A Graded Collection of Exceptional Solo Guitar Études and Preludes

A Graded Collection of Exceptional Solo Guitar Études and Preludes brings together carefully selected works arranged in progressive order, with detailed fingering and performance guidance designed to make challenging repertoire more practical for the modern guitarist.

A centerpiece of the collection is Villa-Lobos’s Étude No. 1 in E Minor, presented with an extended tribute to Brazilian guitarist Raphael Rabello. Rabello’s celebrated live performance begins with Villa-Lobos’s original étude before gradually transforming into an improvisational showcase rooted in Brazilian guitar traditions. This edition includes note-for-note transcriptions of many of Rabello’s improvised passages, original falsetas composed by the editor, chord symbols, scale suggestions, and open measures that encourage the performer to develop their own improvisational ideas.

The edition also examines the famous étude’s right-hand fingering in unusual depth. The surviving 1928 manuscript and the later Max Eschig edition preserve essentially the same fingering, while analysis of performances by Andrés Segovia and Ana Vidovic reveals a closely related alternative. These approaches are compared with the fingering used in this edition, which was developed through practical study of right-hand mechanics and the physical demands placed on the a finger.

Additional commentary explores the descending diminished-chord progression in the later improvisational section, including possible chord-scale relationships and fingering strategies. Rather than prescribing a single solution, the collection encourages players to compare approaches and choose the one best suited to their own hands, technique, and musical goals.

Contents include:

• Étude No. 5 in B Minor, Op. 35 No. 22
• Prelude from Cello Suite No. 1, BWV 1007
• Prelude in C Minor
• Prelude in G Minor
• Two Arpeggio Études in E Minor
• Étude in B-Flat, Op. 29 No. 13
• Étude No. 1 in E Minor — with the Raphael Rabello ending/material