Tsani
Well-known member
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.
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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