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Swing

Swing

Composer: CHAPALAIN Guy

DZ 2146

Intermediate

ISBN: 978-2-89737-063-3 

4 guitars

8 p. + separated parts

Description

"Set in quavers, with a strong yet relaxed syncopation, there is no marking to swing or shuffle the quavers, but before you set off thinking how it goes, the indication to shuffle comes in the next section! The opening is a more reflective and leisurely 'girding of the loins'. Guitar Four provides a sexy bassline throughout the piece and it's not too hard, so I was surprised that this line plays the opening four bars solo, with music in two parts - that workload could have been split and would take the stress away from otherwise the 'easy line'. With a formula that's broadly tune, countermelody, 2&3 note chords, bass', it suits a mixed ability ensemble. Guitar One is single note music, up as far as twelfth position, but there is a spattering of fingering where the position isn't obvious, or where there is an ambiguity about which string the notes are to be played on. The music is in B minor and the deliciously lush F# major makes lots of appearances. Where the chords are just that little bit trickier, there is plenty of repetition, so there isn't too much to be mastered. The downside is that there are bars where there are passing discords (A# against B, for example) because the simple building blocks don't always fit perfectly. But these are quickly in the rearview mirror, and besides, it's the texture and pulse that carries this piece. Without a conductor and without cue notes on the score, some of the rests are going to be hard to get right - eleven bars of rests is a long time for a learner to sit and count - cue notes are a simple way to fix this. In terms of the ability range for this piece, well, apart from the introduction, Guitar Four is Grade 2+, and we move on upwards to Guitar One which is probably about Grade 5, possibly Grade 6 as there is the need to be bombproof high up the neck, usually exactly when Guitar Two isn't shadowing a third below. The transition for 'unswung' to swung (especially when the notation is apparently almost identical) might prove a challenge at first, but there's no doubt that this is an arrangement that is going to lead to a solid sound and, at school concerts, more than a bit of a crowd-pleaser, despite the dark nature that B minor often brings."

Derek Hasted (Classical Guitar Magazine)

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