Pop Styles - Funky

www.kindle project cd Eos Guitar Quartet

https://open.spotify.com/album/1VxyP5RVcN8OfOnGoo4WHp?si=6Ux2qB63THW4-UyTz38-Eg

One of a series, this short piece will test an ensemble's rhythm skills much more than their motor skills. Technically at about Grade 5-6 level, this piece is all about counting. A funky refrain in two voices on Guitar One brings in the other forces and It's the bass line that has the fastest and most awkward opening. Once the beat is established some pizzicato is added and an occasional walking bass in alternate octaves adds a disco feel. That pattern is cheekily echoed upside down in the upper part, giving a real sense of ensemble. Good use is made of 6=D to add depth to the sound. There are carefully chosen staccato marks that crisp up the articulation; it's much easier on the eye than writing shorter notes.
Although only 74 bars long, and therefore free of any page turns, there is plenty of variety in the writing, but that minor, funky feel in maintained consistently. There are a number of motifs that pop up and each is rhythmically unlike the others. A keen and confident sense of timing is needed in swapping from one pattern to another, especially as all four parts are often rhythmically decoupled.
If I had a criticism, and it's a minor one - it's that it didn't stick in my mind at all. When something like Funkytown is in my head, it won't go away, but this faded away as soon as I put the guitar down. But don't let spoil the chance to play something different; it's a piece that will connect guitarists to the general public, and we need that.
Derek Hasted (Classical Guitar Magazine)