COWKEEPER'S TUNE (TV's Woodentops theme) - 4 GUITARS/LARGE ENSEMBLE
For Classical or Acoustic Guitar - sometimes it's erroneously listed here as Electric Guitar.

Derek Hasted writes This arrangement is taken from a String Nonet version (2 first violins, 2 second violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos and 1 double bass).

It makes a great quartet for a guitar ensemble of modest ability, and those with more experience will be able to generate a wonderful soundscape with a rich clear overall sound.

The pitch range of the original has to be compressed onto the pitch range of a guitar ensemble and I’ve achieved this by raising the lower voices, rather than altering the top voice, where the piece calls for a lighter texture.

The dynamics of the original are retained in my arrangement, but the fingering is left to the players... Playing the lower parts up the neck will give a rich, cello-like, sound, but a first position performance will be robust and will use many familiar guitar shapes.

This is a charming, gentle, pastoral piece and the sweet sound of the guitar suits it well.

Those UK players of a certain age might just remember that this music introduced The Woodentops, a children’s string-puppet TV series which ran in black and white from 1955 till 1957, and was regularly repeated until 1973.

I hope you enjoy playing this piece!