Latinitas For Solo Guitar

from Mel Bay Publications
review by Richard Turner

Latinitas for Solo Guitar, by Alfonso Montes, is a collection of 12 short pieces for classical guitar composed in various Latin-American forms. The pieces range from approximately 30-60 measures in length and all fall within the high beginning to low intermediate range of technical difficulty. The author mostly writes in friendly guitar keys such as Dm, C, Em, and Am, and keeps most of the music in the lower positions of the fingerboard. One piece is in Gm which some guitarists might view as an "unfriendly yet beautiful" key. Very few barre chords are required and the textures tend to be fairly thin, between 2 and 4 voices.

Even though these pieces are not at the advanced level of difficulty they are certainly beautiful and imaginative enough to use as a set for recital or other performance. The CD provided with the book proves this very well. It is a delight to listen to Mr. Montes interpreting these beautiful little pieces. In fact, the CD by itself is worth the listed price of $14.95 and you get the book thrown in for free!

The author is from Cuidad Bolivar, Venezuela, and was educated in theory and guitar in Caracas. He later attended the Royal College of Music in London, graduating in 1980. Mr. Montes has also completed post-graduate work in analysis and composition. The combination of his Venezuelan roots and his European training results here in some very delightful music. It is very refined, yet clearly Latin in cultural orientation.

Due to their brevity, most of the pieces have diminutive titles such as Milonguita, Calipsito, Merenguito, etc. This set provides a great format for studying the characteristics of these Latin forms and also for working on trickier rhythms than one is likely to find in most European-based classical guitar music written at this level of difficulty. I could easily envision these pieces being used very effectively by teachers after working through a basic method book with students. After the introductory short pieces by Carulli, Carcassi, etc. these 12 Latinitas will make your students smile again.

The first piece, Milonguita, is perhaps the easiest one of the collection. It is an excellent right-hand arpeggio study in the key of Em and is mostly in first position. Even though it is in quadruple meter and is written in eighth notes, the note groupings of 3-3-2 in each measure provide plenty of lift and rhythmic interest. The piece has a 4-measure introduction, a repeated and longer main body, and ends with a 5-measure coda. Pretty easy, yet interesting and a lot of fun.

The piece Los Cholitos is 44 measures long and opens with a slow 8- measure introduction in duple meter which uses aggressive thumb strums on 3 note chords and also uses the special effect of tambora-tapping the strings near the bridge to sound the notes. The main body of the piece is written in quadruple meter and is mostly in two voices. The indicated tempo of quarter note at 150 will take some work to achieve in this section. The piece then briefly returns to the slow introductory material before finally revisiting the material exposed in the faster body of the piece. I am amazed at the variety and creativity present in such a short work.

In EM, Calipsito might be one of the more difficult pieces in the collection. The tempo marking is for the quarter note to move at 120. Playing the opening sixteenth note arpeggios cleanly at this speed will take some work. Also, like most of these pieces, we have a lot of syncopated rhythms. The author gives suggestions for tonal contrasts within the piece and his clean recording of the piece is also a great motivator.

For real metric variety the 52-measure piece Merenguito should satisfy everyone. It is in five-eight time grouped 3-2 in each measure. The piece carries a beautiful slow melody in the top voice over the five-eight accompaniment and is very appealing.

One of my personal favorites in the book is Rumbita. In the key of D major and 56 measures long, this piece will grab you with its lyrical and syncopated melody. The indicated tempo marking of 120 for the quarter note should not be difficult to achieve, but again, crisp rhythm and clean articulation are what will make this little rumba sparkle.

The 53-measure Tanguito is another fun one and also one of the trickier pieces in the collection. It contrasts the keys of E minor and E major. This tango utilizes staccato bass articulation, glissandi, a few slurs, and of course the usual Latin syncopation to great effect. It would be a great format for teaching these effects to students because the music is so catchy.

I am really impressed with this collection by Mr. Montes. It takes a very skilled composer to write short and not too difficult pieces that are actually musical, imaginative, and stimulating. His Latinitas are fun to play and satisfying to the ear. Classical guitarists of all levels could enjoy these pieces. For teachers, this book could really help perk up your repertoire offerings for your second-year students. We need more collections like it.

---

About the Author

After demonstrating an early interest in music with the clarinet and folk guitar, Richard Turner studied classical guitar with George Sakellariou and José Rey de la Torre and received Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Music from San José State University.

Since 1994 Mr. Turner has taught in the large classical guitar program at California State University at Fullerton. Several years ago he revived his early interest in American roots music and developed a course in the history of American folk music which he also teaches at Cal State Fullerton. His instrumental interests are diverse, including classical guitar, slide guitar, banjo, and steel-string fingerpicking and flatpicking styles.