Christopher Norton's distinctive contributions to the repertoire successfully bridge the gap between traditional literature and music in contemporary popular styles. The original series, Christopher Norton Connections for Piano contains over 200 newly composed pieces, carefully selected, edited, and sequenced to span ten levels from elementary to advanced. The subsequent books for other instruments are drawn from these, alongside more recently composed music. The pieces in Connections for Guitar 1 cover a wide range of styles and present many of the same challenges found in more traditional repertoire whatever the instrument - tonal beauty, balance between melody and accompaniment, natural movement and phrasing. More rhythmically oriented pieces require coordination, a deep-seated sense of pulse, and awareness of stylistic touches and accentuations. All pieces benefit from a strong connection to mood, movement, or image.
