Preludio

The Preludio collection contains 130 easy and appealing preludes from six different centuries. It includes all the best-known guitar pieces for beginners in the simplest arrangements possible, designed for students in their 2nd-4th year of tuition. The selection has been divided chronologically into five chapters, with pieces presented in increasing order of difficulty within each chapter. The chapters include twenty works each from the Renaissance, Baroque and Romantic / early 20th Century periods, while chapters on Classical and modern/pop/world music contain thirty-five works each, reflecting the wider range of simple and attractive pieces available. The result is an excellent book of easy pieces that can be used alongside or to follow on from any guitar tutorial method. These pieces are suitable for auditions and beginners concerts, as repertoire for competitions and examinations or simply as a treasure trove for teachers, students and amateur guitarists. Technical requirements are simple for both left and right hand. Most of the pieces can be played in 1st and 2nd position and do not require barre chords or tied notes. Slightly more difficult pieces will be found at the end of each chapter, introducing a few barre chords and higher positions. Tied notes are presented as optional in the easier pieces and a few demanding barre chords have also been simplified. Changes in position are marked to facilitate fingering in a few higher positions. Most of these are original pieces for the guitar and not drastically simplified, though a few difficult passages have been presented with easier alternatives to make demands reasonably consistent within each piece. Apart from three very easy pieces, scordatura is avoided in the Renaissance and Baroque chapters to make reading more straightforward.