Guitar Ensemble
The ensemble pieces below were written or arranged specifically for my high school students, keeping both their technical ability and aesthetic enjoyment in mind. Since I have first through fourth-year students in my program, you should be able to find pieces to match the skill level of your particular high school or college guitar ensemble.

Almost all of my students enter the guitar program with no guitar or music-reading skills. Therefore, in addition to teaching fundamental technique, the first semester of the first year is spent building reading skills in the context of learning guitar duets. A few of these duets are listed below. The rest are in the beginning book.  By the second semester, students start learning the beginning quartets (Grade I-II) below. These can be played as student quartets or as a large ensemble. I've listed them in the order they are presented in the book. The intermediate and advanced duets and quartets (Grade III-VI) are for my second through fourth-year students. These are not  listed in any progressive order or level of difficulty.

Below, you can listen to a recording of the pieces and download the score and parts to fit your needs. All gratis*. If you are a guitar educator, keep in mind that the beginning quartets and duets are already contained in the beginning book, which can be downloaded or viewed on the eBook, both on the Curriculum page.  The advanced curriculum is separated into three books – Classical, Rock, and Guitar Ensemble.  There is no longer a single pdf of the Guitar Ensemble book, but all the pieces are below.

Guitar Ensemble Library

Click on the + sign next to the title to listen to a recording of the piece and download a pdf of the score and parts.
(🎄While being appropriate for any program, these pieces also work well in a Christmas/Winter concert)

BEGINNING QUARTETS

Ode To Joy (beethoven)
arr. Lou Warde
Finale (Saint-Saens)
Finlandia (Sibelius)
Be thou my vision (Trad. Irish)
Here is love (TRAD. welsh)
yosemite (Lou WardE)

BEGINNING  DUETS

ARIETTA (D. Turk)
In this duet, the key signature is introduced.
Bouree (j.s. bach)
The rhythmic independence of each part can be a challenge for my first-semester students.
Allegro (Mozart)
An introduction to 16th notes.
Ave Maria (F. Schubert)
In the context of my beginning curriculum, this duet served as an etude, introducing the  p-i-m-a-m-i right-hand pattern.  
Note: Below are two versions of this arrangement.
First Position Version:  When arranging this duet, I had to consider a couple of factors. First, at the time I introduce this piece, my students are still playing in first position. Therefore, I reluctantly had to utilize the open E string, which I find rather expressionless. Secondly, these students will have not yet learned bar chords. Therefore, the intro an outdo sections, which contains bar chords, are optional. 
Version 2: This version is identical to the first-position version with the exception that it will move out of first position on occasion in order to avoid some open strings.
Four-String Melody (Warde)
As part of the beginning book curriculum, this duet is a uses a melody played on the first four string of the guitar only.

​INTERMEDIATE - ADVANCED DUETS & TRIOS

GYMNOPÉDIE NO. 1 (SATIE)
Please listen to the quartet version of this piece for reference. The voicing is identical.
TWO-PART INVENTION NO. 1 (J.S. BACH)
Cibel (Jean Baptiste Loeillet)
ORIENTAL (ENRIQUE GRANADOS)
Recording coming soon...
A LITTLE FUGUE (Lou WARDE)
A short and relatively simple little fugue. However, depending on when it's presented, the counterpoint can be a challenge to the student.
Suite for two (Lou Warde)
​The three pieces that make up this suite were intended to be performed together, as a set.  Below is a pdf of  the set. However, for those who wish to perform individual pieces from the set, I've made separate scores, for your convenience, which will be in the corresponding cells.
          1. Suave
          2. You are me
          3. cirCUS PARADE

SOUTH AMERICAN DUETS

Chanson Indiéne
​These are mostly South American duets that I edited. I've listed them in order of difficultly, more or less.

Chanson Indiéne

Cholita
A Que Has Venido, Forastero
Carneirinho
Cururu
La Llorona
Caminito de la Sierra
Quisiera Que Se Muera
El Condor Pasa

NON-CLASSICAL INTERMEDIATE ​DUETS & TRIOS PLAYED WITH A PICK (*Pick is optional)
(These are also found in the Rock/Piano page)

Three folk songs
These duets were introduced to help develop picking technique, but they are fun to play and appropriate for performance.
(A recording is on the to-do list...)
dueling banjos
A tune to help develop picking and strumming technique.
SARIA'S SONG (FROM ZELDA–OCARINA OF TIME)
Another tune to develop picking technique as well as the use of palm mute.  Note: This can be played as a duet or trio.
(A recording is on the to-do list...)
*GERUDO VALLEY (FROM OCARINA OF TIME)
*This trio can be played with or without a pick. It is slightly more challenging than the previous tunes.
(Another one I need to record...)
PINK PANTHER
A fun duet that is an excellent study on slurs (hammer-on's and pull-off's) and palm muting. I included tabs on this one.
(A recording is on the to-do list...)
Opaque (thrice)
A very challenging trio to play at tempo.  (Tabs included)
Tango to Evora (Loreena McKennitt)
Although played out of first position, this is a very easy, beginner-level trio that works well with or without a pick. Tabs included.

​INTERMEDIATE – ADVANCED QUARTETS

bella (LOU WARDE)🎄
first snow (LOU WARDE)🎄
"I love how subtle First Snow begins and then increases in complexity like wind throwing the snow around."   – J. Petri
tango for four (LOU WARDE)
Étude (LOU WARDE)
This piece works well towards the beginning of the second year as a study focusing on two areas:
1.) Playing a melody note (with a rest stroke) and bass note  at the same time. This can be technically  challenging at first.
2.) An introduction to playing out of first position.
long road home (LOU WARDE)
This performance was a collaboration with Wilson High School's Dance and Guitar Departments, for the Grand Re-Opening of Wilson's School auditorium, October 11, 2018. Choreography by Brook Sudock-Baxter.
​Michelle Jusionis, Director of Dance.
spanish garden (LOU WARDE)
november (LOU WARDE)🎄
Moon rising (Lou Warde)
GESTURES suite (Lou Warde)
Gestures is a collection of four miniatures for guitar quartet, each less than two minutes long. The imagery and feelings each piece evokes in me are very poignant, and I was going to title each piece accordingly. However, in the end, I didn't want to influence the listener's own response, so, I kept the titles neutral.

Obviously, these four pieces were intended to be performed together. But of course, you may want to perform less than all four. To accommodate that, I provided the score and parts for each piece, rather than one file with all four pieces.​
      1. march
      2. Passacaglia🎄
      3. Waltz
      4. Rhapsody
Sunset paradise (LOU WARDE)
Six Bells (LOU WARDE)🎄
Technical ​Levels:
​Guitar 1 & 2: Intermediate/Advanced
Guitar 3: Intermediate
Guitar 4: Beginning/Intermediate
Wind & Willows

ARRANGEMENTS FOR
INTERMEDIATE – ADVANCED QUARTET

three Songs from Great Britain

The three pieces that make up this collection,  Dacw 'Ngharia, The Water is Wide and Scarborough Fair, were intended to be performed together, as a set.  For your convenience, I've made a singe pdf of the three scores with  parts. For those who wish to perform individual pieces from the set, you can download (and listen to) these pieces below.

        1. Dacw 'Nghariad (Wales)​
         2. The Water is Wide (Scotland)​
        3. Scarborough Fair​ (England)
CAROL OF THE BELLS (M. LEONTOVYCH)🎄

Trad. Carol by Mykola Leontovych, arr. Lou Warde

CHORALE (J.S. BACH)🎄

from St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244, arr. Lou Warde

AIR (J.S. BACH)

from Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068

IL EST BEL ET BON (PIERRE PASSEREAU)🎄
HABANERA (GEORGES BIZET)

​from Carmen, Act I, arr. Lou Warde

IN THE HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN KING (GRIEG)
GYMONOPÉDIE (SATIE)

​from Peer Gynt, Suite I, Op. 46, No. 4, arr. Lou Warde

GUITAR QUARTET & STRINGS

MAMA'S LULLABY  (LOU WARDE)
GUITAR QUARTET & VIOLIN or cell0
MUSIC FOR A LOONIE (LOU WARDE)
GUITAR ENSEMBLE AND STRING SYMPHONY
Commissioned by the
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra School of Music
for its Orpheum Showcase Concert, June 24, 2018
This commission was written specifically for a beginning to intermediate string and guitar ensemble. Therefore, from a technical perspective, this piece should be manageable for 2nd – 3rd year a high school string and guitar ensemble.
The performance in the above video was taken at a much slower tempo than I intended. Below is a recording with guitar quartet and sampled strings at the appropriate tempo.
*You are free to download these scores and parts and are encouraged to perform these works. However, like any of the material on this website, you are strictly forbidden to repost, publish and/or sell this music in any form or context. This includes creating and selling audio and/or video recordings of this music. (Your are free, however, to post a video recording of your or your student's performance on social media, such as Facebook, YouTube or your school's website, with the intention to simply share the performance.) If you are interested in recording any of this music for the purpose of distributing and selling it, please contact me and I will be happy to send you a license agreement. Thank you.