Arnaud Dumond : 36 Etudes de Style : B- 12Moderately Easy Studies : DOz

Arnaud Dumond

Les Productions D’Oz: 16 pages

This book of 12 moderately easy studies is part of a three book set that ranges up to difficult pieces by the end. I have already seen and reviewed the first book a couple of years ago, that was marked simply ‘easy’, and which I had nothing but good things to say about it

This latest book is every bit as good as the previous one, with the first thing you notice being how varied the genres and techniques are that he uses and that they are all very interesting and lots of fun to play, whilst they are teaching the players a technique, and yet sounding like nothing else you may have played before.

The pieces are as follows: No1B Douce Marche which is in two constant voices and always on the move, to 2B Choral, with tambora and then with the marking, like a procession, but similar to the rhythm of a Sarabande. Then there is Barques a Rolle , No3B, Rolle being a village in Switzerland. This is a nostalgic piece in 6/8, again in to voices but always on the move constantly, and using multiple accidentals along the way.4B is Ecrit sur le Sable  where all the bars are to played very flexibly and where the repeats are to be played differently to the first time.5B is Tube de L’Ete , with the instruction to rest stroke the entire top voice.6B consists of 4 small pieces that are French Chansons including Au Clair de la Lune , harmonised in quite an individual way, and not what you might be expecting, and then A La Claire Fontaine, V’la l’bon Vent, and finally Chanson d’enfant, which is a tune I recognise but for the life of me can’t recall the words or the title that I know it by!

7B is in two pieces, both very Flamenco in style, called Deux Flammes and Co, and are full of chordal strums of one sort or another.8B consists of two pieces firstly  Berceuse Noire, which is a very darkly harmonised piece set in a rocking 6/8 style, but with many unexpected moments, and then Tango Home the rhythm of which is self- explanatory  but still quite different to other tangos you may have played.9B Titre de Transport is in 4/4 but set in quavers with nearly every bar having groups of 2, 3, and 3 with a constantly flowing rhythm rising up and down the fingerboard in a way that takes a bit of reading before you commit to playing it, and added to that a final chord of D Major 7 , when the entire piece is set in A Minor! 10B is Branles de Village which has an alternating 2 – note bass line in constant quavers underneath a quite tricky , top voice that does sound very folksy in style.11B Bleu Grec is marked to be played in Travis – Picking style with the semi – quavers played lightly , and with a triplet feel. Finally there is 12B Comme un Complainte with a low voiced melody and chords above alternating with each other.

So, in summation this is a fascinating set of very varied pieces, none of which will feel like other works you have tried before, and so their Etude style is extremely useful and will be real fun for players of all ages. A great book to possess!

Chris Dumigan