Gary Ryan started to compose Benga Beat in the late summer of 2010. The rhythmic character of the work has some similarity to Benga, a form of Kenyan popular music which originated in the 1940s. The piece has three main sections with a central extended percussion section leading to a finale which has a ‘great sense of joy and celebration’. The guitarist is asked to sing whilst playing and explore many truly innovative extended guitar techniques which make the piece very exciting to see performed. Gary Ryan can be seen performing Benga Beat on YouTube which for which he has received world-wide acclaim.