Guitar - Level 3 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.1177383

By Frederic Chopin. By Fre�de�ric Chopin. Arranged by Brian Streckfus. 19th Century,Classical,Contemporary,Instructional,Romantic Period. Guitar Tab. 6 pages. Brian Streckfus #776814. Published by Brian Streckfus (A0.1177383).

Key: Changed from B minor to A minor
Capo: 2 (If you want original key, but I wasn't a fan of capo 2; it felt like there was no bass notes.)

1. Arranged for guitar.
2. Piano pedal markings removed
3. Phrase markings removed and opted for commas.
4. Re-harmonized
5. Key changed from B minor to A minor.
6. Slurs
7. Left hand fingers
8. Tablature
9. Harmonics added when advantageous, but playing the regular note would work as well.
10. Piano pedal markings removed and replaced with commas. It's a flaw of sheet music that slurs, ties, and phrase markings are all the same symbol, and having all three happening can clutter a score.

Compromises

1. This may sound obvious, but of course I had to make some alterations to make this flow properly on guitar. Many of the original chord inversions on the piano were not kept. However, many harmonies were kept intact as far as following the chord nomenclature name.
2. Measure 50 was originally an A minor chord, the irony is that the F major suprise is an homage to Chopin anyways, suprised he didn't opt for it. To be honest, I don't like how there is a perfect authentic cadence in measure 50. I think modern audiences would want to clap too badly, so I believe that ending needs to be slightly messed up to propel the music forward, and give a sense that there is still a problem.
3. The other chord that was changed was an E7b9 to a Ddim7 in measure 78. If you know your theory well, you'll realize these chords have the same exact function and nearly the same notes, it's just that Ddim7 flowed a bit better on guitar. I'd rather have guitarists play the rhythms correctly and with musicality, than have guitarist clunkily go though overly large chords in order to mantain historical accuracy. 
4. Measure 15 was hard to keep the original chord intact. A Bb/D with a G in the melody as a suspension sounds more like a g minor chord. That is cliche Chopinesque neopolitan moment so the Bb is crucial to mantain. Having some rough sort of Bbmaj7 or G minor chord while mantaining the melody seemed to sound the best even though the name of the chord might have gotten a little off.

I tried chord charts, but they seemed messier than what it was worth. I also could have the denser tablature in the sheet music, but that does make it look 10x more intimidating. So this version is unique in that the tablature is my denser arrangement, whereas the sheet music would allow someone to quickly make a new arrangement. I like this ethos because most guitarists are likely to be much better at playing chord quickly when they don't have to have an exact voicing. This makes this arrangement easier to further perfect since I am naming the harmonies, which often isn't done in classical music.

Backstory
This is one of my favorite pieces, and also my favorite composer. I feel classical guitar repertoire is lacking easily playable music in the romantic style. Often, if it is romantic guitar music, it is extemely difficult and therefore only a select few can enjoy performing it. Also, I sometimes get my hopes up to find a romantic guitar composer, but then after listening, there's nothing quite like Chopin. Obviously, you will have to have some chops to play this since it's one of the most ambitious undertakings a guitarist could take, but it's also not so hard that you have to be train for a decade because I changed the key.

Guitar - Level 2 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.1495724

By Ron k Wiggins. By William G Fischer 1867. Arranged by Ron k Wiggins. Christian,Classical,Religious,Sacred,Spiritual. Tablature. 2 pages. WigMusic #1072246. Published by WigMusic (A0.1495724).

Katheryn Hankey in 1866 wrote a long poem with over fifty stanzas. A few of the verses were used to create this hymn where William G Fischer wrote the music;

This is an easy arrangement for classical guitar that is just melody and a bass line. The bass notes are chord tones. It is arranged first in the key of C and then D.

There is a bar F chord at the first fret but nothing else real challenging

The audio file is played on a Heritage 575 electric guitar.

Guitar - Level 1 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.1175289

Composed by Brian Streckfus. Instructional. Guitar Tab. 5 pages. Brian Streckfus #774500. Published by Brian Streckfus (A0.1175289).

Pages: 5 (84 chords to name)

Objective:
Instead of learning chords one by one, you instead learn how to build chords yourself. Also, this mindset helps in composing, because instead of seeing things as wrong chord versus correct chord, you simply see it as every harmony as a name. Like many things in life, theoritcal concepts can allow you to formulate thousands of outcomes in a single day. 

Tips:
1. You start counting from 0 for this exercise if that makes any sense. Avoid the common fence post error by overcounting by 1. Other times you start counting from 1 in music is when talking about scale degrees. What is the distance from C to E? C(0) C#(1) D(2) D#(3) E(4).
2. Use the chromatic scale at the top to help in counting.
3. E# = F...Fb = E...B# = C...Cb = B...In otherwords, don't let strange enharmonics confuse you. Picture the black key sometimes missing between white keys on a piano in your mind if it helps. 
4. Even though enharmonics like E# can seem confusing, they can actually add clarity sometimes because they cause the chord to stack perfectly in the sheet music and letter names. A# C# E#...versus...A# C# F...Sure, F is easier to understand in a part, but it actually makes the harmony harder to understand because not it looks like it isn't 3rds, even though it is.
5. I included tab just to make this worksheet a little bit more interesting; however, the guitar chords that result are NOT practical. Voicings of common guitar chords are much more spread out, and often contain more duplicate letter names. Practical guitar chords is sort of a different conversation. I sort of did this intentionally to prove that perfectly stacked voicings do not work well on guitar. C E G Bb perfectly in order in harmony, sounds like it would be easy on guitar, but it is not.
6. To make this more practical on guitar, I recommend building the chords yourself by simply knowing letter names well on guitar. The next time something asks for G major, don't just play a common voicing, actually find G B D randomly on the guitar neck. 
7. Often the fifth of a chord is removed since it is the least important to invoking the flavor of the chord. This is especially true on guitar because we quickly run out of fingers and strings.
8. The nature of the piano lends pianists to constantly seeing these distances on a linear plane. Conversely, guitar is a very murky instrument since the real distances of pitches is counterintuitive to arbitrary (usually) fret numbers! That is why many guitarists would benefit from thinking this way, instead of thinking of chords simply as shapes (which is also important for different reasons). In other words, try to build a chord on one string on guitar. It is impractical, but the half step distances required for chords will make much more sense.

To Do:
1. Slight differences in how the sheet look need to be made similiar.
2. Remove green line.

Digital Download

SKU: HX.407435

By U2. Pop,Rock. Guitar TAB. 10 pages. Published by Hal Leonard - Digital (HX.407435).

Guitar - Level 1 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.1162362

Composed by Traditional Scottish Folk. Arranged by Brian Streckfus. Celtic,Folk,Holiday,Instructional,Irish,Traditional. Guitar Tab. 2 pages. Brian Streckfus #762722. Published by Brian Streckfus (A0.1162362).

1. Arranged for guitar.
2. Guitar TAB added.
3. Re-harmonized to be idiomatic for guitar and have more adventerous harmony. 
4. Grace notes added.
5. The grace notes, uncommon harmony, and overly drenched G major pentatonic sound lead to a more Irish/Celtic/Scottish idiom, as if this was written for bag pipes.
6. Too many versions of public domain songs will just phone in the chords in my opinion with a I IV and V7. This version is a bit jazzed up, which may not be what you looking for. If you are looking for real basic accompianiment this isn't the version for you, though I do try to use as many open strings on the guitar as possible, and the chords are often small.
7. The other problem I often see with public domain songs is that the famous cowboy guitar chords most versions use lead to a lot of clunky part writing in my opinion (no thought of tendency tones, no thought of smooth voice leading, parralel 8ves and 5ths, doubled 3rds, etc). Those voicings are easier to sight-read, but are also not super creative, and as a teacher, I don't exactly want a student to see the same G Major voicing forever. That gives this false impression that that G major vocing is somehow superior. 
8. Another small issue I see with public domain songs is that the vocal melody is sometimes not in the famous cowboy guitar chord. There is nothing wrong with that, and sometimes you want that, but since I like to train my singing with the help of my guitar, I like when arrangements make the vocal melody easy to add or remove on guitar. I can easily play a sophisticated solo version of this in a coffee shop, or I can just look at the chord nomenclature and see the song only from a rhythm section point of view when in a full band, when usually you purposely want to contribute less.
9. Notes with an upward stem represent those notes being the original melody. This give arrangement a lot of replay value because a skillfull performer can improvise the background harmonies.

By Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Michael McDonald, Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, and Ashford & Simpson. Love; Pop; R & B; Rock; Soul. Guitar TAB. 4 pages. Published by Hal Leonard - Digital Sheet Music

Solo Guitar - Level 4 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.1153109

Composed by Franz Xaver Gruber. Arranged by Richard Hirsch. Christmas,Multicultural,Religious,Standards,Traditional,World. Individual part. 8 pages. Richard Hirsch #753352. Published by Richard Hirsch (A0.1153109).

An arrangement for solo guitar of the all-time favourite Christmas carol composed by Franz Gruber. The arrangement starts with an introduction of the melody in arpeggios of natural harmonics and moves into broken chords mixed with arpeggios for the first rendering of the song in 6/8 time. In the second part, at the shift to 4/4 time, the melody is rendered in an African inspired version with natural harmonics reminiscent of tunes played on an African kalimba (thumb harp) woven into the broken chords and arpeggios. As the speed increases, and the volume decreases, the arrangement moves steadily toward a total kalimba version. I like to think of the first part of the arrangement as symbolising a night in the little Austrian village where Gruber lived and composed the song. The natural harmonics and base notes and treble notes on open strings denoting the village chapel bells ringing on Christmas Eve. The second part tries to give a feel for how the melody can stand as a symbol of our common human origins in Africa, celebrating the birth and unity of humanity. The arrangement is within reach of intermediate to advanced students of guitar and is a good introduction to natural harmonics on the twelfth, seventh, and fifth frets. The African inspired polyrhythm fingerpicking in the second part consists basically of the thumb alternating with the index and middle fingers in a repetitive cycle. The second part is notated in 4/4 time, but can perhaps be more easily be read and played as 8/8 time, as practically everything, especially towards the end of the arrangement consists of eight notes. The polyrhythmic second part should have an accent on the downbeat of the first beat of the measure followed by an accent at 3and (an upbeat), just before the fourth and final beat of the measure. Reading the four part harmony of the score may at first present a challenge but if played basically as eight notes followed by eight notes everything should come out right in the end. Refer to the mp3 version provided with the score if in doubt. I do not mark the natural harmonics explicitly in the tablature, there are simply too many of them. The diamond shaped notes in the notation denoting harmonics are found directly above the corresponding fingerings in the tablature. It has been a real joy to work with this arrangement of the song and I hope it brings joy to others in playing it, giving new life to the traditional melody.

Guitar - Level 2 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.1152694

Composed by Maurice Ravel. Arranged by Brian Streckfus. 19th Century,20th Century,Classical,Instructional,Romantic Period. Guitar Tab. 2 pages. Brian Streckfus #752923. Published by Brian Streckfus (A0.1152694).

I also have a simpler looking version with mainly just the melody. This version has the guitar chord charts notated in tablature and sheet music making for a more sophisticated version. I often lean more towards making something idiomatic for guitar rather than complete historical accuracy, and this piece is no different. IMSLP is the best place to go if you are really looking for the originals. The melody seems to be intact, but I take some liberties with the harmony to make it flow well on guitar. This version also only has the main theme. Also, since I make these primarily as a learning tool, making a super lengthy full version is not ideal. 1. Guitar tablature added. 2. Harmonies changed to be idiomatic for guitar 3. Octave differences 4. Famous excerpt only 5. Guitar chord charts added 6. Composer indications added. 7. Letter names added to aid in sight-reading.

Guitar - Level 3 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.973000

Composed by Steve Martin. Rainy Night Music. 20th Century,Contemporary,Standards. Guitar Tab. 8 pages. Steve Martin, Rainy Night Music #6436833. Published by Steve Martin, Rainy Night Music (A0.973000).

This is the lullaby that I wrote for my first-born niece when she was a baby. It was composed specifically for guitar, and this copy comes complete with guitar tab as well as traditional notation. I've used an interesting tuning combination for the piece, which is why it also comes with tab, to make everything clearer. Both of the E strings are tuned up by 1 semitone to F, and the B string is de-tuned by 1 semitone to Bb. The resulting sound is pleasant, and unlike most other music out there on the classical guitar market, making it a lovely little piece to learn - and of course to serenade an infant with! It's approximately Grade 4 in standard (ABRSM), so the tuning doesn't make the piece any more difficult to play, and of course, the tab is there to make it crystal clear during the learning process how it is to be played. I hope you enjoy playing it as much as I did writing it. Please do take a look at another of my classical guitar compositions, Summer Sunset, which would work really well with Holly's Lullaby as a pair. Thank you for your interest in my music.  .

By The Smiths. For guitar. Alternative. Guitar TAB. 10 pages. Published by Hal Leonard - Digital Sheet Music