How To Arrange FIngerstyle Guitar Solos
Mark Hanson
There is a lot of information available online on learning guitar. Much of it is free but not even worth the time to watch it, so if you are looking to really learn look for someone who has made teaching their focus. To learn how to compose great solo fingerstyle guitar arrangements we can be thankful for Grammy-winning artists such as Laurence Juber who set aside a generous amount of their time to devote to teaching. With How To Arrange Fingerstyle Guitar Solos, I am happy to say that Mark Hanson has joined this elite group of guitar educators.
I hope that you are already familiar with Mark's excellent books The Art of Solo FIngerpicking and Contemporary Travis Picking. If so, then you know what a fine teacher he is. Well, as good as he is in the books, Mark Hanson is even better in video!
If you are at all interested in learning to arrange songs for yourself, this is a DVD you must have. Mark teaches you how to arrange in all sorts of styles, at all levels of difficulty - from completely basic to pro level. You learn how to choose a good key for a song, how to get a solid bass line, how to spice up the harmony, and how to adapt any song to styles as diverse as folk, jazz, blues, and more. The progression of the teaching will let you find your comfort level easily, and then work from there.
I had a couple of concerns when I first received the DVD. First, it is just over an hour long. Most instructional DVD's I see are longer than this, but after viewing it I can say that an hour spent with Mark Hanson is like two or three spent with most other teachers. There is no filler in this presentation, just loads of great, immediately useful information. In fact, this is a real bonus for those who are pressed for time and just "want to get to the good stuff." On this DVD, it's ALL good stuff.
My other concern was the choice of songs. I have written at length elsewhere about issues of copyright, and how those who are honest often get penalized when their competitors do not pay royalties and manage to get away with it. Mark follows the honourable path of using songs that are in the public domain: Oh Susannah, Plaisir d'Amour, and When the Saints Go Marching In. But don't make the mistake that I did: these arrangements are great. If you know James Taylor's version of Oh Susannah then you know that the song can be set in interesting ways. Well Mark Hanson takes this song into overdrive, making it swing, cry, laugh and more as he shows you how to play it in style after style. Not only will you learn all sorts of ways to set any song, you will also have Mark's complete versions of each of these songs, each one suitable for performance on any stage - they are that good.
The extras on this DVD are not to be missed because a lot of thought and effort has gone into them. Mark includes a segment on ear training to help you to find those sounds you are looking for easily, as well as helping you to play any melody you can remember. If your theory is a bit weak you will find the transposition charts a great aid in changing keys for both melody and chords. And speaking of keys, Mark includes a chart of 100 tunes with suggested keys for their arrangement, taking a lot of guesswork out of it for you.
In summary: this DVD is jam-packed with the most important and useful information on arranging for solo fingerstyle guitar. If you have any interest in making your own arrangements, then buy this DVD today.
How To Arrange Fingerstyle Guitar Solos is available from Mark's web site Accent On Music, or from Amazon.com