Course description
Tan y Bwlch is a beautiful new ukulele ensemble piece written to help build confidence in your playing and develop your general musicianship. It's also very satisfying to play as each part brings something special to the overall sound.
This course will prepare you for group playing by taking you through the process of learning an original ukulele piece composed by Richard Durrant. The piece is a ukulele quartet. One solo ukulele is accompanied by three other ukuleles or three groups of ukuleles.
The standard of all three student uke parts is fairly similar - but if you like the sound of one in particular, or think that the techniques used will benefit your playing, then go ahead and learn that part.
The beauty of this course is that you can play along with the other parts in your own mini-performance.
Before beginning the course it's worth taking time to listen to Tan y Bwlch in its entirety. Once you are familiar with the sound of the piece you will find learning the different parts much easier. We also recommend that you download and print out the part for your chosen group. You can use the part to make copious notes before you memorise it and throw it away!
Richard studied guitar, cello, composition and piano at the Royal College of Music. He is an Associate of the Royal College of Music, a Fellow of the London College of Music and a proud ambassador for the Brighton Youth Orchestra.
This guitarist and composer is instantly recognisable as he is the only virtuoso soloist who performs standing up - and usually in bare feet! His playing is richly romantic, truly virtuosic and crosses all musical boundaries.
He performs on concert guitar, tenor guitar, ukulele and a variety of other instruments.
Richard was born in Brighton, England. By the time he entered the Royal College of Music, aged 18, he had already begun to explore classical, folk and contemporary music and had a growing reputation as a concert guitarist.
Following his official debut recital at the Purcell Room, Southbank Centre, London in July 1986, Richard turned sharply left and pursued his diverse interests in electro/acoustic music, improvisation, composition and multi-media. He has remained, by choice, outside of the classical music establishment ever since, in fact he recommends a total abandonment of what he calls “the C word”.