Arranging Songs for Guitar - Gibson

Gibson’s Learn & Master Guitar with Steve KrenzFill in the harmony between the bass notes and the melody.The additional notes of the harmony can be added in between the lower bass notes and the upper melodynotes. An easy way to do this is to use the remaining notes of the chord as an arpeggio, or even passing notesbetween chords.Here are the harmony parts added to “Danny Boy”. Notice the use of arpeggios and added passing notesbetween chords.www.LearnandMaster.com2Guitar Fundamentals: Arranging Songs for Guitar

Gibson’s Learn & Master Guitar with Steve KrenzAdditional Arrangement IdeasNow that you have a basic arrangement of your song, you may want to add some additional elements to finishoff your arrangement. Here are a couple of ideas to spice up your arrangement.Add melodic lines to the inner parts. A great way to add interest is to include small melodic lines between the inner parts. A perfect time to do thisis when the melody note is holding out.Add scale runs between melody notes. To add some movement and quick runs between notes, try going stepwise through the major scale in theappropriate key, from one melody note to the next. For example, in “Danny Boy” on the video I go between aD and a high B by walking up the G scale (because we are in the key of G) from one note to the next. Threenotes on a string scales are a very musical way to do this on guitar.Add bass note movement. You can also add bass note movement by walking between bass notes in a stepwise motion, or even jumpingbetween different notes of the chord in the bass line.Add arpeggios, harmonics, and more. If a chord holds for a moment you can add an arpeggio through the chord tones, or you can add in some wellplacedharmonics to add some finishing touches to your arrangement.For more ideas and instruction check out the award-winning Gibson’s Learn & Master Guitar course atwww.LearnAndMaster.com and the lessons section at www.gibson.com for all the help you need to becomethe player you want to be!On the following pages is the full arrangement of “Danny Boy.” Enjoy working on it and making your ownarrangements.3

Gibson’s Learn & Master Guitar with Steve KrenzDanny BoyArranged by Steve Krenz

Gibson’s Learn & Master Guitar with Steve Krenz4