Thesis (doctoral)--Université de Paris-Sorbonne, Paris IV, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 581-642) and indexes.

Treatise (D.M.A.) -- Florida State University, 2003. / Advisor: Jeffery Kite-Powell, Florida State University, School of Music. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed 11-18-03). Document formatted into pages; contains 101 pages. Includes biographical sketch. Includes bibliographical references.

Treatise (D.M.A.) Florida State University, 2007. / Advisor: Michael Buchler, Florida State University, College of Music. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed 2007). Document formatted into pages; contains 133 pages. Includes biographical sketch. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Rochester, 2009. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references. Digitized version available online via the Sibley Music Library, Eastman School of Music http://hdl.handle.net/1802/10978

Histoire du tango / Astor Piazzolla -- Sonata for cello and guitar / Radames Gnattali -- Ballade / J. Andriessen -- L'encouragement op 34 / Fernando Sor -- La vida breve / Manuel De Falla. / text

An important area of guitar education, whether in a private studio or a public school classroom, is that of guitar "fingering"--the exact, well-planned, and deliberate designation of fingers to a musical passage. Knowledge, understanding, and application of basic fingering principles will aid students in such parameters as technical proficiency, expression, phrasing, memorization, and performance security. This dissertation supplies the teacher with a theoretical basis from which to present this important topic. The basis is built on two sets of principles: (1) the physical properties of the guitar and its tone production (guitar size, distance between the frets, sustaining quality of the strings, and varying timbre of the strings), and (2) the physiological structure of the human hand and arm (length of the fingers, alignment of hands with the strings, strong and weak finger combinations, changing positions, fatigue, and string crossing). This study is divided into seven chapters. The first serves as an overview of the current status of guitar education and provides an introduction to the topic of fingering. Chapter 2 describes the notation used throughout the document and defines such fundamental concepts as basic position for the left and right hand, the names of positions, stretch and squeeze positions, the bar and hinge-bar, and rest and free strokes. Chapters 3, 4, 5, and 6 present information that constitutes the main conclusions of this study. They deal with the left hand fingering of melodies played on a single string, left hand fingering of melodies played on two or more strings, left hand fingering of homophonic and contrapuntal music, and right hand fingering. Included in these areas of discussion are basic left and right hand positions, minimum movement, pivot and guide fingers, position playing, changing positions, strong and weak finger combinations, and fingerings which complement musical phrasing and expression. Chapter 7 summarized the major concepts presented in the dissertation, gives guidelines to teaching the topic of guitar fingering, and supplies suggestions for future research in this subject area.

Thesis (D.M.A.)--University of North Texas, 2007. / System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Accompanied by 4 recitals, recorded Oct. 25, 2004, Feb. 14, 2005, Apr. 25, 2005, and Nov. 30, 2006. Includes bibliographical references (p. 56-57).

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, March 2017 / This thesis documents the development and realisation of an augmented instrument, expressed through the processes of artistic practice as research. The research project set out to extend my own creative practice on the guitar by technologically enabling and extending the instrument. This process was supported by a number of creative outcomes (performances, compositions and recordings), running parallel to the interrogation of theoretical areas emerging out of the research. In the introduction I present a timeline for the project and situate the work in the field of artistic practice as research, explaining relationship between the traditional and creative practices. Following on from this chapter one, Notation, Improvisation and the Cyber-Guitar System discusses the impact of notation on my own education as a musician, unpacking how the nature of notation impacted on improvisation both historically and within my own creative work. Analysis of fields such as graphic notation led to the creation of the composition Hymnus Caesus Obcessiones, a central work in this research. In chapter two, Noise, Music and the Creative Boundary I consider the boundary and relationship between noise and music, beginning with the futurist composer Luigi Russolo. The construction of the augmented instrument was informed by this boundary and aimed to bring the lens onto this in my own practice, recognising what I have termed the ephemeral noise boundary. I argue that the boundary line between them yields the most fertile place of sonic and technological engagement. Chapter three focuses on the instrumental development and a new understanding of organology. It locates an understanding of the position of the musical instrument historically with reference to the values emerging from the studies of notation and noise. It also considers the impacts of technology and gestural interfacing. Chapter four documents the physical process of designing and building the guitar. Included in the Appendix are three CDs and a live DVD of the various performances undertaken across the years of research. / XL2018

Nocturnal op. 70 is one of the most important large-scale works written for guitar in the twentieth century. Brief biographical data and some background information on Nocturnal show how it exemplifies Britten's compositional approach. The focus of the analysis is on three structural aspects: the rhythmic, the intervallic, and the aspect of underlying pitch patterns. The rhythmic analysis discusses the distortion of rhythmic patterns by the use of compression, expansion, elisions, syncopation, and rhythmic dissonance. The pitch set analysis discusses the intervallic character of the work, identifying and correlating set types as they form networks of relationship. The reductive analysis discusses the underlying connections of focal pitches in the linear material of Nocturnal. The conclusion then correlates the results of the preceding analyses, discussing the large-scale unfolding of the form in Nocturnal.

Johannes Möller's 2014 composition Shenandoah Fantasy for Two Guitars, is a theme and variations on the American folksong Oh Shenandoah and is the composer's only work dedicated to American music. An informed performance of this work requires biographical information. Since no scholarly work on this composer is currently available, this paper includes Möller's biographical information, compositional background and performance suggestions. This information was acquired through a recorded video interview with the composer that covered his early education as a guitarist and composer, his formal conservatory training, career accomplishments, influences that informed the piece, and suggestions for performance practice. The insight gained through this interview reveals its main influences as the Romantic Fantasy, American Minimalism, Keith Jarret's harmonization of Oh Shenandoah, American country and bluegrass music, and the sounds of American folk instruments. These are the subjects of the body of this paper. In addition to an overview of some scholarly writing on the styles which influence the piece, some solutions are offered at the end of the paper to aid in the performance of difficult passages. The intent of these solutions is to make the piece easier for the left and right hand, without sacrificing those musical elements that represent its influences. This is currently the only scholarly work available for Shenandoah Fantasy for Two Guitars and its composer.