# How do I make a fingerstyle arrangement? (adding bass notes)



## octatoan (Aug 13, 2014)

So I was learning to play the acoustic part in the beginning of Fear Of The Dark by a band you probably haven't heard of, and I thought of adding a few bass notes to make it sound like one of those badass "fingerstyle arrangements".







Already sounds a bit better to my noob ears 

As you can see, I've just octave-doubled for the most part, although I think I added a fifth or two in the second bar. (can't check, that was painful enough)

What principles does one follow when adding bass notes to single-guitar fingerstyle arrangements?
[And what do you think of my effort? ]


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## ElRay (Aug 13, 2014)

Subscribed. I'm in the same boat. My electric is tuned ala Steve Tibbetts (C-G-D-G-B-E), so I'm trying to create bass lines to go along with my daughter's Classical working pieces, for when we "rock out" on the electrics. I feel like it should be easy, because (currently) all of her pieces are in G and only use the treble strings in standard.

I've tried a generic walking bass line in G (R-3-5-b7-8-b7-5-3, repeat), but it's not quite working out.


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## octatoan (Aug 13, 2014)

I think it would be a process similar to writing left-hand parts for piano.


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## starslight (Aug 13, 2014)

I always start with the root note of each chord change. You can make a simple skeleton of a fingerstyle arrangement of almost anything by playing the melody and just the root note of each chord below it. Where you go from there is really up to your taste and sense of creativity. The next step from the skeleton arrangement for me is usually filling out the "middle" with whatever chord tones are reachable and sound good.

If you listen to a lot of other people's arrangements you'll find that some stick very close to the original and others will be like a whole different "take" on the song. So if you ever get stuck trying to replicate a bunch of instruments on one instrument, maybe stop and try to reimagine the song in your mind and then your own take happen on the guitar.







The Leeb arrangement, by the way, is in alternate tuning (DADGAD, only way lower). That's one road to go down, but I kind of drove myself crazy for a while trying to find just the right tuning for each tune, so...be careful.


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## octatoan (Aug 13, 2014)

That Leeb arrangement is brilliant, thanks a ton (not sure which kind).


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## wespaul (Aug 13, 2014)

Great book on the topic:

http://www.amazon.com/Through-Melody-Beyond-Howard-Morgen/dp/0739049844/

A video course by the same author:

Jazz Guitar Lessons - Fingerboard Breakthrough - Howard Morgen

I highly recommend both.


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## celticelk (Aug 13, 2014)

I've been experimenting with Arvo Part's tintinnabulation technique lately, which involves matching melody notes with a note from the tonic triad. You could consistently use the first or second triad note above or below the melody note, or alternate above/below on successive notes; for a solo guitar arrangement, you probably want to use a note below the melody consistently. Here's one of Part's early pieces (with score) demonstrating the technique:



If you've got a piece that has chord changes, like most pop/rock songs, you can simply change the triad below the melody to match the song's harmony.


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## Solodini (Aug 14, 2014)

The first thing I would advise is to work out the chord sequence, if there is one, or work out one which fits the melody, then voice lead the chords: use voicings which use as little movement as possible from chord to chord. If you were changing from B major to E major, the notes of the chords would be BD#F# for B major and EG#B for E major, so you could voice the B major chord as D#F#B, then the E major as EG#B. The D# moves to E, the F# moves to G, the B remains as a B. This creates melodic movement within each "voice" i.e. the movement of each note of the chord to a note of the next chord.

Contrary motion between voices usually adds depth, that is if one voice is ascending (D# to E) another remains static (B staying as B) or descends (F# to E). You usually want to avoid 5ths between voices as they suck a bit of the power from the harmony. A 5th ends up sounding like one strengthened note, rather than 2 separate voices. Think of playing a powerchord: it really just serves as one strong note, which is why complex powerchord riffs work better than moving full chords every beat.

Once you have a basic structure like this, you can arpeggiate the chord voicings to create more movement, and add in more notes to link between the notes in each voice, but not to link the various voices together. You can repeat notes in each voice or move away from one of the chord tones to a nearby note to create pleasant tension which draws your ear toward the next note or back to the chord tone. 

Play with different rhythms and combinations of notes, different chord voicings as these create completely different counter-melodies.

Hope that helps. Let me know if you'd like me to elaborate at all.

Adam


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## octatoan (Aug 14, 2014)

Solodini said:


> The first thing I would advise is to work out the chord sequence, if there is one, or work out one which fits the melody, then voice lead the chords: use voicings which use as little movement as possible from chord to chord. If you were changing from B major to E major, the notes of the chords would be BD#F# for B major and EG#B for E major, so you could voice the B major chord as D#F#B, then the E major as EG#B. The D# moves to E, the F# moves to G, the B remains as a B. This creates melodic movement within each "voice" i.e. the movement of each note of the chord to a note of the next chord.
> 
> Contrary motion between voices usually adds depth, that is if one voice is ascending (D# to E) another remains static (B staying as B) or descends (F# to E). You usually want to avoid 5ths between voices as they suck a bit of the power from the harmony. A 5th ends up sounding like one strengthened note, rather than 2 separate voices. Think of playing a powerchord: it really just serves as one strong note, which is why complex powerchord riffs work better than moving full chords every beat.
> 
> ...


You da man, Adam. I'll work a bit with that tonight and tell you how it goes 

On a related note, this reminded me of MBN saying something like: "OMG CVNT3RP0!Nt N POLLYRIVUM"


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## ElRay (Aug 14, 2014)

Solodini said:


> The first thing I would advise is to work out the chord sequence, *if there is one*, or work out one which fits the melody, ...



That's the boat I'm in. These are relatively simple melodies, all in the same key and this is the first "composition" I've attempted. I'm trying to be "original", and have the intent to be metronome-like, without taking over or drowning-out the melody part my daughter's playing. I did find the "official" accompaniment and ensemble books, so I may see what's been done and rearrange it for CGDG.


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## ElRay (Aug 14, 2014)

Solodini said:


> The first thing I would advise is to work out the chord sequence, ...



I just had an epiphany/brain-fart-release.

For my target, I should be able to look at each measure, figure out the implied chord based on what notes are used, and then do a simple Alberti Bass (R-5-3-5).  R-5-8-5 should work OK too, yes?

I'm not sure how useful that would be to the OP, but it's a tool to get you a starting point.

Ray


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## Solodini (Aug 15, 2014)

That should work, if it's not too busy for the tune. If OP wants to use this approach, the notes on beat 1 and 3 are usually chord tones so they can be used to work out the chord in each bar/half bar.


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