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Solo
Electric Guitar
- Program Notes
- These three miniatures were composed to explore technique, timbre and sound processing on an electric guitar. While the titles of each piece may resemble words of Welsh or Gaelic origin, they are essentially non-referential. Each title was chosen intuitively as an invented word, without any intended semantic or narrative function. The first of the three is Cragher and it has its main focus on repetition, delay and the technique of palm-muting. It is centered around the lower register of the guitar, staying only within its first 4 frets and particularly B natural on the second fret of the A string. Rhyn is the name of the second miniature, which introduces distortion dynamically as it fades in and out throughout the piece. In contrast to the first miniature, this one explores the lower, middle and at some points the higher register of the guitar. However, in comparison with the first piece, the player will have to shift their paying hand up and down the neck in order to successfully play the piece and successfully do the hammer-on and pull-off technique. The last of the three miniatures is Gherth which, to continue the sequence the first piece started by focusing on the lower register, it centers around the upper register of the guitar. It takes influence from minimalism in its final section and plays around with reverb and especially delay. These three miniatures trace a progression through some of the guitar’s sonic possibilities: Cragher emphasizes lower-register melodies and palm-muted repetition; Rhyn explores distortion and shifting registers; and Gherth focuses on upper-register harmony and minimalistic textures. The initial recording of this piece was performed and produced by the composer and it is to be used as reference for the performance of this piece.