Classical Ukulele - Gaspar Sanz book by McKillop

Tsani

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I would like to put in my plug here for Rob McKillop's book of "20 Baroque Pieces for the Ukulele by Gaspar Sanz". For those of us who have been bitten by the bug of playing classical music on the ukulele, this is a priceless gift.

Gaspar Sanz was a master of the baroque guitar from the mid to late 1600s. The baroque guitar is strung and tuned very much like an ukulele, so the music written for baroque guitar adapts to the uke very well. Sanz wrote his music in an instructional style, so the way the music is written is intended to make you a better player - but the music itself is just fantastic!

Rob has done a wonderful job with this book. If you are interested in playing classical uke, you know how hard it is to find music that is adapted, transcribed, or tabbed for the ukulele. We have had the book by the late John King and some great tabs from Jamie Holding, and Roger Ruthen. (Check out Roger's site at http://pdfminstrel.wordpress.com/). Rob has also given some tabs on his "Fingerstyle Uke" site.

Rob's book of Gaspar Sanz pieces though, is very exciting. I think there is something here for every player. There are some fairly simple slow pieces that are great for us beginners, and there are pieces that are really virtuoso show pieces. One really wonderful aspect of this book is that it comes with a CD of Rob playing each of these pieces so that you will know what they should sound like.

I must warn you that they are not in the book in order of how difficult they are! Listening to the first two pieces on the CD was totally intimidating. If you want to hear a real virtuoso just tearing up the ukulele with fantastic skill, you will hear it on this CD! However there are some pieces in the middle that are very accessible for those of us who are just students at this stage. Really there is something here for every level of player, and the simpler and slower pieces are so lyrical and pretty that even advanced players will enjoy them.

Some of the easier pieces that I am going to work on are, "Zarabanda Francesca #1", "Lantururu", and "Espanoleta". Later I hope to work my way up to doing the "Fuga" and "Canarios".

I highly recommend Rob's book and you can get it from Mel Bay publications.
 
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+1 !

I got this when it was still just a down load. I have his fingerstyle stuff also. I haven't learned all of them, but Espanoleta has been fun, and challenging enough for me. Hawaiian lnadscape with rain was the second piece I worked on, from his fingerstyle book.

I agree, if you want to play classical/fingerstyle on Uke, and you are a beginner, these books are a great place to begin, or further, your journey!
 
Really looking forward to this book!

Have been waiting a long time (just missed out on purchasing the original pdf version from Rob's website

Very disappointed that Mel Bay won't let me buy the ebook from the UK :(
Looks like I'll have to get the dead tree version when it's eventually available here.
 
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This looks really interesting. I quite enjoy John King's book as well as Jamie Holding's transcriptions.

I just ran across a cool site with music for four course renaissance guitar (tuned like a baritone uke). The music is in regular score form, but I am thinking of transcribing it for low-g tuned sop/concert/tenor uke.

My favourite of all the pieces on the site is the Bransle de Champaigne. Take a listen to this, if you want to inspired by some rocking Renaissance music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTleF7oGquc
 
I put it on my wishlist at amazon the other day and now it's currently unavailable. :( (I prefer to buy it from amazon since I have gift credit and free Prime shipping.)

Very disappointed that Mel Bay won't let me buy the ebook from the UK :(
Looks like I'll have to get the dead tree version when it's eventually available here.
I have the PDF but was actually looking forward to the "dead tree version" with the CD.

Why does Mel Bay charge the same for the book with CD as for a download where you have to pay for the ink and paper to print it and you don't get the CD? There's no advantage except for the instant gratification factor.

Oh, my! I just found that if you go to the e-book version on Mel Bay's site, there's a little tab for downloads.

"Get the extra files for your Mel Bay book by clicking the "Download Extras" button below."

http://www.melbay.com/download.asp?ProductID=22128BCDEB

Wasn't sure what it was, and I figured it would tell me I wasn't authorized to download it, since I didn't buy the e-book, but it let me. It's a 30 meg zip file of all the tunes in mp3 format... the entire CD!

Not sure if this is a mistake on Mel Bay's part, so get it while you can. Should help some of you decide whether the music in the book is for you. :)
 
Oh, my! I just found that if you go to the e-book version on Mel Bay's site, there's a little tab for downloads.

"Get the extra files for your Mel Bay book by clicking the "Download Extras" button below."

http://www.melbay.com/download.asp?ProductID=22128BCDEB

Wasn't sure what it was, and I figured it would tell me I wasn't authorized to download it, since I didn't buy the e-book, but it let me. It's a 30 meg zip file of all the tunes in mp3 format... the entire CD!

Not sure if this is a mistake on Mel Bay's part, so get it while you can. Should help some of you decide whether the music in the book is for you. :)

Yeah, I noticed that as well! (and downloaded the .mp3s :))

If they would let me give them my cash as well and purchase the rest of the book, I'd be happier though.

I've nothing against the paper versions, but do like the opportunity to get the .pdfs, as I work from home and mostly play in front of the screen.
Have been known to buy both paper and digital, just to save me scanning :eek: (sometimes wish there was a digital version included on the CD)

I found this article online that suggests they may be working on international downloads. Fingers crossed...
 
I'm a strong supporter of compensating copyright holders for their efforts.

Over the years I've amassed thousands of dollars worth of classical guitar music (most purchased before the internet became such a valuable resource for sheet music).

I have no qualms whatsoever about photocopying pieces out of books I've bought. Instead of bulky books that don't lay flat on my music stand, I just copy the pieces I want to work on and organize them into folders. That way I can mark them up to my heart's content while the (often expensive) originals are safely filed away. :)
 
Rob MacKillop here. Any questions about my Sanz book, just ask.

Mel Bay are locked into a publishing license themselves, which restricts the electronic format to the US. I have been told by the company that when that contract expires, they will organise world-wide download. But I didn't get a date....But they are not exactly happy about the situation as it stands.

And, yes, they are giving away the mp3 files - and I'm happy for them to do so :D
 
Question for Rob

[]Rob MacKillop here. Any questions about my Sanz book, just ask.

Rob, could you give us a list from easy to hard for the Sanz book? Just some starters will do, four or five.

thanks, Kimosabe
 
Hi Kimosabe,

I always start people of with Espanoleta. Then maybe La esfachata de Napoles and La minona de Cataluna. Lantururu is quite easy. Then the two zarabandas. Then maybe Las Hachas. The last six pieces are harder...
 
Much obliged.

Where else do you find a live author to guide you through his material?

thanks, Rob. I'll follow your suggestions.
 
Thanks, Val. Good to know that the ebooks are now available world wide. I didn't know that.
 
Darn you all, I have now been obliged to put this on my Amazon wishlist and do not know for how long I will be able to resist buying it! ;)
 
Hi Kimosabe,

I always start people of with Espanoleta. Then maybe La esfachata de Napoles and La minona de Cataluna. Lantururu is quite easy. Then the two zarabandas. Then maybe Las Hachas. The last six pieces are harder...

Thanks, Rob. By coincidence just started this book yesterday. Listened to the CD first.
 
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