A Collection of Hymns and Christmas Carols for Guitar

By Greg Carney

A unique approach to solo guitar which applies music theory, arranging, and orchestration to the guitar. The arrangements in this book make the fingerboard more accessible for the experienced player or the novice. In addition, this approach could ultimately be applied to other songs (pop, rock, folk, etc) by any guitar student. It's in understanding the fingerboard, along with theory knowledge and musicianship skills, that enable the guitarist to unlock the somewhat elusive potential of the instrument as a complete sound, rather than just an accompaniment instrument.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 16, 2018
• ISBN: 9781640038127

Book preview

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A Collection

of Hymns

and Christmas Carols for Guitar

Greg Carney

ISBN 978-1-64003-811-0 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64003-812-7 (Digital)

Copyright © 2018 Greg Carney

All rights reserved

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed,

or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other

electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher.

For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Covenant Books, Inc.

11661 Hwy 707

Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

www.covenantbooks.com

Table of Contents

Foreword

Notation, Tablature, and Terminology

Silent Night

Transforming Chords and Melody into a Fingerstyle Arrangement

Greensleeves

Greensleeves (Fingerstyle)

Jingle Bells

Frosty the Snowman

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

About the Author

Foreword

While putting together this collection of Christmas carols for solo guitar, I realized a number of hurdles and challenges that I would not have initially considered. First and foremost, playing solo guitar is a unique skill that is often lumped-in (perhaps wrongly?) with other aspects of a guitarist’s musicianship. (I should note solo guitar in this case refers to playing the guitar unaccompanied rather than a lead guitar solo.) My assertion that playing solo guitar is a unique skill will likely be confirmed if you have never attempted to play a Christmas carol on guitar.

There is a common belief that Christmas carols are mainly for children and must be simple to play. I discovered that this belief is misguided. Perhaps this is based on the false assumption that something we learn in childhood is easy, or easier, than something we learn later on. In the case of playing Christmas carols on guitar, I find these to be anything but simple to play. Indeed, a common theme that I’ve underscored throughout each section of this book is that putting together an arrangement for solo guitar involves myriad considerations that challenge both our technique on the instrument as well as our general musicianship (e.g., ear training, knowledge of music theory, etc.).

Each of these arrangements is delivered through a tutorial format that involves visual and audio aids: sheet music, photos, and demos of particular sections. I want to emphasize the process of creating these arrangements while having access to only minimal resources (e.g., melodic memory and lead sheets). Indeed, the process of turning any song in lead-sheet format (i.e., notated melody with chord symbols) into a solo guitar arrangement involves incredible fingerboard gymnastics that is not given nearly enough attention by many music instructors. Moreover, there is not a one size fits all approach that we can lean on when creating a solo piece.

There are five songs in this book but several different approaches required in order to create these solo arrangements. In the case of Silent Night, we first create an arrangement of the melody accompanied by block harmony. We then go through the process of transforming this arrangement into a fingerstyle arrangement. With Jingle Bells, we can make use of a particular right-hand technique that can immediately be plugged into the song and is effective throughout. The main point to remember is that an effective approach for one song might not be an effective approach