Arrangements for Guitar Trio With Commentary

This dissertation is in two parts. Part I is a collection of my own guitar trio arrangements of music not originally composed for guitar. Part II is this analytical essay which discusses my work and the long tradition of transcriptions for guitar to which I am contributing. Guitar transcription is quite common; however, there are differing methods and techniques as to how to transcribe in and out of the plucked-string idiom. Chapter 1 contains surveys of the existing tutors, texts, methods, theses, and dissertations on the subject. Building from the surveys in Chapter 1, the remaining chapters outline my method for creating a new body of work for the classical guitar. Chapter 2 explains how I approached and prepared the source materials for my arrangements. In Chapter 3, I detail my process for transcribing and arranging selections for a guitar ensemble. In Chapter 4, I cover the revision process and explain how I prepare printed copies of the arrangement. Chapter 5 is a summary of my findings from a series of interviews with other guitar arrangers. A Conclusion summarizes my changes to the source material and offers additional paths to explore in this much-needed field of study.