It Ain't Necessarily So - Masterclass (Arrangement by Sid Jacobs)

Sid Jacobs dissects the Gershwin tune It Ain't Necessarily So, from Porgy and Bess, and builds his solo guitar arrangement from the ground up. Rather than simply stacking a chord voicing under each melody note, Sid pays close attention to the bass motion, guide tones, and the relationship between melody and harmony — so you learn his interpretation and arranging process, not just the notes.

This 20-minute masterclass covers

• When to harmonize every note of the melody — and when that interferes with the flow of the phrase
• Using open strings to connect phrases and let the melody breathe
• Combining clusters, shell voicings, and fills, including Sid's favorite minor 9th cluster
• How the melody itself creates rich extensions (a 13#11 without any academic head-scratching)
• Dynamics and phrasing: treating every note like a word in a sentence, with its own volume and life

Along the way you'll hear Sid's humorous musings on the Hendrix chord, the Jim Hall chord, and what a Sid Jacobs chord might be. A great class for anyone working on solo guitar arranging. Full video is 20 minutes; Soundslice included.