Sheet Music
The “a” finger moves less independently than p,i, & m. Shearer introduces “a” with sympathetic motion, adding it to the already established m-ii free stroke.
Sympathetic motion is the motion of the fingers to move together. When applied to an arpeggio, the action, or follow through, of one finger, pulls on the next finger in sequence.
Pathway is an intermediate-level study built on a simple melody and featuring a variety of chord colorings.
In tonal music, knowing the key of a piece is a great fingerboard organizer, telling the guitarist what chords to expect and which possible positions they may be played in.
Sounding two notes with a single R.H. stroke is called slurring. In this article, we’ll cover two other kinds of slurring—Delayed Slurring & Group Slurring
To read and play music, instantly at first sight, is an impressive skill but also one of the most challenging tasks for musicians, particularly with guitarists.
“Scordatura,” in Italian literally meaning “discord,” refers to retuning the standard tuning of a string instrument.
Scales are essential building blocks of music. The Preface of Aaron Shearer’s Scale Pattern Studies for the Guitar (1965) begins with
Темрява—Temryava (pronounced “tem-ye-vah,” meaning “darkness” in Ukrainian) is an intermediate level piece that features one-hand harmonics.
This is an arrangment of two traditional Scottish Tunes—Bottom of the Punch Bowl and My Nanie O (or When Bidden to the Wake) merged into one.
This Invention in E major is in open position and features slurring, rhythmic syncopation, pizzicato, glissandi, ponticello, and p golpe (tapping on the soundboard).
Prayer is an intermediate-level piece that features sections of flexible rhythm, meter, and tempo in a playing style called rubato, a piacere, or ad libitum
When Jesus Wept was originally composed as a canon (musical round) in 1770 by American composer William Billings. The setting here is two-voice/imitative and was arranged in response to the George Floyd death on May 25, 2020.
In the Silence is an intermediate piece that features a rest-stroke upper melody with free-stroke arpeggiated accompaniment.
When compound- and simple-subdivided beats are combined together, the result is irregular meter.
Kenya is a very accessible (open-position) hemiola study in the style of African folk music.
Suo-Gân is a traditional Welsh tune, first appearing around 1800 with lyrics set by the Welsh folklorist Robert Bryan.
Kingsfold is an Irish tune, dating as far back as the Middle Ages. In structure, the melody resembles other popular Irish tunes such as Star of the County Down.
A new rhythm arises when the accent pattern in 6/8 meter shifts from two groups of three’s to three groups of two’s. This is called hemiola.
Kalimba is an easy rhythm study featuring 16-note patterns with off-beat stress. It was written to imitate the sound of the south African instrument by the same name
Identify three-note fretboard patterns as chord names. Each pattern is part of a larger 4-, 5-, or 6- string chord. The qualities choices are lead-sheet style. (Here "o7" is for all types of diminished 7th chords)
