Guitar Ensemble
"I just wanted to reach out to thank you. I teach at university and at a kids conservatory in Salt Lake City, Utah, and I use your compositions all the time! They are interesting, creative, modern, fun, and beautiful - my students and I have really benefited from your beautiful creations! Thanks for sharing your talent and time and skill, and for promoting classical guitar and adding beautiful new music to the world - I very much admire you and am so grateful!" – Sophie Stanley
"I am a music teacher in the Brazilian public school system. I have been rehearsing your ensemble pieces for about a month now with my advanced students in Rio de Janeiro, and we all love them! I wanted to express my profound gratitude for your work in arranging these pieces. Not only are they very well arranged, but they are also extremely didactic. Thank you so much and I hope to honor these pieces with great performances!" – Alan Orlandi, Brazil
"I want to thank you and congratulate you on your wonderful compositions, arrangements, and guitar curriculum. My high school guitar ensemble have performed Tango, Moon Rising, and Long Road Home and your arrangement of In the Hall of the Mountain King. The pieces are appropriate for high school students, challenging, and musically fulfilling." – Steven Sabet, Music Teacher, Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy
"Your ensemble arrangements are fantastic and accessible - a tough combination!" – Tim Locke, OCI Toronto, Canada
"I am so enthusiastic with your work! Your website is so organized with extremely nice music, arrangements, and of course, your compositions. I tried some of them to see how they would work for my students My students were suddenly inspired by the new music! Thank you so much for the flame that you put in my heart. – Manos Thessaloniki, Greece
"We performed Long Road Home in a competition earlier in the year and our performance was described as ‘hypnotic beauty’. Thank you so much for the inspiration." – Richard Monks, U.K.
Guitar Ensemble Library
The works were written for my students in my four-year guitar program. The difficulty level I've assigned to these works is based on the technical capabilities and experience students my students woulds have acquired in years 1 – 4 in my program. Year 1 (Beginning), Year 2 (Beg-Interm),
Year 3 (Intermediate), Year 4 (Advanced Intermediate). The beginning quartets are for my 1st-year students. The rest were written for my 2nd–4th year students, who perform these works as a quartet as well as a large ensemble. Obviously, there is a wide technical gap between a 2nd-year and 4th-year student, but most of the quartets sit firmly in an intermediate level. In the context of my program, that means 2nd year – 3rd year. There are a few slightly more demanding works, (especially from 2020 on). These work well for my 3rd and 4th year students to perform as a quartet.
Usage Notice: All works on this page are provided as complimentary PDF downloads for educational and concert use, with some restrictions. See the full recording and distribution guidelines below.
Lastly, if you found the works below useful and meaningful, please consider subscribing to The Guitar Classroom YouTube Channel and 👍 the videos you view. Doing these two simple gestures significantly increases the visibility of this channel and subsequently, increases awareness of this website, allowing others to benefit from the free materials you enjoy here. Your support is appreciated!
🎄 While being appropriate for any concert setting, these pieces also work well in a Christmas/Winter program.
BEGINNING QUARTETS
(Level: 1st Year)
Jean Sibelius - Finlandia
Trad. Irish - Be Thou My Vision
Lou Warde - Yosemite
Intermediate – Advance Duets & Trios
(Level: 2nd – 4th Year)
J.S. Bach - Two-Part Invention
Jean Baptiste Loeillet - Cibel
Lou Warde - A Little Fugue
Lou Warde - Suave
Lou Warde - You Are Me
Lou Warde - 3. Circus Parade
Franz Schubert - Ave Maria
Anon. - Chanson Indienne
2a. Cholita (Duet)
2b. Cholita (Trio)
Hector Ayala - Cholita
Anon. - A Que Has Venido
4. Carneirunho
Hector Ayala - Carneirinho
5. Cururu
Anon. - Cururu
6. La Llorona
Anon. - La Llorona
Anon. - Caminito de la Sierra
Anon. - Quisiera Que Se Muera
GUITAR QUARTET ARRANGEMENTS
(Level: 2nd – 4th Year)
The three pieces that make up this collection were intended to be performed together, as a set. For those who wish to do so, 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 the score and parts below.
Trad. Welsh - Dacw 'Nghariad
Trad. Scottish - The Water is Wide
Trad. English - Scarborough Fair
Trad. Carol by Mykola Leontovych, arr. Lou Warde
Lou Warde - Carol of the Bells
Pierre Passereau - Il Es Bel Et Bon
from Peer Gynt, Suite I, Op. 46, No. 4, arr. Lou Warde
Erik Satie - Gymnopededie
GUITAR QUARTET and STRINGS
(Level: 2nd – 4th Year)
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra School of Music
for its Orpheum Showcase Concert, June 24, 2018
Music for a Loonie (Sampled Strings, Faster Tempo)
INTERMEDIATE – ADVANCED QUARTETS
(Level: 2nd – 4th Year)
1.) Playing a melody note (with a rest stroke) and bass note at the same time.
2.) An introduction to playing out of first position.
Being a suite, these four pieces are intended to be performed together. But of course, you have the option to perform them separately. To accommodate that, I provided the score and parts for each piece, rather than one file containing all four.
Lou Warde - Ripon
Lou Warde - Simbelmynë
Autumn Breeze - Lou Warde
RECORDING & DISTRIBUTION GUIDELINES
For more information, please see the PRICING & LICENSING INFO below or contact me directly. Thank you.
