The Young Guitarist series is a collection of sequential guitar music arranged for group and private lessons. Most pieces in the series are folk songs from around the world accompanied by a few original works composed by the author and arranger, Johnny Peña. This series provides students an opportunity to build a solid foundation in technique, musicianship, ensemble skills, aural skills, and note reading in an approachable context. Each piece is arranged for three to five parts of varying levels, offering the teacher some flexibility to match the parts to each student's individual needs and ability level.
This series is divided into separate units that guide students through a sequential series of right-hand techniques. As the pieces progress, the chosen arrangements allow the student to either reinforce previously learned material or learn something new.
This book is an invaluable resource for both new and experienced guitar teachers in either group or private lesson settings.
Repertoire:
Hot Cross Buns - English Folk Song
Mary Had a Little Lamb - English Folk Song
Lightly Row - German/English Folk Song
Pepperoni Pizza - Johnny Peña
Star Light, Star Bright - American Folk Song
Los Pollitos - Mexican Folk Song
Sur le Pont D'Avingnon - French Folk Song
El Sube y Baja- Mexican Folk Song
Los Xtoles - Mexican Folk Song
Viva Nova - Johnny Peña
French Folk Song - French Folk Song
Brinca la Tablita - Mexican Folk Song
Ah Poor Bird- English Folk Song
Shalom Chaverim- Israeli Folk Song
Peña, Johnny: - Johnny Peña is a guitarist and music educator with fifteen years of experience working with students of all ages, from beginners at the elementary music level to future music educators at the college level. After earning his MM from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2014 under the direction of Dr. Matthew Dunne, he has continued to teach in the San Antonio and Austin areas. In his years as an educator, he has taught private guitar lessons, guitar ensembles, guitar literature, music theory, guitar pedagogy, and elementary music. Most recently, he has had the pleasure to be a part of the faculty at two distinguished universities: UTSA (2018-2022) and the Baptist University of the Americas (2016-2018). Additionally, he also served as the guitar director for the UTSA String Project and led weekly String Project guitar pedagogy classes (2018-2022).Mr. Peña has participated in many international guitar competitions and earned first prize in the Mountain View College Festival and Competition (2018) and third prize in the Lone Star Guitar Festival and Competition (2017). He has also had the pleasure to participate in master classes with many world-class guitarists, including David Russell, Berta Rojas, Xuefei Yang, Adam Holzman, Fabio Montomoli, Bill Kannengiser, and more. One of his favorite performances was when he was invited to perform the "Concierto de Aranjuez" at the Majestic Theatre in San Antonio, Texas, with Symphony Viva in November 2021.When he isn't teaching, Mr. Peña enjoys spending time with his wife, Jenny, and their son, Desmond. Outside of music, he is a foodie and enjoys skateboarding and gaming. Mr. Peña is also an active real estate agent in San Antonio and Austin.
