Guitar Ensemble
The ensemble pieces below were written or arranged specifically for my 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-level guitar ensemble.
Most students enter my program with no guitar or music-reading skills. Therefore, in addition to teaching fundamental technique in both pop and classical guitar, the first semester of the first year is spent developing reading skills in the context of learning guitar duets. A few of these duets are listed below. By the second semester, students start learning the beginning quartets 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 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, with some restrictions (*see below.) 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.
*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. If you record your performance of any of my compositions and/or arrangements (including those on the Vocal & Chamber page), you are free to share that performance on social media platforms, such as Facebook or YouTube. However, you are strictly prohibited from selling that recorded performance or receiving compensation in any form or context. This includes, but not limited to selling your recorded performance in CD format or on digital platforms and streaming media services, such as Spotify or iTunes. If you are interested in recording any of this music for the purpose of commercially distributing and selling it, please contact me and I will be happy to send you a license agreement. Lastly, the works below (and on the Vocal & Chamber page) are published works, registered with the U.S. Copyright Office and BMI. This means that in addition to it being illegal for anyone to sell or publish this music, whether it's in sheet music or sound/video recording format, copyright law also prohibits anyone from creating arrangements of my music without my consent, whether or not there is intention to sell it. Thank you.
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 concert setting, these pieces work well in a Christmas/Winter concert.)
(🎄While being appropriate for any concert setting, these pieces work well in a Christmas/Winter concert.)
BEGINNING QUARTETSBEGINNING DUETSBouree (j.s. bach)
INTERMEDIATE - ADVANCED DUETS & TRIOSSuite for two (Lou Warde) 2019
ARRANGEMENTS FOR QUARTETthree 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. |
NEW INTERMEDIATE – ADVANCED QUARTETS (Warde)bella (2016)🎄
first snow (2016)🎄
tango for four (2016)
Étude (2016)
long road home (2016)
GESTURES suite (2018)
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, being a suite, these four pieces are intended to be performed together. Of course, you have the option not to. To accommodate that, I provided the score and parts for each piece, rather than one file with all four pieces. Six Bells (2019)🎄
GUITAR QUARTET & STRINGS (Warde)MUSIC FOR A LOONIE (2018)
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.
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