Song Arrangement Lessons

These song arrangements give you two for the price of one. They consist of tabs for cool songs as well as taking you through the song, step by step, line by line, until you get it right.

Applied Science By David Hodge So, you're saying, what good is knowing all this theory stuff anyway? Why shouldn't I just learn the stuff I like straight off the recording (or better yet, the TAB that someone else has gone through all the trouble to figure out) and be happy with that?

Silent Night - An Easy Christmas Song for Beginners By David Hodge Silent Night is a classic three-chord song. Here is a simple yet elegant, single guitar arrangement of this beautiful Christmas song. This lesson examines three essential things to playing in solo fingerstyle - melody, bass and accompaniment. You want the melody of the song to ring out, if for no other reason than letting people know what the song is! The bass and accompaniment, usually chord arpeggios, should enhance your presentation - adding color and texture. Included with this lesson is a complete MP3 file.

Landslide - Fleetwood Mac By Laura Lasley One of my favorite songs is Landslide, which was written by Stevie Nicks when she was with Fleetwood Mac. I bought a Fleetwood Mac songbook and attempted to learn the song. I was discouraged by the chords that were written out, and was unsuccessful at deciphering the box code. I begged my teacher to help me with the song. It turns out that this is a very simply song...if you use a capo!

Hammer on, Pull off, Tap, Repeat By Nick Torres Nick Torres literally brings another new dimension to Guitar Noise with this lesson on Eruption by Van Halen. Now you can WATCH how to tap, hammer on and pull off while you read a wonderfully enlightening piece on this mysterious combination of techniques.

All of Me By Peter Simms Peter's latest lesson is this wonderful standard that really swings! While simple in melody, this song is a lot of fun to play and also to use to develop your own style.

Love Is All Around - R.E.M. By Arjen Schippers Arjen Schippers, who goes by Promedics on the Forum pages, has been kind enough to throw together a great song lesson on the REM cover version of this old classic.

The Little Drummer Boy By Peter Simms Peter Simms adds his share to the finest gifts we bring with his wonderful chord melody arrangement of this Christmas carol. Using Drop D tuning to create a thrumming bass part, you'll have everyone in your house going pa-rum-pa-pa-pum in no time!

Arranging Things - (An Introduction to Song Arrangement - Part 1) By David Hodge Not everyone picks up the guitar to be a strummer! But song arrangements and chord melodies do not have to be the forte of just classical and jazz players. You, too, can learn to create song arrangements to play at your own level.

Something To Sleep On - An Introduction to Song Arrangement - Part 2 By David Hodge Here's something especially for those of you who think that having small children gives you an excuse not to practice - you can play this arrangement of Brahms' Lullaby at least several times each day! And we've turned it into a fairly decent lesson so that those of us without children can learn a few things as well.

Preparing To Climb - (or, So I Know A Scale. Now What?) By David Hodge Let's take some of the things we've discussed in past columns and see them put to good use. If you'd like, you can even learn how to play Lindsay Buckingham's solo from the original recording of Landslide. But you've got to promise to learn something.

Amazing Grace By David Hodge Here's a chance to work on your hammer-ons and pull-offs while playing a Celtic soul arrangement of this lovely song. Plus, you get to learn a lot about chord choices and voicing and even get to play around in Drop D tuning.

Jolly Old Saint Nicholas By David Hodge Jolly Old Saint Nicholas is a wonderfully easy introduction to creating a chord melody arrangement and the first of a series of holiday song lessons for our readers.MP3 files are inlcuded.

The Little Drummer Boy By David Hodge Next in our series of Christmas lessons we are going to work on The Little Drummer Boy. Way too often, guitarists tend to under-use or, worse, ignore the little finger when playing. Many beginners don't start working with it until they absolutely have to and at that point it's almost like learning to play all over again. Includes MP3 files.

O Tannenbaum! By David Hodge Our arrangement of this traditional German Christmas carol may only use two notes at a time, but we will learn a lot about how two notes can imply a rich textured harmony. This lesson features MP3 files to help you get the sound just right.

What Child Is This - Greensleeves By David Hodge David's arrangement of this much-loved Christmas carol focuses on the use of chord arpeggios rather than using straight chords for an accompaniment. You'll be amazed at how quickly you will pick it up!

Silent Night in Open D Tuning By Mark Yodice Fingerstyle guru Mark Yodice has given us a wonderful arrangement of Silent Night in open D tuning. What a terrific holiday gift! I hope you enjoy playing it as much as I have been doing this past week!

We Three Kings of Orient Are By David Hodge Let's wrap up (no pun intended) this season's selection of Christmas carol arrangements with a lesson that uses a little of everything that we've been working on. Also it will give us a chance to start exploring putting the melody further up the neck while still coming up with an easily playable chord accompaniment.

In The Bleak Midwinter By Doug Sparling Guitar Noise welcomes Doug Sparling to our pages, with the first of what will (hopefully) be a series on lessons on Celtic Music for Guitar. This lesson is on the beautiful hymn, In The Bleak Midwinter, arranged for the guitar in DADGAD tuning.

The King of Love My Shepherd Is By Doug Sparling Doug Sparling brings us another wonderful Celtic melody, arranged in DADGAD tuning for fingerstyle guitar. This is a beautiful little piece which, since it's not too technically demanding, can allow you to explore putting some feeling and emotion into your playing.

Standard Notation (part 2) By Tom Serb In the second installment of Tom's series on reading notation, you'll learn about ledger lines, repeat signs and other musical traffic signals, as well as delve into accidentals and key signatures. Plus you get an arrangement of Jingle Bells to get you going for the holidays!

The Huron Carol By Doug Sparling This lovely fingerstyle Christmas carol comes to us from Canada, where it's still sung in churches at holiday time. Doug gives us a little history on The Huron Carol and then walks us through this terrific arrangement, done in open G minor tuning.

Infant Holy Infant Lowly By Doug Sparling Doug Sparling graces our pages once again with this beautifully arranged Polish carol, also known as W Zlobie Lezy (Lying in the Manger). It's in standard tuning and it's a delight for the holidays!

It Came Upon A Midnight Clear By Doug Sparling It may be after Christmas, but it's never too late to sing a wish for world peace. Enjoy this lovely arrangement (and a wonderful bit of history) of a favorite American carol, courtesy of Doug Sparling.

Buachaill On Eirne By Doug Sparling Doug kicks off a series of traditional Celtic pieces with one of his favorite Irish songs, Buachaill On Eirne (Boy From Ireland). A common tune that most Irish musicians will know, this beautiful song has been recorded many times, perhaps the most well known version is from Clanadd's LP Macalla in 1985. Another popular recording is by The Corrs, who recorded Buachaill on Eirne on their CD Home, which was released in 2005.

The Eagle's Whistle By Doug Sparling Doug Sparling graces the pages of Guitar Noise with another Celtic fingerstyle arrangement. Included in this lesson are some tips on traditional Celtic ornamentation, or articulations, which will add some zest to your playing and arrangements.

Irish Flatpicking Guitar - "The Humours of Tulla" By Doug Sparling Doug takes a break from finger-style guitar to bring us a few lessons in flatpicking. In addition to a terrific arrangement of a Celtic reel, you'll learn a little more about timing and ornamentation, specifically the staccato triplet.

Oh, Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison By Joe Morgani Guitar Noise Forum Member Joe Morgani gives us an easy song lesson on this Roy Orbison classic. A big thank you to Joe not only for the lesson, but for his patience in dealing with me in getting it up online!

Break of Day - An Easy Fingerstyle Song By Peter Simms Because he's been getting several requests for some easy solo guitar arrangements, Peter's gone and written a song just for his Guitar Noise readers! Enjoy this fun piece, which shouldn't take long to learn or master and that sounds great as well.

Irish Flatpicking Guitar - "Sean Bui" By Doug Sparling GN's favorite Celtic lesson writer returns with a jig in his step. Here's a sprightly air in 6/8 time to challenge you and delight your ears!

Playing Chord Melodies With A Pick By Peter Simms Here's an original song from Peter Simms - Key West - a perfect song for lounging on a lazy summer afternoon. Peter wrote this specifically for those of you who want to play chord melodies with a pick, so enjoy!

Love Came Down At Christmas - A Christmas Hymn By Doug Sparling Here is a beautiful Christmas hymn, wonderfully arranged in DADGAD tuning for us by Doug Sparling. What a great way to kick off the holiday season!

The Sussex Carol By Doug Sparling Doug brings us another beautiful Christmas carol, arranged in standard tuning. This one is quite catchy and Doug also gives us a fascinating bit of history concerning the history of Christmas carols in Britain.

The Christ Child's Lullaby By Doug Sparling Here's a wonderful simple and sparse arrangement of this traditional song from the Outer Hebrides. It's a beautiful song and. like Doug, you'll be thrilled to add it to your holiday repertoire.

If You Could Read My Mind By Allan Abbott A hearty welcome back to Allan Abbott, who brings us a beautiful and easy to play chord melody of this classic Gordon Lightfoot masterpiece.

Children's Music: Lullabies and Nursery Rhymes By Doug Sparling Doug has come up with a lesson featuring two children's favorites: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and London Bridge. Enjoy sharing these with people of all ages!

Frère Jacques By Doug Sparling Also known as Are You Sleeping Brother John, this has to be one of the best known children's songs in the world. Doug brings up a fun and thoughtful arrangement of this favorite song.

O Come All Ye Faithful By David Hodge Here's a simple chord melody arrangement of this holiday classic. And, as a bonus, it's a great exercise for practicing your chord changes in a timely manner.

Blue Christmas By David Hodge Our arrangement for this moody piece uses many of the ideas from our O Tannenbaum! lesson. You'll find yourself having a lot of fun even though you're supposed to be blue!

Walk Of Life - Songs for Intermediates #22 By David Hodge This is more of a mini-lesson, taking a song you know with fairly easy chords and coming up with an arrangement that will work for the single guitar. And with a simple strumming pattern and the strategic use of a capo, even beginners can have some fun with it.

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