Here, for the first time, Mel Bay Publications offers Persian folk music arranged for the guitar by the Iranian-born, award winning international concert guitarist, Lily Afshar. This collection includes four love songs and a lullaby. These arrangements are extremely lyrical as they depict a singer's nuances and embellishments. Tremolo, harmonic, and muted strumming techniques are used in these tasteful arrangements. of these five short pieces, four begin with an introduction that establishes the tempo and mood of the piece. These works are ideal for guitarists interested in international programming, those who have never heard Persian music, or for those who are familiar with it and simply love it. Written in standard notation only for the intermediate to advanced guitarist.

In this book, guitarist and music historian David Grimes presents 20 “small sonatas” or sonatinas, complete with detailed performance notes and bio sketches of each of the contributing composers: Leonhard von Call, Matteo Carcassi, Ferdinando Carulli, Mauro Giuliani, Francesco Molino, and Antonio Nava. While flexible, the early 19th-century sonatina form usually consists of 2 - 4 contrasting movements, here in guitar-friendly keys, making these pieces ideal for performance by intermediate-level students. In all but the most challenging passages, Grimes has intentionally kept fingering to a minimum to allow students to form their own concept of this critical skill. Then, as many bass notes in these pieces are played on open strings, the player must develop a sense of when to selectively damp dissonant tones or observe a rest— exposing and overcoming yet another shortcoming in the education of many guitarists. Most classic guitar teachers are familiar with the easy didactic studies by Carcassi, Carulli and Giuliani; Favorite Sonatinas offers more highly developed, but not yet virtuoso pieces by the same Italian triumvirate— plus three more composers in a similar vein— promoting confident, enjoyable sight-reading by guitarists of all levels.

Choro is a popular instrumental-music tradition flourishing in Brazil and around the world. It preceded, influenced, and in turn was influenced by samba and bossa nova. Its repertory is vast, including thousands of choros composed by all manner of string, wind, keyboard, and percussion players—in addition to the guitar classics by João Pernambuco and Heitor Villa-Lobos. This landmark publication gives guitarists access to this seemingly endless repertory, empowering its readers to turn a choro written for any instrument into a convincing and idiomatic solo guitar arrangement. This process is taught through examples provided by Dr. Stephen Guerra, a versatile guitarist/composer intimately familiar with both classical and Brazilian guitar (violão brasileiro) as well as the choro idiom. This book is intended for both students of Brazilian guitar and classical guitarists seeking to add choros to their repertory and play them authentically. It includes: • Original solo arrangements plus lead sheets and online recordings of 10 choros for the intermediate to advanced classic guitarist. • Biographical and performance notes regarding the selected composers and compositions. • Insightful suggestions for further reading, listening, and study. • Extensive endnotes explaining arrangement choices, notation practice and influences. Dr. Guerra focuses on classics from the pioneering generation of choro composers culminating in the artistry of João Pernambuco, Pixinguinha, and Heitor Villa-Lobos; among others, these include compositions by choro pianists Chiquinha Gonzaga and Ernesto Nazareth, samba singer-composer Noel Rosa, choro bandleaders Joaquim Calado and Anacleto de Medeiros, and Brazil’s early flute virtuoso, Patápio Silva. Includes access to online audio.

This collection of 47 favorite guitar picking tunes includes reels, jigs, waltzes, fiddle tunes and more, each arranged for classical guitar in standard notation. As these melodies lend themselves well to jamming, this collection is sure to bring any guitarist many hours of picking pleasure. Includes access to an online audio recording of the arranger performing each piece on classical guitar.

An exciting collection of Balkan music featuring songs from Bosnia, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Romania and Serbia. Enjoy captivating sounds and compelling rhythms on this exhilarating musical journey through the Balkan Peninsula. Fully fingered for an enjoyable sight-reading experience.

In the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the parlor was a room set aside for particular functions. Before the advent of the radio, it was the place where formal presentations were staged, including amateur and semi-professional concerts. This classical guitar solo collection for the intermediate to advanced player offers nine engaging and lyrical European and North American favorites of this bygone era. All of the solos are presented in standard notation only and played on authentic reproductions of period instruments on the book’s online companion recording. Author Joseph Mayes plays works by well-known guitarist-composers Carulli, Coste and Giuliani as well as the lesser-known but deserving “Kathleen Mavoureen—Romanza” by Frederick N. Crouch arranged by Charles de Janon, and Felix Arndt’s “Nola,” one of the era’s most popular ragtime piano themes, here transcribed and arranged by William Foden and the author. Includes access to online audio.

Romantic Arias for Classical Guitar is a collection of the world’s most beloved songs from the world of opera. An aria is a song performed during an opera that listeners are the most familiar with. These “pop songs of opera" provide an entry point for those unfamiliar with the opera repertoire, considered by many as the most expressive genre of western music. For those who are familiar with the world of opera, you will recognize the selections here as the arias most beloved by millions of listeners around the world. This project, a labor of love by master guitarist Steve Eckels, contains the most famous melodies by composers Verdi and Puccini including the great operas La Traviata, Madame Butterfly, La Bohème, Turandot, Nabucco, Tosca, and Rigoletto. Also included are Massenet’s Meditation, Delibes’ Flower Duet, Offenbach’s Barcarolle, Bizet’s Habanera and others. The pieces have been arranged for recreational or concert guitarists, and have been meticulously fingered and engraved for ease of learning. The author has also provided music reading warm-ups to assist in learning the pieces. Eckels’ performances of all the arrangements on YouTube will provide an aid in familiarizing yourself with the most beloved songs ever written. Includes access to online audio.

The Classical Guitarist's Gig Book is an essential collection of classic works either written or transcribed for solo guitar. Many of the pieces are frequently requested for ceremonial or formal events. In addition to containing functional music, concert literature is also included which may be used for a wide spectrum of musical situations. Some of the works are presented as faithful transcriptions while others are treated with mild to generous artistic liberties.

O’Carolan for Classical Guitar is the fourth and final volume of Guido Böger’s classical guitar arrangements of the 214 compositions of the itinerant blind Irish harper, Turlough O'Carolan (1670–1738). This last collection includes 58 solo pieces, including O’Carolan’s variations on two Scottish airs. These settings are generally intermediate in difficulty and reflect the beauty and lyricism of the original melodies, most of which are tribute tunes named for O’Carolan’s patrons: Colonel O’Hara, John O’Connor, Mrs. O’Connor, Lady Wrixon, General Wynne, Captain O’Neil, The Landlady, etc. The works are meticulously written in standard notation and are ideal for sight-reading practice, personal enjoyment, or concert performance. Moderate left-hand fingering and string numbering are provided in these well-crafted arrangements. Along with his previous Mel Bay editions, Turlough O'Carolan Irish Harp Pieces for Classical Guitar, O'Carolan Favorites and O'Carolan Airs, this book completes Guido Böger's comprehensive O'Carolan series. The set of four books would make a great gift, particularly for an Irish guitarist.

In this edition, Guido Böger provides 72 further compositions by the legendary Irish harpist Turlough O’Carolan, arranged for classical guitar. These solo pieces are generally of intermediate difficulty, and convey the beautiful, lyrical qualities of the original tunes. This expanded selection of the melodies has not been organized into any set of themes or forms; however, along with his Turlough O’Carolan Irish Harp Pieces for Classical Guitar, O’Carolan’s Laments have now been arranged in their entirety. These pieces will provide the guitarist with a wonderful collection of new and fascinating pieces for use in study, concerts, or for your musical pleasure.