playing solo

The art of arranging most songs for the single acoustic and vocal can be quite daunting. There are rhythms from the various instruments that have to be incorporated as this might be an integral and recognizable feature of the song. So the right hand is in charge of the rhythm. The left must form the basic chord structure, although the multiple instruments may have been used to produce the original. A picking style added a few notes to the chords can fill the space between them and incorporate the melody line in to the songs. It is my opinion (well I guess it all is) that the song needs to be reasonably close to the original. At the same time, one must make the song their own. No point in just copying somebody's song.

Singing can also be difficult. I'm basically a baritone but so many singers are tenors and songs range pretty high on the scale. I occasionally have to use a lower harmonic line to avoid screeching like a wounded owl. In my opinion, the songs we choose and the way we arrange the song is what we can bring to the music.