Jewish Traditions For Classical And Fingerstyle Guitar

A beautiful variety of traditional Jewish melodies arranged for classical or fingerstyle guitar. 20 solos and 6 duets. Sephardic, Yiddish, Israeli and Oriental folk songs, as well as Chassidic tunes, Klezmer tunes and music originally sung by Cantors. Intermediate and advanced level, with a few pieces included that can be enjoyed also by less experienced players. Annotations and Performance Notes for each piece, providing historical and/or cultural perspective as well as technical guidance. An Appendix (with Glossary) discusses in considerable detail Jewish scales and modes. A Bibliography and Discography are provided for those who would like to learn more about these beautiful and enduring musical traditions. Praised by Steve Marsh of Classical Guitar magazine and by Judith Pinnolis of Brandeis University and Jewish Music Web Center among others.

A satisfying variety of favorite traditional Jewish tunes beautifully arranged for classical (or fingerstyle) guitar. This new edition includes tablature in addition to the standard notation of the original edition. 20 solos and 6 duets. Intermediate and professional level repertoire. This collection has been praised by Steve Marsh of Classical Guitar magazine and by Judith Pinnolis of Brandeis University and Jewish Music Web Center, among others. One does not need to be Jewish to enjoy playing, or hearing, these superb arrangements. Annotations and Performance Notes for each piece provide historical and/or cultural perspective as well as technical guidance. An Appendix (with Glossary) discusses in considerable detail Jewish scales and modes. A Bibliography and Discography are also provided. Preview at EllenWhitakerGuitar.com

These selections represent one of the first collections of traditional Jewish music for solo guitar. It includes arrangements appropriate for parties, weddings, recitals, Bar or Bat Mitzvahs, B'rit Milah (Covenant of Circumcision), or just for personal enjoyment. These works range in difficulty from moderate to advanced. Fingerings are given along with correlating tablature to facilitate learning. An appendix is included with transliterated Hebrew or Yiddish words as well as chord symbols for accompaniment purposes. English translations are given when it is common to do so. Includes access to online audio that contains all of the pieces in the book recorded in stereo format. It serves as both an aid in learning as well as a very enjoyable solo recording. Level of difficulty - intermediate.

Transcriptions from Neshamah, Tim Sparks's ground-breaking recording for Tzadik Records of traditional Jewish melodies arranged for solo guitar. Neshamah is a Hebrew word meaning soul, and in these soulful pieces, Sparks explores the music of the Jewish Diaspora, from the Caucasus to the Carpathians, from the Black Sea to Bosnia, from Jerusalem, Istanbul, Sarajevo, to New York's Lower East Side. Using a unique blend of bluesy string bends, jazz harmony and middle-eastern scales, he sheds new light on these tunes through the prism of fingerstyle guitar. Neshamah received wide critical acclaim in many publications around the world, including Fingerstyle Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Guitar Player, Akustik Gitarre, Acoustic Guitar Japan, Dirty Linen, the Wall Street Journal, CDNOW, All Music Guide and the Amazon.com Editor's Top 100 CDs of 1999. the entire recording has been transcribed here, including an appendix with the complete solos. Several of the arrangements are accessible to intermediate level players while some are better suited to the advanced player. Some of these transcriptions are slightly different than the CD recorded versions and reflect how the composition is currently played by Tim and are notated as such in the Performance Notes.

This second volume of the popular classical guitar method features instruction, graded exercises, practice studies, and a survey of the guitar repertoire. Volume Two develops technique, sightreading, and includes an advanced repertoire of thirty works.