This month a new free piece, a new publication, and some recommendations...
Free Piece
This month's free piece is a sweet, nostalgic little melody set against a moving bass line. The goal is to keep both voices clear, and not to cheat the bass notes. It's easy to cut bass notes short when we worry about getting to the next melody note. Strive to hold every bass note for its full value. It makes a huge difference!
The section between the verses is made up of ascending arpeggiated chords. It is important to play this with as much feeling as possible so it doesn't come across like...well...like ascending arpeggiated chords. As the arpeggios ascend, let that top note pop out above the rest so you maintain the climbing melody.
I recently composed a piece for guitar quartet for my Honors Guitar Ensemble at Bayonne High School. These students have gone above and beyond this year for our program, so I wanted to do something special for them.
I planned on writing something easy for them, but as I got into the piece, I just followed the music and didn't worry about its difficulty. The end result was a challenging piece, but the students were excited to play it, so they worked really hard on putting it together. They were able to premiere it at our spring recital this week and did an amazing job. I am extremely proud of their efforts.
"A Year to Remember" for guitar quartet is published by Guitar Chamber Music Press, and will soon be available for purchase. The score and parts are all in standard notation. We performed it with two guitars on each part. It would work great for large ensembles as well.
This is wonderful book that explores the importance of solitude and how it impacts our creativity as well as our relationships with others. Storr addresses the philosophy of many psychologists and societies that believe that our happiness comes primarily from relationships with others. He explores the ideas that solitude is absolutely essential to our emotional maturity, how it must be balanced with relationships with others, and how it is vital to our overall well being and productivity. Very interesting read...
John Williams is arguably the greatest film composer of all time. The Fablemans was his final film score before retiring and turning his efforts to concert music, and it may be one of my favorites. (It is a beautiful movie as well.)
The main theme, "The Fablemans", is scored for solo piano, and it is one of those perfect melodies, where every single note is the right note. I cannot get it out of my head. When it is restated later in "Mother and Son", first on the classical guitar, then harp, strings, then piano....oh my...it is absolutely stunning. Goosebumps every single time.
Plus...the soundtrack includes the Adagio from Bach's keyboard arrangement of Concerto in D Minor BWV 974. Talk about perfect...
I continue to be in awe of Tom Eaton's craft as a composer...and arranger, multi-instrumentalist, engineer, producer, quantum physicist, neurosurgeon, and chainsaw juggler. I may have made a few of those up, but it always feels to me like he can do anything.
This new four song EP, Ghosts, is hauntingly beautiful. After my first listen, I think I sat there for ten minutes before I realized it was over, and I was still caught up in the music. Tom says, "The four pieces in the project are about things and people that time won't give us back." You can feel the weight and beauty of that statement in the music. So, so good...
I discovered Michael Aadal on Instagram. I really enjoy his modern and atmospheric style of playing electric guitar.
His new record Aadal features his quartet - Michael Aadal on guitar, André Kassen on saxophone, Audun Ramo on bass, and Gunnar Sæter on drums.
It has a strong Scandinavian jazz vibe, but is also sounds very Americana at the same time. I love this record. Very worth checking out!
That's it for this month. School is in the homeward stretch towards summer vacation and the Pirates are in first place...I just want to type that again...THE PIRATES ARE IN FIRST PLACE. (I know...it most likely won't last, so let me enjoy it now.)
I hope you are all well and enjoying some spring weather. Thanks for reading these and for listening to my music. I am forever grateful.
