Brazilian Guitar Music (and in fact, most South American music) has powerful appeal worldwide for guitar players and listeners alike. If you belong to this group... you've come to the right place!
    It's not always easy to find recordings and printed music in this category. Most of the top performing artists rely on their own transcriptions and arrangements — and not many of them publish, in print, their original works faithful to their recorded versions. The rest of the printed music in this field are usually second-hand transcriptions or arrangements. The quality and difficulty level varies a lot, making them a dubious source for your own performance material. The challenge to create a good performance quality arrangement is not always in everyone's possibilities, and what's left is to painstakingly write down accurate transcriptions of the interpretation by your favourite player.
    Through my long years of interest in this beautiful music genre (including visits to Brazil), I have accumulated a vast library of original scores of brazilian guitar music (most of them out of print) and also a substantial library of my own transcriptions and arrangements. If you have ever tried that process yourself, you know what a time consuming effort this can be - but the hi-tech gadgets and computer software not available years back - have made it easier and more accurate now. As most of the music in this category is covered by copyright, please do not ask me to offer my library online... but what I can offer you are tips and advice on how to make one yourself using the available recordings, computer software, good ear and lot of patience.
    The resources included on this website are therefore dedicated to Brazilian & Latin American guitar music, its recordings, sheet music, transcription resources and its interpretation. Any suggestions and feed back will be appreciated.

Jaro P. Nevrkla

• Music Sheets    The South American continent became a melting pot of various cultures that contributed to the unique character of its music. *) European folk roots and classical music were influenced by African and native Indian rhythms, followed later by jazz. All of this created an amazing variety of musical forms and styles, and the guitar as an affordable harmonic and melodic instrument presented itself as the most natural expression of the new music. It's only natural that many players and composers should have left their indelible fingerprints. The facts speak for themselves... the guitar works of Agustin Barrios-Mangore (Paraguay), Heitor Villa-Lobos (Brazil), Antonio Lauro (Venezuela) -- just to name a few - became standards of classical guitar repertoire.
      Our selection of sheet music tries to offer pretty much what's available on the reachable market at the moment. On our Brazilian Guitar Music Page you can choose from various compilations or by selecting the name of the artist/composer you can access detailed list of their works.
      On our South-American Guitar Music Page you can select from the similarly organized guitar music originated from other countries of the South American continent.
  *) Recommended reading: The Roots of Brazilian Music and Brazilian guitar
  
  
• CD Selection   The same as above. Our selection offers much of what's currently available (most of the CDs have online sound file samples), and in the case of out of stock items, it's worth checking the offers of used, second hand CDs.
      On our Brazilian Guitar Music CD Page you'll find the works of Ernesto Nazareth, João Pernambuco, Pixinguinha, Anibal Augusto Sardinha-Garoto, Laurindo Almeida, Luiz Bonfa, Baden Powell de Aquino, Paulinho Nogueira, Toquinho, Sebastião Tapajos, Marco Pereira, Paulo Bellinati, Carlos Barbosa-Lima ... performed by themselves or interpreted by others.
      On our Latin American Guitar Music CD Page, you'll find the works of Agustin Barrios, Antonio Lauro, Manuel Ponce, Hector Ayala, Ernesto Cordero, Antonio Piazolla, Ernesto Lecuona, Jorge Cardoso, Jorge Morel ... interpreted by John Williams, Turibio Santos, Jorge Morel, Gerald Garcia, Ricardo Cobo, David Russell and many others.
  
  
• Guitars   It is no secret that a perfect instrument contributes to the ultimate enjoyment of any kind of music. In the case of classical/acoustic guitars, it's almost essential. While not everybody has the means to buy that "dream" instrument hand-made by a famous luthier (have you seen some of those prices lately?)... it doesn't mean that there aren't perfect guitars available out there for those on a budget. Our Guitar section presents some of the most beautiful and affordable instruments available. They are manufactured by or under the supervision of famous luthiers (from Spain and Japan) and crafted from precious wood stock. It might help you to read the independent reviews of satisfied (or less satisfied) users for each featured model. (Look for the star points... the more stars the better.)
  
  
• Accessories   Times change, and even the classical guitar needs amplification in some performances. In case you are one of those opting for a classical/acoustic guitar equipped with pickup, the selection of the right amplifier is very important. Check our selection of affordable acoustic amplifiers. Choose the quality nylon strings from leading manufacturers (even those high quality studio type - if you do not like the lower strings' squeaks). A good tuner is another must, especially if you play with other musicians.
    And for those in need of quality marketing demo CDs - it's within your reach (and your computer) without having to contract a pro-studio. Check the affordable high quality microphones, multichannel mixers, recorders or virtual software recording studios.
  
  
• Software   Our needs include the ability to make good, accurate transcriptions of those favourite pieces that no one has yet published for us! Gone are the days of ruining the LPs playing them over and over, and the days of "reel to reel" tape decks and their distorted slow down sounds. Even if hi-tech advances provide software tools to automate the process of transcribing, those tools are not - and probably never will be - perfect. It boils down to our ability to hear the notes or not, and some tools will make this process easier. Most of them slow down the music without distortion (cassette or CD), and for the computer-savvy, there are software solutions that can do that and more.
      You will also find the software combinations that will create MIDI files from your CD or tape, and as most of the notation software (MidiNotate, Finale, Encore, Guitar Finale, TabEdit or CakeWalk sequencer) can import MIDI files, your music should be ready to be printed. Well - as you will find out - almost. Do not expect perfection, and the editing can be time consuming, too. You may (as I did myself) go back to relying on your ears, with the help of slow-down software - and here the "Transcribe!" may be the best answer.
  
  
• Misc Links  is exactly what it says. A selection of online resources related to our genre of music - free downloads, original midi files, sheet music, tablatures (some of the sites are in portuguese only), guitar magazines etc.

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