Overview

My arrangements are practical vehicles for playing a large repertoire of Irish, Australian and Appalachian tunes in acoustic sessions. I favour first position chords and open strings as the main harmonic and structural elements. The arrangements are thus, relatively easy to produce, play and remember.

My main message here is: If you have some  technical fingerpicking skills and some knowledge of chord theory then you already have the basic tools for constructing your own fingerstyle arrangements.

There are a lot of great tunes out there waiting for you and it is an extremely satisfying pastime. My idea in presenting a selection of my own arrangements in these pages is so that:

(A) You may enjoy working through them.

(B) You can add the ideas therein to your own tune arranging toolkit.

I am a fingerstyle guitarist of no reputation whatever. I play mainly in standard tuning (EADGBE) - sometimes in dropped D (DADGBE). I employ what I think of as two main methods of playing a tune.(Sometimes within the same arrangement.)

The first has melody on the top three strings, played with my first, index and ring fingers and a (mostly) alternating string bass line, played by my thumb on the bottom three strings.

The second method has the melody mainly in the bass strings, employs single note runs using alternating thumb and index finger and (where I can fit it in, ) a thumb brush down chord accompaniment. I often use the ring finger up stroke on the top string to emulate the 5th string high drone of a Claw hammer banjo.

Here, in an order which is by no means fixed or certain, are my main steps for tune arrangement:

! - Find the melody on your guitar.

This might involve reading music notation and/or tablature or listening to a CD or friend, until you have the tune under your fingers . Note that learning tunes by ear and reproducing them on your instrument is a skill that can be acquired with practise. Get started with a simple tune that you already have in your head. If you're just beginning, then "Mary had a little lamb" is good.(In fact, you might make that tune, or something similar, your first arranging project.)

2 - Find a chord progression to harmonise the tune.

Pretty much the same comments apply here as for step 1. Expect your basic chord progression to evolve as you come to terms with the mechanics of fingering your arrangement, (see step 4,) or you strive to add interest with chord substitutions. For instance, your "Mary had a little lamb" progression might change, over the course of a few verses and/or drinks, from this:

I C  I C  I G  I C :II

To this:

I C E7 I Am I Dm G7  I C :II

By which time you'll be ready to continue, (disgracefully), into Alice's Restaurant or similar. If you need more information on chord theory, do a search on the web. There are lots of sites.

3 - Experiment with transposing the tune into different keys until you find the chord shapes which best allow the use of open strings for easy fingering of the melody and harmony notes.

For instance, I have found that a tune in D minor may be more accessible, for me, if played with a capo on the 5 th fret, using A minor chord shapes. I may well have to struggle with D minor shapes first, to figure this out.

If what you are arranging is a second guitar accompaniment to your friend's song, you may want to use your capo to achieve voice separation between the two guitars. For instance, if your friend is playing first position in the key of G you might try a capo on the 7th fret using C shapes.

4 - Analyse your left and right hand fingering to give the arrangement maximum ease and flow.

For instance, I would mostly prepare a first position Em chord with my index finger on the 5th string B (2nd fret) and my ring finger on the 4th string E (2nd fret). This allows my first finger and little finger freedom to pick up melody notes that don't fall directly under the chord. It also makes the changes to Am and G very smooth and logical.(G chord basses are similarly most often fingered with middle and ring.)

Particularly examine the places where you're getting hung up. Problems can often be solved by different chord fingering or lateral thinking with your bass or melody line. Look for open string alternatives and or partial chord fingerings.

Find creative work-arounds for physical and technical limitations. Speed glitches in your right hand can be solved with (often) enhanced melodic interest, by pull offs and hammer ons with your left. Similarly, problems with left hand stretching can be overcome by judicious use of open strings and partial chords in higher positions.

5 - Consider your bass harmonies as a separate line of music.

Play through the bass line by itself and give it what shape and independence you can without losing the flow of your chord based fingering. Keep an eye out for opportunities with counter point and contrary motion. It's not Bach, but on a good day with the right tune, it's not bad.

6 - Consider melodic variations and variations in the rhythmic emphasis of the piece.

It's your arrangement, - go for it. Be creative, have fun but, at least as a rule, keep good time.

Finally: I may revisit this article if people have specific questions or point out glaring deficiencies or omissions. For now though, I don't want to weigh you down with any more words or weigh myself down answering questions that may never be asked.

I intend to post examples of my arrangements in Midi (audio) and Jpeg (notation and tablature) formats. P.S. - I've also decided to post the power tab files which contain all the information in a versatile and editable file. I recommend this. It's a great learning tool. You'll need the freeware Power tab editor at  www.power-tab.net  

I will include fingering tips and brief notes on the ideas behind each arrangement. I hope that somewhere along the line this will help you kick start your own arrangements or original compositions. So lets get to it.