Composer's Desk Reference for the Classic Guitar

Book excerpt: Traditionally the classic guitar has been either excluded or inadequately represented in orchestration textbooks, resulting in much misinformation about its technique, its practicality in various performance contexts, and its character. the guitar's unique tuning, broad timbral variety and intimate nature pose a formidable challenge to non-guitarist composers, for whom an extensive amount of time would be required to gain even a minimal hands-on acquaintance. for most composers this is an unrealistic expectation, leading to time-consuming consultations and extensive drafting or rewriting.The purpose of this book is to provide the non-guitarist composer with the fundamental tools needed to write idiomatically for the guitar. the first of its kind for the guitar, the reference was written in consultation with dozens of composers and conceived with three types of end users in mind:•