Our third public performance of the year took us to the beautiful village of Brandeston, situated in deepest Suffolk. This was by far our longest performance consisting of two sessions of around 40 minutes, each sandwiched around an interval of refreshments (always helpful) which helped keep us going.

Our programme was well received by a welcoming audience and included our first public playing of three pieces by Roger Montgomery (musical director of the Chelmsford Guitar Orchestra) which we adopted following this years Guitar Federation day (see blog of 22/06/25). All three proved popular so we’ll continue to polish them up and record them for the web site before the end of the year.

Two of us had the good fortune to catch up with Norwich guitarist Peter Turrell (see earlier blog 17/05/2025) over afternoon tea at St Andrew’s Church in Trowse on the outskirts of Norwich. For over two hours Peter worked through pieces by Bach, Scarlatti, Carcassi, Tarrega, Barrios, Granados and many others including a number of his own compositions. An extraordinary feat as it was all from memory!

The informality of the event allowed us to invite Peter to our table where he joined us. The ensuing discussion was an unexpected bonus as we were able to talk to him at some length about his playing and exchange views and suggestions on repertoire. Unprompted he even gave us a demonstration of cross-string trills and an unusual tremolo technique he had used in one of his pieces. Truly an afternoon to remember.

We were delighted to be invited to be part of this year’s lineup of Lunchtime Concert Series held on the 4^th Friday of each month running from April to October. We were fortunate to be able to choose June for our turn which turned out to be the most glorious Midsummers day.

This concert series is well supported by the local residents and ours was no exception. Our varied programme was well received. The Spanish and Latin America pieces had a lot of people tapping out the rhythms and Canary Calypso from the Norwich Suite went down particularly well.

Our thanks to Chris Cliffe for the invitation and Liz and Jackie for help on the day and we look forward to coming back in the future.

The weather was so good and Laxfield is such a picturesque village we all stayed on for a post-concert lunch at the King’s Head. The pub is full of character and original features and has a very fine tap room but that’s a whole other story!

The Guitar Federation operates as an umbrella site for existing societies across the UK to offer mutual support in promoting the classical guitar and related instruments in addition to providing a source of help and advice to enthusiasts (The Federation of Guitar Societies –). A major function of the Federation is to facilitate an annual event where interested groups can meet up to play music in a scratch orchestra concert as well as showcasing the playing of attending societies.

This year’s event was held at the Galleywood Heritage Centre just outside Chelmsford and was hosted and organised by Roger Montgomery and members of the Chelmsford Guitar Orchestra (Chego) who put on an excellent and highly memorable day.

A few weeks before the event, Roger circulated part scores and recordings of five pieces for us to work on and get up to speed before playing all together on the day.

1. Les Savages (Jean-Phillippe Rameau arr. Roger Montgomery)
2. Anitra’s Dance (Edvard Grieg arr. Roger Montgomery)
3. Winter’s Brightening (Roger Montgomery)
4. The Swan LK243 (Catriona McKay arr. Roger Montgomery)
5. El Caballo (Roger Montgomery)

The day itself consisted of the morning full orchestra session working through the five pieces

There then followed a session of Ensemble Showcases where each attending group were given a 10 minutes to showcase some of their work. We chose to perform the Norwich Suite by John Gibbs with its contrasting movements and local history which was well received and generated a lot of interest.

 

The afternoon was rounded off with a final playthrough of the five pieces, photos and videos of which can be viewed at The Federation of Guitar Societies – FGS Meetings.

Our 2025 Concert Year got off to a great start in St Mary’s Church Halesworth with all contributions going to the Ukrainian Development Fund. The clear and warm acoustics of the main knave were about the best we’ve experienced. This contributed greatly in the Telemann’s Concerto in D major.

A big shout out to Rod Faulkner for organising the event and for the excellent hosting by Jason Busby (Church Warden and Organist).

If you’ve ever been wandering around the medieval lanes and public spaces of Norwich and heard echoing of the evocative sounds of the classical guitar, more than likely it’s Peter Turrell who’s busked around the City for many years. He’s become a regular at some of the city music venues such as Pinocchio’s and the Louis Marchesi as well as in London Street, Gentlemans Walk and the Royal Arcade outside the food hall ‘Yalm’. Here then is a shout out for a recent YouTube video of him (PETER TURRELL – ANGLIA SOUND SESSION) and an earlier one playing one of his hand crafted guitars on the steps of the Quadrant Pavillion Eaton Park, Norwich (CAVATINA – PETER TURRELL).  For more information on Peter visit his Facebook page at (Peter Turrell Guitarist and Luthier | Facebook).

Hands up anyone if you like to hear the sound of your own voice played back to you? If like me, you’re not recording and uploading onto Instagram or TikTok on a regular basis, hearing your voice as others hear us never seems quite right. In effect, this is because we hear ourselves differently from how others hear us. For those with hearing, sound travels to our brain via two sources. Firstly through our auditory canal and secondarily through bone conduction. It’s this combination that accounts for the difference.

Playing the guitar presents not dissimilar problems. When playing we are behind the instrument with the sound being projected outwards from the soundbox. In addition, your ears are receiving the reflected sound from any surfaces in front of you. The result is that what you hear will be different to what any audience will hear.

Just like hearing a playback of your voice, recordings of your playing may well sound different from what you heard or thought you were conveying. In the absence of a teacher or listener, recording yourself allows you to listen to your playing from an audience perspective. Did that phrasing, emphasis or intonation really come across as you thought it had? In addition, unconscious bias in our playing is hard to avoid but listening back to recordings can help pick them up. Think of it like standing back from a painting to get a different perspective. Is this why so many teachers and online sources tell us to make it part of your daily routine? Absolutely.

There are other benefits worth listing;

· Easier to spot when phrasing or intonation is not what you thought it was.

· Helps mark the progress you are making over time.

· Regularly recording yourself playing can help overcome recording and performance anxiety.

Recording can be simply done by using your smart phone requiring no additional financial costs. I’d recommend listening through earphones or ear buds which will give you a better audio frequency range a truer reflection of your playing.

Go on. Why not give it a try?

With Christmas fast approaching we’ve been dusting off some of our festive favourites during rehearsals. One we sourced last year is the popular Carol of the Bells based on a traditional Ukrainian New Year’s song “Schedryk”.

The carol was composed by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych in 1914 as a commission for the conductor of the Ukrainian Republic Capella, Oleksander Koshyts. In subsequent years it quickly established itself as a firm favourite around the world.

The arrangement we play was arranged for guitar quartet by Lou Warde and generously made available at the Guitar Ensemble Music – The Guitar Classroom. Click on the following link for our recording of the piece. Repertoire – Diss Guitar Ensemble

Concert for Edwin Peck 01/11/2024

It’s not often one gets the opportunity to participate in an event celebrating multiple achievements, but yesterday’s fourth DGE Concert of the year proved to be just that.

Our Musical Director Rod Faulkner organised the event to celebrate the work of luthier and long-term friend Edwin Peck. Edwin is a retired cabinet maker in the region who turned his hand to making an extended series of highly sought after guitars.

Rod organised for four of Edwin’s guitars and their owners to perform during the concert. From left to right. Bryan Claybrook, Gillian Dodd, Edwin Peck, Rod Faulkner and Dave Butcher.

The concert opened with a DGE set which included the ensembles first full performance of the Norwich Suite by John Gibbs (1995). We were then delighted to share the stage with Gillian Dodds, one of Rod Faulkner’s pupils who plays one of Edwin’s guitars, followed by Rod Faulkner and Dave Butcher.

The full concert line up from left to right. Mike Ambrose (DGE), Sarah Sweet (DGE), Maria Wallis (DGE), Edwin Peck, Rod Faulkner and Dave Butcher.

The concert was well received and was followed by very animated conversations with Edwin and his friends at Catton Court.

Thanks to the staff at Catton Court Retirement Housing for hosting the event and refreshments.

Special thanks to Rod for organising the event and for playing on stage with us all again. As Rod mentioned in his post-concert text “Onwards and Upwards!”.

Guitarists are fortunate to have two written music formats in current use, chords aside. To any student just starting out, this can seem like double the work. When juggling the demands of life today, who’s got time to learn both? Which one should one choose? Often this will depend on the type of music you want to play, your teacher’s preference or any other musical experience you might have.

To ‘seasoned ensemble players’ the additional complexities of key signature, rhythm and expression that can be conveyed in staff notation wins out over TABS hand down. Game over? Not quite!

Now and again, you come across a piece of music that can stop you in your tracks. One such piece for me is Espejismos (Mirage) by Quique Sinesi from his 14 Estudios para Guitarra Fusión (2020). Interestingly the score provides both notation and TABS and on examination one can quickly see why. The piece details the following tuning; 1st Eb, 5th G, 6th C. As if the mental gymnastics of this unusual tuning isn’t enough, no key signature is given and the notation is liberally littered with accidentals. This is definitely a case of ‘TABS to the rescue’. The visual structure of the piece becomes immediately apparent. The printed RH fingers of the first bar is also helpful.

Let’s face it, we need all the help we can get so if the help is there, take it. Investing time in learning both systems will be time well spent. A good recording of the piece played by Prof. Virginia Pagola () (Tutorial – Quique Sinesi: Espejismos de 14 Estudios para Guitarra Fusión (youtube.com)). An extended version of the same piece (central section) with a saxophone extemporisation over top that’s worth a listen can be found on the following link (Espejismos (youtube.com)).