Paid Downloads
Some articles and exercises are available on my Free Downloads page. The materials here, however, are editions of concert works that I wanted to make available as soon as they were ready rather than wait to have them published. These editions and transcriptions are performance editions that offer solutions to interpretive and technical problems through detailed fingerings, style-appropriate interpretive indications, and historic fingering practices where applicable. Any updates issued are always free to purchasers. View sample pages on the About OrpheusOnFire page.
Editions and Transcriptions:
Dowland: Sir John Smith his AlmaineA virtuosic and tuneful almaine
This almaine, published in Robert Dowland's 1610 Varietie of Lute Lessons, is a remarkable piece.
This edition contains two versions of piece for guitar: one with right-hand fingerings modeled after Renaissance lute technique and one that uses standard right-hand fingerings. Also included are performance notes that include a discussion (with examples) about the unique form of this piece and the unusual variation technique used by Dowland.
Six pages pages of music (two versions of the transcription) and five pages of performance notes.
Price: $5.00OrpheusOnFire
Aguado: Rondo brillantePerhaps Aguado's finest solo work
Aguado's Op. 2 contains three outstanding rondos, of which the second rondo is the most brilliant.
This edition includes fingerings and interpretive indications beyond those that were in the original publication. It is not an Urtext edition and is intended to stimulate the musical imaginations and interpretive creativity of guitarists.
Nine pages of music.
Price: $5.00OrpheusOnFire
Bach: Fugue for lute, BWV 1000Based on J. C. Weyrauch's (1694–1741) intabulation for baroque lute
Guitar transcriptions of Bach’s famous fugue, whether the version for violin or the eighteenth-century lute intabulation, rarely contain right-hand fingerings. The absence of right-hand fingerings—or the absence of a reasoned approach in working out right-hand fingerings—in complex contrapuntal music is one of the main reasons guitarists become frustrated when studying Bach. This edition offers solutions that can help when playing lines that imply more than one voice.
In addition to detailed fingering for both hands, the "Performance Notes" section presents guidance to help develop left-hand finger independence.
Six pages of music.
Price: $5.00OrpheusOnFire
Barrios: Estudio de ConciertoA performance ediiton of this neglected work for solo guitar
This piece by Agustín Barrios Mangoré has never been the subject of an interpretive or performance edition. The OrpheusOnFire edition reveals the piece to be far from a generic—albeit difficult—arpeggio étude.
This edition makes the melodic line clear, which is not the case with the DiGiorgio publication from the 1950s, to help guitarists enhance the relationship between melody and accompaniment. The OrpheusOnFire edition also reveals the presence of hidden inner voices, which can add liveliness and interest in performance.
This edition contains detailed fingerings, interpretive indications, and performance notes.
Four pages of music.
Price: $5.00OrpheusOnFire
Giuliani: Grande Ouverture, Op. 61A performance edition of this virtuoso work. meticulously fingered according to Giuliani's fingering practices
This performance edition strives to place this famous work in a context more nuanced and lively than that of an overplayed virtuoso show piece.
The use of the word “ouverture” in the title suggests an orchestral influence. It’s a tired trope that the guitar is a “miniature orchestra,” and this has most often been connected to the instrument’s timbral qualities. Imitating other instruments is not the nexus of the connection, however. The guitar’s real orchestral quality lies in its textural capabilities, some of which are explored in this edition. The successful use of these textures relies on a fast tempo in the Allegro Maestoso section and the ability to project any part of a texture at will.
This edition also contains extensive performance and interpretive notes.
Eleven pages of music.
Price: $5.00OrpheusOnFire
Granados: Danza Española No. 5A new transcription of this piece from Granados's Danzas Españolas for piano
This famous piece appears on Andrés Segovia's recital programs as early as 1916, shortly after he learned Miguel Llobet's transcription phrase by phrase while Llobet played the piece for him. (Llobet's transcription wasn't published until 1926.)
Guitar transcriptions—including Llobet's—include only a small amount of the interpretive indications in editions for piano. The OrpheusOnFire edition contains helpful fingerings and plentiful interpretive and phrasing indications.
Five pages of music.
Price: $5.00OrpheusOnFire
Sor: Variations, Op. 9Meticulously fingered according to Sor's fingering practices
The OrpheusOnFire edition of this famous work seeks to help performers (and their audiences) experience the work as a sparkling, well-constructed concert work.
This edition takes into account Sor's fingering practices as presented in his Method for the Spanish Guitar and his thoughtful approach to notation. This approach eliminates many of the fingering and artistic problems caused by modern editors using the score as a tabula rasa upon which they imposed their lack of knowledge of nineteenth-century guitar technique and performance practice.
This edition contains six pages of music and seven pages of performance and interpretive notes.
Price: $5.00OrpheusOnFire
Sor: Grand Solo, Op. 14Also known as Sonata prima
The OrpheusOnFire edition of this brilliant concert work makes use of Sor's fingering practices. Some material from Aguado's 1849 edition of the piece is incorporated to add variety, which is in keeping with the freedom with which nineteenth-century performers regarded their scores.
This edition has fingerings that can help guitarists solve interpretive and technical problems in the piece. The "Performance Notes" section offers detailed information about interpretive and technical ideas.
Price: $5.00OrpheusOnFire
Weiss: Fantasie for luteTranscribed from "The London Manuscript"
This short work is in c minor on the baroque lute but has been transcribed to d minor for guitar. The start of the piece is unmeasured but uses the rhythmic propulsion present in many late baroque pieces. The interpretive problem here is to provide expressive freedom to music that drives forward. The second section is exuberant, fugue-like, and is a joy to play.
This edition contains detailed fingerings along with performance and interpretive notes.
Price: $4.00OrpheusOnFire
Tárrega: Capricho árabeA performance edition of this iconic work for solo guitar
Does the guitar world need another Urtext for facsimile edition of this famous piece? No, it doesn't. But most guitar editions are rarely interpretive editions, and that's what the OrpheusOnFire edition is.
This edition includes phrase markings and other interpretive indications. It is not an Urtext edition and is intended to stimulate the musical imaginations and interpretive creativity of guitarists. Included are extensive performance notes.
Price: Not SetOrpheusOnFire
Articles and Booklets:
Common-Tone Scale Practice & String CrossingVirtuoso practice techniques
In 1923, pianist and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff outlined a method of scale practice that didn’t rely on rôte learning and which he thought contributed to the world-wide success of Russian pianists in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This fifty-one page booklet (6500 words, over twenty examples and illustrations, and thirty pages of scales) explores Rachmaninoff's ideas in the context of guitar study. Also included is an in-depth look at modifications to string-crossing technique required by high speeds.
Price: $4.99OrpheusOnFire
IntervalsMaterial for focused practice of thrds, sixths, octaves, and tenths.
This material was part of my original conception of The Classical Guitar Companion, but I removed it once I saw the length of the book as a whole. Here you will find material that explores thirds, sixths, octaves, and tenths by legendary guitarists.
Price: Not SetOrpheusOnFire
Remote KeysAn opportunity to explore pieces in remote keys.
This material was part of my original conception of The Classical Guitar Companion, but I removed it once I saw the length of the book as a whole. Here you will find a collection of accessible pieces in remote keys by Giuliani, Sor, Legnani, and Paganini. It's instructive to see how legendary guitarists approached writing music in keys guitarists usually avoid, and there's much to be gained by playing this music.
Price: Not SetOrpheusOnFire
The Virtuoso TeacherLeanPub
Although "The Virtuoso Teacher" (also known as "The Re-Imagination of Guitar Pedagogy") can be read here and a free version is available through Gumroad (see the "Free Downloads" page), an extended version is available on LeanPub for $7.99.
Go to this page on LeanPub. In addition to a nicely typeset PDF, LeanPub customers also receive MOBI or EPUB versions to read on your Kindle or other e-reader app.
Price: $7.99
About Gumroad
Gumroad provides an easy way to buy digital products (or download free offerings) without leaving this site. Gumroad accepts credit card payments directly, requires minimal information, and doesn'tuse any kind of third party payment methods. This offers them complete control over the checkout process.
How It Works
The buttons below will bring up an overlay to get or purchase items securely from Gumroad without leaving this page. Gumroad will also notify you of any updates to your purchases... and the updates are free! There's also a free Gumroad app for iOS (iOS 7 or later) and Android. Download, play, or read any Gumroad purchase.
Stay Up To Date
Sign up to learn about all new recordings, scores, and articles available through Gumroad.