can easily mask an entire section. Here you are very naked to the bone.
The starting point for this work was from J.S. Bach's Chaconne in D-minor that Johannes had performed in concert, originally written for violin but there is a version transcribed for guitar and piano made by Ferruccio Busoni. When I went to Cortona (in Tuscany, Italy) completed the southern mentality of this work.
Arpalineais actually a merged word in Italian language. Arpa means harp, however in a musical context it's more or less resembled with the word arpeggio, which means broken chords. Lineameans line.

The work is divided in three parts.
I. Arpeggio: It starts with an opening chaconne-like sequence and is marked with a certain depth in which the chords starts to separate from the organum note in the bass and it culminates into a section called with rhythmical focus. These sections alternates, variates which each other.
The middle section has a playful and childish atmosphere where the guitarist knocks on the body of the guitar resembling a Spanish folk instrument cajon. This is leading to a section which tends more to a very aggressive fusion-like riff that loses control and reaches its climax at the end.

II. Linea: The static rhytmical pulse is now disintegrated and it forms more or less sort of a free, improvisational state in a rubatolike tempo. The character is described as a very hot day with temperatures rising above 37! C (or 100! F) where you can hardly do anything just sitting dozed off and pespiring because of the extreme heat watching a huge fog coming up in the evening that spreads around the Tuscan atmosphere.

III. Finale: It starts off with fast one-note ostinati then more and more notes pop up like a gradual rain storm with thunder strikes! And eventually it leads to that is a large flood through the streets of an medieval Southern town. The work ends with a short circuit slapped strings along with extremely fast tremolos that reaches higher and louder as possible!

Benjamin Staern

SKU: BT.VOLMB164

ISBN 9788863881615. French.

This publication simultaneously teaches harmonic sheet music, melodies, rhythms and the bass lines for every piece of music.

In terms of jazz, your Guitar will become the ultimate instrument just from the techniques andconcepts taught. Topics approached include: understanding the interactive assimilation of harmony and melody, bass line development, chordal enrichment, four part harmonies and composition for solo Guitar. All these concepts arean ample example for practice and make up compositions of traditional melodies.

SKU: DZ.DZ-4272

ISBN 9782898521898.

En septembre 2018, le guitariste Toby McWilliams a commandé à Cruz l’écriture d’une pièce solo en trois mouvements après avoir entendu ses Five Pieces in C dans l’émission de radio internationale Classical Guitar Alive. McWilliams a demandé que le premier mouvement soit en forme sonate-allegro, suivi de deux autres pièces reflétant les choix de tempo d’une sonatine en trois mouvements typique. Comme c’est le cas pour la plupart des œuvres de Cruz, cette Sonatine a été achevée en tant que musique pure, sans programme sous-jacent. Cependant, dans sa quête de trouver des titres autres que des indications de tempo, Cruz a extrait trois mots de la correspondance entre lui-même et McWilliams qui, ensemble, ajoutent une touche personnelle à la collection tout en suggérant une progression des événements d’une journée imaginaire.

Un point d’intérêt dans le premier mouvement, le thème A : Cruz commence sur l’accord IV et évite intentionnellement d’utiliser un accord I tout au long de la pièce. Bien que la section B commence dans la tonalité de dominante, elle se dirige rapidement vers un centre tonal de ré majeur.

Festival (3ème mouvement) utilise un thème d’ouverture bitonal : mi majeur dans la voix supérieure tandis que la ligne de basse utilise mi mineur.

In September of 2018, guitarist, Toby McWilliams commissioned Cruz to write a three-movement guitar solo after hearing his Five Pieces in C on the internationally syndicated radio show, Classical Guitar Alive. McWilliams requested the first movement to be in sonata-allegro form followed by two other pieces that reflect the tempo choices of a typical three-movement sonatina. As is the case with most of Cruz’s music, this Sonatina was completed as music written for music’s sake. However, in his quest to find titles other than tempo markings, Cruz plucked three words from the correspondence between himself and McWilliams that together, add a personal touch to the collection while suggesting a progression of an imaginary day’s events.

A point of interest in the first movement, A theme: Cruz begins on the IV chord and intentionally avoids using a proper I chord throughout. While the B section does begin in the dominant key, it moves quickly towards a D major tonal center.

Festival (3rd movement) uses a bitonal opening theme: E major in the top voice while the bass line uses E minor.

SKU: MB.30969M

ISBN 9781513472911. 8.75X11.75 inches.

As a guitarist, have you ever dreamed of playing contrapuntal bass lines and melodies. Or maybe you would like to sound more like a pianist, able to perform fluently with independent right and left hands.Playing multiple lines simultaneously can be one of the most physically and mentally demanding challenges posed by the guitar. Using the concept of planted notesùa fretting-hand finger that remains in place while the other fingers play scale-like passages or arpeggiosù this book will methodically guide you towards right and left-hand finger independence.Written in standard notation and tablature, this no-nonsense revolutionary method is the first of its kind. Together with 95 online audio recordings, it will help you build finger independence in both hands, approaching that of a pianist. Includes access to online audio.

SKU: FG.55011-320-6

ISBN 9790550113206.

Guitar sonata A Walk to the Mysterious Woods (2012-13) is so far the most extensive of the works Kai Nieminen has written for his own instrument, the guitar. The sonata features virtuosic and delicate timbre which is typical of Nieminen's musical idiom and which requires both technical and poetic skill of the performer. The music invokes a fairytale-like scene of nature with its references to Finnish mythology.

Kai Nieminen's guitar sonata is in four movements which follow each other attacca. The form of the work resembles the traditional sonata form: exposition (A Walk with Birdsong) - development (Along the Brook and Song(s) from the Arctic) - recapitulation (Return). The dark chords of the beginning, the pressing silence and the icy-sounding harmony created by the E flat bass line evoke an image of a winter forest. As if following birdsong, the music carries the listener through various landscapes and moods. Birdsong takes the listener to a brook, which then carries the traveller to the ancient Sami joik, a traditional form of chant, and allows him or her to bask in the serenity of natural beauty in a moment where the past and present meet.