This tuneful little set consists of two from Nigeria, one from Korea and one from Japan and are not too difficult, being aimed at the intermediate players amongst you. Bantu Song and Suayo, the Nigerian folk songs, are most effective. They are naturally very rhythmic and often off the beat, so there is a large amount of interplay between the two voices, where for much of the time the melody is often in a different part of the beat from the bass-line. The occasional chord interspersed between just adds a little extra colour at salient moments. Arirang, the Korean melody has a similar two-voiced structure: a feature of all the first three is the deliberately modal feel; little of the harmonic work is what you might be expecting, although all of it is friendly. The final Sakura from Japan (the same melody used by Yokoh) in his famous work is noticeably simpler altogether and consists of a quaver run of notes in one voice, with the melody and the harmonic work occupying the same voice. This is a very nice set of three little pieces, which you may find charming and tuneful and not too difficult to play.
Chris Dumigan (Classical Guitar Magazine)
