Voyages (CD incl.)

Please note that audio files from the CD are not included in the PDF format purchase option. The discount has been adjusted accordingly.

Here are six evocative little quartets, at really quite a modest level. The CD contains each piece just once, with repeats. Although there are no «music-minus-one« tracks, the stereo sound image is broad and it's easy to pick out each line.
Shanghai certainly lives up to its title with an evocative sound, and all in the first position,
La danse du serpent has some percussion to open and then a set of glorious intervals and progressions right out of a harmonic minor scale - excellent teaching material as well as conveying a mystical eastern sound. The addition of Bb and a couple of fifth fret notes add a little extra challenge to any novices working from this book.
Ballade is in 3/4 time and conjures up a sound somewhere between a waltz and a piece of renaissance music, There's a chance to play in the second position here, and least in the major section, Some of the phrases are an unusual length, but it works for me.
Danza needs some two-handed percussion, but it's sheer fun and conveys a Moorish, modal feel. We go a little higher up the neck too.
Japan Melodie has pizzicato and tambora. The centre section takes Guitar one up to ninth position and the player on the CD introduces some slides that I am sure players will want to copy.
Moon Blues is a fun conclusion in a shuffle rhythm with some gloriously big cadences to enjoy.
For most of the pieces, the typical standard is Grade one or two. Guitar four is quite a bit more complex and I would think that the best would come from these pieces if the tutor took that line, or if the ensemble were a mixed ability one. In either of these scenarios, the sound is full and players of modest ability can take part in a musically rich and satisfying performance, The gentle progression through the book is nice - it gives learners that extra impetus to improve, and the final piece, by far the most exciting, will be a real target for any novice who has this book.
Derek Hasted (Classical Guitar)