Solo Guitar Arranging Techniques

Description

Jake Reichbart has established himself as a master solo guitar arranger, drawing equally from jazz and pop standards to create a virtually bottomless reservoir of tunes to accommodate any gig. While equally adept at complex harmony as well as the bebop language (check out his popular diminished harmony lesson on this site), in this 3-part lesson, Mr. Reichbart focuses on three basic techniques he uses on almost any song he arranges and which focus on the most basic stumbling block to playing solo guitar – how to move any arrangement forward rhythmically thereby taking the melody, harmony and bass, turning them into a smoothly flowing arrangement.

The three parts of this lesson are:

1. Bass and melody only – making sure to play the melody as it needs to be played (or an improvised line) while also playing a credible/sufficient bass line to create the foundation for the arrangement. Performing these two lines, each with its own rhythm is at the core of solo guitar arranging.
2. Chord arpeggiation – once the melody and bass have been established and chord notes added, playing arpegiated chord notes in spaces where there is is no melody, or a long sustained melody note, in order to create an audible rhythmic grid, helping the listener along to hear the rhythm as well as helping the player to keep time.
3. The famous “backbeat stroke” – a signature sound from Mr. Reichbart, explained in detail.