This serie has been conceived for the guitarists of beginner to intermediate levels.
An essential teaching tool!
Although quite a short piece on paper, there's a generous repeat that turns this into a full-blown three-minute performance,
The title is so inviting that it can't fail to have you diving into the music as soon as the book lands on the table. Cursory inspection showed some reggae-like bass, some tight chords off the beat and some little runs that sit nicely under the fingers. Looks good! Jamaica here we come...
Off we go then, and, well, it's not quite what I was expecting - some majestic chord sequences - FM7, G6, Am - unusual; and then some smoochy jazz chords - rather unexpected; and all played in a swing rhythm; and with a quasi-fugal stretto at the end just to top it all off. Yes, it definitely has its feet in several camps here.
The standard is quite modest Grade three players would be able to play this, though it might benefit from a little more experience to achieve both the sense of effortless flow in the runs and the precision of the stab chords.
Fingering is sparse, but dynamics are more richly proffered. It's stylistically a bit of a mongrel, but it's nicely different from mainstream, and it's fun to play and to listen to, And isn't that what really matters?
Derek Hasted (Classical Guitar)
