A Foggy Day: Solo Jazz Guitar Arrangement

What if the secret to great solo jazz guitar isn't learning more voicings—but learning what to do between the notes? In this deeply personal masterclass, Jake Reichbart takes you inside his solo fingerstyle arrangement of the Gershwin classic "A Foggy Day"—one of the very first chord melody arrangements he ever attempted, dating back 35 years to when he first discovered Joe Pass. The remarkable lesson here? The foundational chord shapes Jake uses today are largely the same ones he learned in the mid-80s. What's transformed his playing into the polished, professional sound heard at his legendary 30+ year residency at The Earle isn't what he plays—it's how he plays it. As Jake puts it, the difference lies in "a thousand different means of articulation, added like seasoning into food." This isn't just a note-for-note breakdown of an arrangement. It's a window into how a working solo guitarist thinks, breathes, and brings a standard to life night after night. In this lesson you will learn: • Jake's essential technique of playing melody and bass as two independent rhythmic voices—a method that requires zero theory knowledge and sounds great immediately • How to use chord arpeggiation in the underlying subdivision to create forward momentum (and turn your fingers into your own metronome) • The art of sustaining notes while moving to new chord shapes, creating rich, harp-like textures • Practical voicings including drop 2 and drop 3 shapes, and how to selectively pick out the notes you want rather than strumming everything • Creative chord substitutions: secondary dominants, tritone subs, and approach chords that add harmonic interest • Jake's approach to the introduction and ending, built on a dreamy C sus/C11 pedal tone with bass notes falling on beats 2 and 4 • Walking bass techniques with a subtle backbeat using thumb strokes and palm muting • How to improvise using "islands" along the neck—practical regions where chord shapes spawn melodic phrases • Bebop phrasing fundamentals: approach notes, passing tones, targeting chord tones, and the classic eighth-note-to-triplet figure • Integrating blues phrases for color, even over major 7th chords Jake's teaching style is conversational and immediate. He demonstrates passages slowly and in close-up, explaining not just what to play but why—and encouraging you to develop your own variations. No tablature is offered because Jake improvises his arrangements fresh each performance; instead, you'll learn the concepts and tools to do the same. Whether you're looking to add this beautiful standard to your solo repertoire or seeking to understand what separates a competent chord melody from a truly musical performance, this lesson delivers decades of hard-won insight in a single sitting.