The Gigging Guitarist

Advanced Beginner to Intermediate Playing Level - Intended for gigging musicians, the tunes in this book were arranged with a number of special considerations in mind. First and foremost, these tunes were arranged to be played easily. They are not necessarily easy as far as difficulty goes, but these arrangements use voice leadings and motions that reduce awkward hand positions and stretches that could cause hand fatigue or hand issues down the line. All arrangements are in standard tuning (E A D G B E). These arrangements were deliberately kept to a maximum of two pages to eliminate pages turns while performing. All tunes can be repeated, at the player's discretion, any number of times. Introductions and endings are noted sparsely to both save space and allow the performer to add his or her own introductions and endings. One thing you will also notice is that there are no full barre chords in this book, as barre chords place a lot of stress on a player's hands. There are a few instances of half barre chords (top three strings only), but even these are used sparingly. These arrangements utilize drones when appropriate, and bass notes are frequently offset from strong beats (e.g. bass notes landing on the and of the beat rather than on the beat). Although this style differs from many other guitar arrangements, this method of playing emphasizes the melody and allows the long, held bass notes (often open strings when possible) to fill out the soundscape. You'll find that rhythm is utilized to create a wonderfully full texture, rather than stacked notes as found in other guitar arrangements. This again is for the ease of reading and playability for the performer. As you become more comfortable with these arrangements, you will find areas where you could easily thicken the texture with some additional notes as you see fit. This book serves as a basic guide with endless possible embellishments and additions available to the performer.

There are 19 tunes in the book, including: John Brown's March, The South Wind, Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine, Down by the Sally Gardens, Cold Frosty Morning, Oh Shenandoah, Jock o' Hazeldean, Spotted Pony, St. Anne's Reel, Princess Royal, Bury Me Beneath the Willow, Childgrove, Red Is the Rose, Cripple Creek, Bill Sullivan's Polka, Danny Boy, Over the Waterfall, The Parting Glass, Eliza Tries Again