Meridian Ensemble Productions

Welcome to Meridian Ensemble Productions

- the official web site of, Guitarist, Composer, Arranger, James Sterritt. I offer a variety of music services including: composition, arranging, production, pre-production, transcription, consultation, music directing, and private instruction.

Composition and Arrangement

I have been composing and arranging music professionally since 1970. I compose in various styles from ancient to contemporary. I've written for all jazz and orchestral and a number of more exotic instruments. I've arranged extensively for Flute, Alto Flute, Oboe, English Horn, Bassoon, Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass, Guitar, Piano, and Percussion. I've also done a number of duet, trio, and quartet arrangements for Classic Guitar and combinations of the above listed instruments. I have also done background and spot arrangements in the studio for songs, poetry, etc.

Performance

I am available for solo Classic Guitar, duet and ensemble performances. I've been playing Guitar since 1963, and Classic Guitar since 1970. I've performed in groups and as an accompanist since 1966, and as a soloist since 1978. My repertoire includes, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Jazz, Brazilian and ethnic music. I've played in weddings, concerts, clubs, restaurants, art shows, office parties and other events.
I do casual and formal.

Directing / Producing

I have directed and produced music for theater, chorus, jazz, and chamber ensembles along with producing music in the studio. I have a digital audio work station in my home with a complete orchestral sample bank. I do all my composition and pre-production work in my home studio. All the recorded music I've done for local theater productions in the last several years I've produced and engineered in my home studio. For larger productions I perfer working as a composer/arranger/producer with a recording engineer in a larger studio (additional fees apply).

Teaching / Consultation

I've taught Guitar privately since 1966 and arranging since 1979. I've also consulted others in the production and arranging of music. I offer guitar lessons in San Anselmo, CA and in the Marin County ( North San Francisco Bay) Area. I also offer lessons in advanced music theory and improvisation. Children and beginners are welcome.

Company Info - Tutorials - Hear Music - Performances
Contact

Last modified: April 04 2010 16:15:18.

Guitar Chords ⇒

The Example on the right is one of the the practice tools from the Tutorials section of this site.

It is divided into 3 sections:

Fretboard
Control Panel
Music Notation

The Fretboard appears as a mirror image - as if you were watching your self play in the mirror or looking through the fingerboard from the back of the instrument. The roman numerals that appear above the Fretboarb indicate the position or fret number. The numbers (1 through 4) indicate the finger. The number 0 indicates open strings.

The Control Panel allows you to make 3 selections:

Root (i.e C,C# or Db, D ...etc.)
Chord Type (i.e Major,Minor ...etc.)
Position /Bass
(i.e Open Position/Root,
II Position/3rd ...etc.)

On the second row of the Control Panel there's a field labeled "Note Name"; This field displays the note names of as you mouse over the finger numbers on the Fretboard or the notes in the Music Notation below.

The Music Notation area shows the notes that make up the chord arranged from lowest to highest. See HERE for information on written music.

At the bottom-left of the Music Notation area is written the name of the chord. In cases where the chord may have more than one name (i.e. C⁶ has same notes as A^-7), what the chord "Could Also Be" is written below.

At the bottom-right of the Music Notation area are written the degrees of the various notes in the chords. Mousing over these will hilite both the note in the Music Notation and the note on the fretboard. Likewise, mousing over the note on the fretboard will hilite the note in the music and mousing over the note in the music will hilite the note on the fretboard.