Hey everyone,
recently I've been playing mostly acoustic guitar. One of my main goals is building up my song repertoire so I can play at a barbecue, campfire etc. Until the end of the year I want to add another 10 songs to my repertoire. Which brings me to my question:
How do you come up with your own arrangement of a song?
I'm not talking about a fingerstyle arrangement but rather a simple chord-based strumming version of a song. It's not the chords I'm having trouble figuring out. That's usually pretty easy. The thing I'm struggling with is making a song my own (if that makes sense). Usually I would play along with the original record and most of the time the original arrangement works well as a campfire version. But there are instances where it just does not (different tuning, recording slightly out of tune, too fast/slow, parts being played on other instruments etc.). So I'd rather come up with my own arrangement.
For example one of the songs I'm working on is 'Africa' by Toto. The original record is quite fast at over 180 bpm and a campfire version at that tempo simply doesn't sound very good. The song's prominent parts are all played on a keyboard or synth, including the solo so I'm not sure what to do with this section. So I'll have to re-arrange the song for it to sound good.
Also, how do you practice your own arrangement? I'd rather play along with the original song or even a backing track than a metronome. But since it's an original arrangement that's not an option.
Any ideas and input would be much appreciated :)
Cheers, Merlin
@Merlin - while this question is probably well above my pay grade, I do understand what you mean by making a song your own. First thing that came to my mind would be switching some things up within the song. Maybe cross pick a verse rather than strum it for example, or work in some other kind of chord embellishment.
@Irwin1957 That's a good point! Especially for songs that use the same chord progression throughout the entire song. Using crosspicking during the verses and strumming the chorus makes it more interesting
@Merlin @Irwin1957 That’s what I do fairly often! I might pick the verses and strum the choruses or do a simplified strumming pattern for the verses (like muted downstrums for example) and then full strums for the chorus. If I’m practicing for a YouTube cover where I’ll be playing multiple parts and it’s a different key or tempo than the original recording, I’ll focus mostly on the main rhythm guitar first. Then I’ll record myself (just on my phone, nothing fancy) playing that part to a metronome so that I can practice the lead lines or riffs to the recording.
Hey Merlin, for the last open mic I did a coupLe weeks ago (along with a couple buddies on drums, bass and another acoustic) we played House of the Rising Sun. I played an intro verse fingerstyle. Then sang first 3 verses while strumming. then 1 verse of interlude with a sweep technique (learned from Nate). Final 2 verses strumming While singing.
@Merlin - Great discussion. There is a lot to say about this so I went ahead and made a video response and posted it in the Guitar Fam Student Community Facebook Group. Here is the link to the video post.
https://www.facebook.com/nate.savage.guitar/videos/2879619012318182
If you are not a member of the group yet, you can request to join here. You have to have a Guitar Fam Complimentary Account to do that.
A lot of this comes down to covering the bass and drums with your guitar part to make things "feel" like the original song even if there is not much guitar in the original. This can be done through finger style, hybrid picking, or some creativity with regular strumming. Give the video a watch and let us know how you arrange things for acoustic guitar.
@Nate Savage - Thank you for taking the time to make a video about it. Unfortunately I don't have a Facebook account (I also recently deleted my Instagram) so I can't watch the video.
@Merlin What's your email? I'll send you the video. You can just send me your email to nate@natesavage.com
Great topic Merlin!
Though I may say a lot of what's already been said, here's how I would personally approach it.
1. I would first spend time studying the overall rhythm and feel of the song listening closely to the drums, bass, keyboard or any instruments that I could mimic the feel of on guitar.
2. If it's not a popular song where I cant find the chords, I'll just listen mostly to the bass and or keyboards to figure it out.
3. Once I have the chords, structure and rhythmic feel all figured out, I'll find ways to separate the verse and chorus. One simple way would be to play the chorus with a more open chord feel and the verse with a bit more rhythmically muted chords. Overall I'll definitely use a lot of percussive muted strumming, pluck and chuck and or slap muting technique to mimic a kick, snare and a hi hat feel. For a lead section, I'll either omit it or play a few bars of the chorus or a variation of it.
4. Next I'll look for bits and pieces of any distinctive/recognizable fills that I can use to help spice up the progression. Also using walking bass lines and chord embellishments when can.
5. Now If you really want to "MAKE IT YOUR OWN" you can simply change up the rhythmic feel altogether. Maybe even substitute a few chords for some that are more jazzier and slowing it down also giving it a bit more a bounce. That would be one example. Or simply just slow it down and make it a more mellow version of the song. Some will even take a songs and given it a reggae feel, while others may want to give it songs a metal or more of rock feel. It's all matter of personal taste and level of playing.
As far as how to practice your own version? You'll pretty much have to rely on your internal rhythm, foot tapping and percussive playing. Also to lock in the timing a metronome is always helpful as well. :-)
PS Here's the example of a Jackson 5 song I arranged for guitar and recorded with a close friend during whole COVID quarantine. The original song is mostly played on a keyboard. You may have already seen it.
https://www.facebook.com/590720266/videos/10157203993310267/
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CATgv10JwNl/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
@J.Rod - Thanks for the in-depth reply, Johnny. Lots of good advice in there.
Paying more attention to the drums and mimicking them better is something I need to focus on more, so that's a great tip. Dynamics and using different rhythms is another thing I should incorporate more. So there is still a lot to explore but I love it :)
yeah I remember that cover, both your guitar work and her singing are amazing!
@Merlin
Hey so glad to hear you found some of what I shared helpful. It's something that has definitely frustrated me for a very long time as well so I can definitely relate.
What's helped me tremendously aside from all mentioned above, is learning guitar theory, especially the number system. That's something I wish I had learned years ago and has really helped when it comes to figuring out songs and or to make up my own chord progressions. Something I'm still working on.
Also learn the CAGED system and all the scales that relate to them (Pentatonic, Major; Minor and 7ths). Then work on learning your triads which is a game changer. I know it It's a lot, but if you just take it daily with lots of patience it will all pay off big time! Also learning some chord embellishments and understanding how they relate to the chords/scales is huge as well which all goes back to theory. You'll soon begin to realize how everything is connected! That was a huge aha moment for me and still learning! lol
These are all the things I been continuously working on daily for some time now! Also continually learning songs as recorded is always huge for me as well. Playing along to all my favorite songs not only keeps it fun, but also doubles as a metronome that doesn't bore me. ha lol Helps me develop better timing along with all else I pick up from the songs like chord embellishments; fills; licks etc.
For example, I recently decided to learn Neil Young's Old Man that @Nate teaches here on the blog section, all because I really wanted to learn the acoustic chord embellishments it uses. It is a great song but that's what really grabbed my attention. I knew learning the cross picking and tricky timing would also be a good challenge for me as well.
Anyway, I know it was a lot but all of it will definitely help with you wanting to personalize and or arrange your own songs. Also know that it's one of my biggest goals as well as I continue to learn more about it all and improve.
All that said, all the best with it all and know that we're all always here for you!! :-)
@J.Rod I absolutely agree with the things you said about theory. The more you research theory the more things start to make sense. CAGED is something I've been wanting to look into for a while but somehow never got around to it. But it sounds like it is worth the effort and time.
I also agree about learning songs. That's where everything really comes together. And as you mentioned it is so much fun. One of my long term goals was to learn at least 1 full song each month and be able to play along with the original record. These can be easy campfire songs or complex band songs. This is something I've been achieving for the last 22 months and in recent months it's usually been more than 1 song a month. I can only recommend it to anyone.
Thanks, Johnny. I always appreciate your input! :)