Living on Rock and Roll

The rock band parts are provided in both standard notation and tablature and are written at a difficulty level appropriate for most high school guitar players. You should not need to bring in outside professionals to perform this piece, but rather you can showcase some of your own students or local alumni. This composition is comprised of 3 movements and is about 10 minutes in duration. Here is the general style of each movement: Mvt 1 Punk Rock, Pop Rock - Inspired by Bon Jovi, Chicago, The Beatles, Michael Jackson Mvt 2 Slower Jam Tune, Power Ballad - Inspired by Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Queen, Freebird Mvt 3 Hard Rock, Grunge - Think of a smashup of AC/DC, Metallica, Nirvana, Van Halen, and a dose of White Stripes and you'll have a good idea of this movement! I was a teenager in 1999 when Metallica partnered with the San Francisco Symphony and gave a live concert of fully orchestrated Metallica songs. My world blew wide open when I heard that CD and later watched video footage from the concert. I was hooked! Through high school I played with several rock bands including a Foo Fighter cover band, and a ska/punk/funk/rock band of my own formation called, "Life on the Upbeat." This work is a natural outgrowth of my background as a classical music composer and a lover of all things rock and roll. It is with deep gratitude that I thank Brad Faryniarz and consortium members for commissioning this work.