Congratulations to ICMP Professor Rich Perks for winning second prize in the 6th International Microtonal Guitar Competition. 

Rich was awarded the prize at the prestigious event for the composition and performance of his work, 'Slap 19'.

'Slap 19' is primarily based around the notes found in the Arabic form of Maqam Rast.

Commenting, Rich said: "As a bit of a classical guitar imposter, I am absolutely delighted to have placed in the competition!"

I'd been messing around harmonising this microtonal scale for a while, and when I saw the competition advertised, it seemed like the ideal prompt to get something finished."

"'Slap 19' is essentially a microtonal prog-rock-funk tune, written specifically for solo nylon-string guitar, using slap technique, in nineteen-sixteen." 

In the composition, all microtonal pitches (i.e. scale-degrees 3 [mi] and 7 [ti]) have been set to exact quartertones; this results in the piece sounding neither explicitly ‘major’ nor ‘minor’ once harmonized (particularly to the Western ear). 

Players are invited, however, to adjust the tuning/placement of the microtones according to their personal/music-cultural preference. 'Slap 19' makes use of a novel microtonal scordatura – C[6] A[5] D[4] G[3] B[2] Ed[1] – and showcases contemporary 'slap' guitar techniques.

You can check out the full score here.

Visit Rich's website to find out more about him and his music.

Watch Rich perform the piece below: 

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