Andante is a slow movement from one of Franz Joseph Hadyn’s larger multi-movement works. In this version, Guitar 1 gets practice reading in position V. While other fingerings are possible, ask students to first work through the part in fifth position. In m. 13 and m. 25, players must move momentarily out of position to reach a high D on string1. Have students practice this movement out of and back into fifth position.
New concepts: Andante includes many accidentals and a change of keys. Reinforce earlier lessons on accidentals, and rehearse the measures going into and out of key changes. Guitar 3 uses a scordatura. Introduce the term and explain that many guitarists refer to this particular scordatura as “drop D” tuning. Take a few minutes to have students explore the notes on string o including the open string through fret 5. Explain to part 3 players that they will need to adjust several already familiar notes in order to gain this extended range. Most figures that could be trouble in this regard have been fingered with explicit instructions to avoid potential pitfalls.
Largo comes to us from Mark Anthony Cruz in San Marcos, Texas. Mark is a prolific award-winning composer and professor of guitar at Texas State University. If you like Greensleeves, you may wish to see some more of Mark’s vast library of guitar ensemble literature available online here.