I Got Rhythm – Solo Guitar with Chord Melodies 2

Hello again fellow solo guitarists! I hope you were able to get through Part 1 of I Got Rhythm (The Art of Creating Complete Song Arrangements). If not, e-mail me and I will get you up and going with it.

Part 2 is not a hard one. There are only two sections to this song! Play section one (the transcription in Part 1) twice, section two (today’s lesson) once, and then back to section one once again.

Now you have the basic, complete song. We will get into intros, outros, and improvisation in our upcoming lessons. Let’s make a song first. Yeah!

Example 1

Example one shows us our melody and the places where I chose to use it. As you expand your chord fingering and chord construction knowledge, you will be able to choose the premium spots to play your melody. My next lesson will be about chord construction and how you can manipulate what you already know! (Pretty cool huh?)

Example 2

Example two gives you the chord fingerings for the measures and example three gives you the arrangement. Once again, this arrangement is for fingerstyle playing.

Once you get the arrangement working, remember to try and make the melody stick out a little louder than everything else.

Then….. it’s time to groove! If you think you got it, try playing with a metronome. Tick, tock, who’s afraid of the clock? This might prove to be a very humbling experience. Don’t get discouraged. The metronome is an incredible benchmark for determining how well you know a song. The best is a drum machine, or even the drum rhythms in those inexpensive home keyboards… many of you might have one! Set it on a slow swing and give it a try. Then slowly pick up the speed.

E-mail me and let me know how it went. Have a great time and see you for a chord construction lesson next time.

“It don’t mean a thing, if it ain’t got that swing.”

Have Fun!