“Land Bridge Approach” is a composition for three guitars, exploring precise interaction between players, honing the player’s listening ability along the way. This excerpt from the performance notes will indicate what you’re in for:
I had a rock band called Tuktu for a long time, and we played a set of songs about an Inuit character named Qayak. The story, set in some prehistoric period, involved a dream which called him to march across the tundra, from his home in Siberia eastward, where a land bridge connected Asia to America. He’d been marching a long time, hypnotized and nearly snow-blind, and I thought the line in Section A, measures 30-34, established the mood well. Sections A and C give you an idea of what we were playing, as we kept time by marching along with the dotted quarters. … The ear will open up to the combined melody formed by the three parts. Listen to your fellow players and take care to play the melody at one dynamic level. Later, I’ll call this seamless interlocking to form a single voice “co-participation”.
Purchase of “Land Bridge Approach” includes the full score and individual parts in standard notation, and performance notes and commentary from the composer. In addition, several audio files are included: an audio mix of the complete piece and three additional mixes with a click track, each muting one of the parts to aid in practice.
Purchase of “Land Bridge Approach” includes the full score and individual parts in standard notation, and performance notes and commentary from the composer. In addition, several audio files are included: an audio mix of the complete piece and three additional mixes with a click track, each muting one of the parts to aid in practice.
Subscribe to Ben McAllister’s YouTube channel for the latest in a growing body of work: supplemental study material, performances, and musings from the composer.
