Adagio is a very unique song in my opinion. It is a classical piece, but is played on an acoustic steel string (my Taylor 914ce). I composed this piece while working on “Cello Suite #1 for Guitar” so it shares the same “cello tuning”: CGDACE (low to high). That tuning is a pain to get into because you will start breaking the 3rd string when trying to tune it to “A” after the strings get a bit worn out, so I started to just leave the guitar in this tuning, and thus started noodling around on new songs while practicing the cello prelude. This piece, like “Cello Suite #1 for Guitar” I tuned to A=432hz. I did that originally to of course be “one with the universe” but for practical purposes, it helped because it’s just a bit lower and kept me from breaking the 3rd string all the time! One could argue that the slightly lower tuning gives the guitar a more resonant sound. I’ll leave it up to the listener to decide.

Adagio has a very classical feel to it. I think listening to my Aunt and Sister play Beethoven sonatas on the piano when I was a kid started to come out of me with this piece. There is a lot of tension and resolution in this piece with the harmonic progression.

I chose the title “Adagio” because on Sunday mornings while I practice, my wife (who is a ballet dancer/teacher) would do her “barre” work in the kitchen while I played, and now when I hear this piece, I am always reminded of that fond memory. The cover art is a composition of mine also and plays on that theme and includes my Taylor 914ce, my wife’s pointe shoes, and I also actually hand wrote the score for the piece and slipped it under everything. The light rays streaming in represent the morning light streaming in through the windows while I practiced and my wife danced.

Adagio was released on April 17th, 2020.