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Danza Guarani by Augustin Mangore Barrios (1885-1944)
Time 2:01

The Dance of Guaraní. Guarani are a group of culturally related indigenous peoples of South America. Barrios comes from Paraguay and was partly of a Guarani origin. For some years, it was typical of Barrios’s to perform in traditional Paraguayan dress. His stage name was Nitsuga Mangoré (’Nitsuga’ being Agustín spelled backwards, and ‘Mangoré’ being the name of a cacique (tribe chief) of the South American indigenous group Timbú). Barrios’s compositions can be divided into three basic categories: folkloric, imitative and religious. Barrios pays tribute to the music and people of his native land by composing pieces modeled after folk songs from South America and Central America. His works were largely late-Romantic in character, despite his having lived well into the twentieth century. Very many of them are of a virtuosic nature.
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BWV 1012 Sarabande by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Grade 3 Intermediate
Time 2:28

Bach sixth suite for unaccompanied Cello in D Major. This suite was originally composed for the violin pomposa (a violin with 5 strings), but has since been incorporated as one of the cello suites. Bach composed these masterpieces between 1717 and 1723 whole living in the city of Cothen. Together with the six somanatas and partitas for violin solo, they, without question, constitute the most monumental documents of the polyphonic string music. Unmatched in their beauty and depth of feeling, they demonstrate Bach’s consummate understanding of these instrument’s capabilities, and his total mastery of all the musical forms of his day. Note that this sarabande is in drop D tuning and in 3/2 time, and should be counted 1 + 2 + 3 +.
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Tango by Francisco Tarrega (1852-1909)
Grade 3 Intermediate
Time 2:03

Tango by Tarrega is not a difficult nor lengthy tune but it is packed with a lot of different guitar techniques-making it worthwhile to learn. Tango contains harmonics, double stop octaves, DGDGBGe tuning , rasguerdo, triplets. slide, hammer, pull offs, etc…. Although Tarrega (Spanish) is not from Argentina-where Tango originates-Tango proves to be a well composed and crafted work.

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Sleepers Awake (BWV645) by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Grade 3 Intermediate
Time 1:38

BWV 645 – 650: Schübler Chorale Preludes.

Schübler Chorales is a name commonly used for a collection of six chorale preludes by Johann Sebastian Bach (BWV 645–650). They were engraved and published in the late 1740s by Johann Georg Schübler, from whom they derive their nickname. The collection is originally entitled Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (”Wake, Awake for Night is Passing“). Uniquely for Bach’s sets of organ works, five out of six chorales in this collection are transcriptions from his cantatas. BWV 645 is transcribe from: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140, movement 4 (tenor chorale). The pieces are composed for a two manual organ with obligatory pedal in E♭ Major. Bach’s abilities as an organist were highly respected throughout Europe during his lifetime. Sleepers Awake tab is transcribed to the key of C making it easier to play on the guitar. This piece is played with many open strings reducing the need for barred chords.
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Sarabande in A minor by Johann Anton Logy (1645 – 1721)
Grade 2: Early intermediate
Time: 1:00

Johann Anton Logy was a Bohemian aristocrat, Baroque lute player and composer from Prague. Losy composed mostly dance suites, as was typical of his time. Sarabande (It., sarabanda) is a dance in triple metre. The second and third beats of each measure are often tied, giving the dance a distinctive rhythm of crotchets and minims in alternation. The crotchets are said to have corresponded with dragging steps in the dance.
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Prelude 4 in E Major by Francisco Tarrega
Time 1:05

Maestro Tarrega is one of my favorite guitar composer. Many consider Francisco Tarrega to be the father of Modern Classical Guitar like Paul Cezzane, the father of Modern Art. Tárrega was a master of the miniature. The majority of his original works do not exceed three minutes in length. This Prelude is a little over a minute in duration which works perfectly for my blogging pace. Composed in the key of E Major. Number 4 of Francisco Tarrage’s large collection of preludes.
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La Llorona Traditional Spanish Ballad
Grade 2 Early Intermediate
Time 2:09

The title of this traditional ballad translates as “The Weeping Woman.” The basic story is that La Llorona was a beautiful woman who killed her children to be with the man that she loved. She drowned the children and then, after being rejected ande eventually killed herself. She is doomed to wander, vainly searching for her children for all eternity. Her constant weeping is the reason for her name. In some cases, according to the tale, she will kidnap wandering children or children who misbehave. Though popular in Mexico, the origins of the song and its tragic tale of murder lies in Spain. Due to the freer performance style of folk songs, you may repeat any of the sections as many times as you like. Play at a moderate tempo with ample amount of feeling.
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Moonlight Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Time 5:22

No 14 in C#m Op 27 No 2 (”Moonlight”), 1st movement. Adagio sostenuto. Adagio: music is to be played “slowly“. Sostenuto: is a term from Italian which means “sustained.” At the opening of the work, Beethoven included a written direction that the sustain pedal should be depressed for the entire duration of the first movement! The movement opens with an octave in the left hand and a triplet figuration in the right. A melody that Hector Berlioz called a”lamentation”. Composed during beethoven’s middle (Heroic) period- Beethoven’s personal crisis brought on by his recognition of encroaching deafness. It is rumored that Moonlight Sonata is a romantic dedication to Beethoven’s pupil, 17-year-old Countess Giulietta Guicciardi.
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BWV1013 Sarabande in A Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Time 1: 57

Chamber Music. Partita for unaccompanied flute. The sarabande is a slow and stately dance in triple meter with an accent on the second beat. It evolved from zarabanda, a dance from 16th century Mexico. Hold all bass notes as long as possible. keep the trills fast. The flute version is slightly different towards the end 1:33 onwards (listen to the midi) Notes here are actually many octaves higher-and sounds cooler. I have tried to play this at this range (beyond the 12 fret) but decided against it due to great difficulty. I am guessing that the flute’s tonal range can go much higher than a guitar. I feel the flute and guitar don’t translate as well as other instruments. Because of this I imagine, the guitar version of bwv1012 sarabande may be much harder to play than on the flute. Anyway, this is my 20th bach song. Enjoy!
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Melody in C Major by Matteo Carcassi (1792 – 1853)
Time 2:17
Grade 3 Intermediate

Matteo Carcassi composed during the period when the guitar is relatively new. He devised countless exercises/songs to introduce the instrument to music lovers. In this piece, Melody in C Major, you will explore where the c major notes/chords/scale on the guitar neck. You will also improve both your left and right techniques at the same time. For the left hand, you will be covering many chords including half barre and full barre chords. For the right, there are several plucking patterns introduced. pimimimi and piaiaiai being the main ones. The ending concludes with an interplay between these 2 patterns. Make sure you save enough energy to conclude the piece in tempo.

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Milonga (Uruguay)-24 Piezas Sudamericanas by Jorge Cardoso (1945-)
Time 1:57

Jorge Cardoso is a classical guitarist and medical doctor born in Posadas, Argentina in 1949. Milonga originated in the Río de la Plata area of Argentina / Uruguay / Chile and has its roots from various European music. The Milonga was derived from an earlier style of singing known as the Payada de Contrapunto. Payada is deeply rooted to the gaucho culture. A Milonga is a lyrical minstrel song-songs with lyrics that tells stories about real or imaginary historical events. Contrapunto or counterpoint means music in the form of a musicial duel (question & answer). Over time, dance steps and other musical influences were added to the Milonga, eventually giving rise to the Tango. Jorge Cardoso wrote many guitar duets for various instruments. Milonga (uruguay) is a duet for the piano and guitar. Set at a lively 2/4 tempo, often including syncopated musical improvisation.
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Moon River by Henry Mancini (1924-1994)
Time 1:03

Moon River was featured in the motion picture “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”. It was sung by the actress Audrey Hepburn. I found this song years back but never find myself really executing it to perfection. The tab was transcribed for the guitar from the piano. Some piano songs work and some prove awkward at parts like this song. The left hand finger is challenging for the pinky. I suggest start slow because the fastest part that involves occurs midway.

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Speak Softly Love by Nino Rota (1911-1979)

Nino Rota, was born in Milan in 1911 and died in Rome in 1979. In 1919 he began studying the piano with his mother, and at the age of eight he started to compose. “Speak Softly Love (Love Theme From The Godfather)” is a song written for The Godfather (1972), the first film of the Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather trilogy. While its instrumental version is simply known as “The Godfather theme”, it’s vocal version is “Speak Softly Love”. The Godfather theme is inspired by Southern Italy lyrical singing style. The vocal version was made popular by Andy Williams. The words are by Larry Kusik but the music itself is by Nino Rota.
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Prelude 7 in A by Francisco Tarrega (1852-1909)
Time 0:55

This prelude is in the key of A and is No 7 of 35 preludes from the great maestro Francisco Tarrega. Not a lengthy tune being 31 bars. Prelude in A spans less than a minute. The challenging part of the prelude comes at the very end. Start Slow because this prelude concludes with 3 full measures of semi quavers (24 notes run). Remember, if you start too fast, you risk stumbling at the end. Other thing to watch out for is Prelude in A has several barre chord positions towards the high end (11th fret). If you have a cutaway classical guitar, it will be a good time to grab it. A cutaway will give you space to position these high end barre chords easier.
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Etude 17 (Opus 6 No. 11) by Fernando Sor
Time 3:00

Opus 6 No 11 also known as study 17. Segovia categorized 20 fernando sor’s songs as etude or study. This Study in E is full of arpeggios. You will get to play these arpeggios in the Major key and conclude in the Minor in part B. Once you have learnt the basic pattern, the right hand is taken care of. Devote some time to familiarize yourself to the numerous left hand chord transitions. Towards the latter part of opus 6 no 11, there are some barre chords that require a fully stretched hand. The bigger the hand, the better. Finally, this song tests your endurance as you will be constantly plucking (right hand) and changing chords after chords (left hand). There are thankfully 2 pauses during the song to give your hand a break.
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Prelude 2 in A minor by Francisco Tarrega (1852-1909)
Time 0:56

Francisco Tarrega wrote truckloads of preludes. I like playing his preludes because they are short (2 pagers). You can read tarrega’s preludes straight off a book without the hindrance of page flip or committing notes to memory (to avoid page flip). Another reasons why i like to do preludes is that the time spent on working on a prelude vs a 3 minute song is significantly shorter in general. I stress “in general” for Prelude 2 proved not that easy of a prelude to tackle afterall. I find myself spending my “longer than usual” time on it, ironically. There are lots of barre chords and note slidings (all along the neck) which make prelude 2 challenging to play. Prelude 2 is not for beginners “looking to get their first taste of tarrega”. For intermediate to advance players, if you can overcome the pain barrier of the constant barre chords, you will find prelude 2 to be an absolute beauty.
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Prelude 6 in B minor by Francisco Tarrega (1852-1909)
Time 1:07

Tarrega was a guitar maestro who had a passion of combining the prevailing Romantic trend in classical music with Spanish folk elements. Francisco Tarrega was central to reviving the guitar as a solo instrument in recital and concerts. Preludio 6 in B minor by Francisco Tarrega is yet another prelude Tarrega composed. This prelude is around 1 minute. It would be ideal-if you want-to play another song in the same key right after. Perhaps a lengthier one by Tarrega. This short piece is in the key of B minor and has a lot of pull offs in the beginning (harder) and concludes with a series of suspended barred chords at a slower pace (easier).
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BWV1002 Sarabande by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Time 2:47

The Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin (BWV 1001–1006) are a set of six works composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. They consist of three sonatas da chiesa, in four movements, and three partitas, in dance-form movements. The set was completed by 1720, but was only published in 1802 by Nicolaus Simrock in Bonn. Even after publication, it was largely ignored until the celebrated violinist Josef Joachim started performing these works. The pieces often served as an archetype for solo violin pieces for the following generations of composers. BWV1002 Sarabande (Violin Partita No 1 in B minor) is a slow tempo tune. It is not very long with 32 bars. This tune is all left hand (chords) and notes must be held as long as possible.

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Etude in E Minor (Allegro Moderato) by Fernando Sor
Exercise (Paimimim-Paim-Paim) (Paimimim-Paimimim)
Time 2:28
Grade 3- Intermediate

Etude in E Minor is a fine example of one of many Fernando Sor’s studies which focus on the right plucking hand. A study in the key of E minor at (Allegro Moderato) , played at a moderate to fast pace. This piece is 52 bars long with a 10 barre chords. Memorize the right hand pattern helps. Keep the plucking speed uniform at all time. You can undulate the volume for mood but there are certain notes that must be accented or played loudly. For example the second note of Bar[1] and [2] displayed in the tab image below.
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Cavatina (Theme to the Deer Hunter) by John Williams (1930-1993)
Time 3:01

Stanley Myers is best known for Cavatina (1970), an evocative guitar piece that served as the signature theme for Michael Cimino’s 1978 film “The Deer Hunter”. The piece had been recorded by classical guitarist John Williams, long before the film that made it famous. It had originally been written for piano but at Williams’ invitation, Myers re-wrote it for guitar and expanded it.
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