Marrakech – Claude Gagnon Preliminary List C No. 1
Claude is currently at Santa-Foy college in Quebec, Canada and performs regularly with many local ensembles. He is very interested in Baroque and Renaissance music and often collaborates with other musicians playing the Cittern, which is a predecessor of the guitar dating back to the Renaissance. He has so far published 20 volumes of guitar music including many studies for Classical guitar at the beginner student difficulty level.
- The piece is based on the A Phrygian mode with a raised 3rd. It would be worth becoming familiar with this scale before learning the piece. (A, Bb, C#, D, E, F, G, A)
- This scale is what gives the music a distinct Morocan flavour.
- The final note is an A (5th fret on the high E string) which may be unfamiliar to students at this stage.
- Play the melody with rest stroke in order to bring the melody out from the bass notes
- Pay particular attention to the timing and also the dynamic markings. This is one of the more challenging pieces from the AMEB preliminary syllabus.