This collection of original, contemporary, concert-style compositions for plectrum or flatpicked guitar includes 15 preludes, 4 sonatas with multiple movements, and 12 nocturnes. The solos present a colorful spectrum of tonality, harmony, rhythms and moods ideal for concert or recital performance. All solos are written in standard notation only with appropriate fingering and string markings.

This book contains all 60 of William Bay’s guitar solos found in his three Christmas solo collections: Guitar Picking Tunes – Beautiful Carols of Christmas, Guitar Picking Tunes – Christmas in the British Isles, and Guitar Picking Tunes – An Early American Christmas. In this volume, all solos are presented in notation only. Includes access to an online recording of the author performing each piece.

This book in the Guitar Picking Tunes series presents 29 favorite hymns arranged for guitar solo. The material spans the centuries, but reflects a deep faith, including lyrically-beautiful hymns such as “Just as I Am”, to the powerful “Crown Him with Many Crowns”. These solos work well as preludes, offertories, communion hymns and even recessionals, or simply for enjoyment. All solos are written in standard notation and tablature. Includes access to online audio.

Guitarist, composer, songwriter, and Mel Bay author—Jeff Troxel has been successful in the flatpicking contest world as well as being a sought-after college and summer camp instructor. In this book, he shares a lifetime of knowledge about one specific role of the bluegrass guitarist— that of accompaniment or “backup”. Beginning in Chapter One, Troxel lays the foundation for what is to come in rendering alternating bass lines, chord progressions, ornamentation, intros, endings, bass runs, chord-melodies, pedal tones, and other essential concepts that contribute to effective rhythm guitar playing. Five appendices address: Basic Music Theory, Capos and Transposition, Tuning, Guitars, Picks and Strings, and Lead Sheets for the dozen bluegrass tunes featured in the book. All music appears in standard notation and tablature with 69 audio tracks. By the time you finish reading and playing the examples in this book, you’ll be ready to jam or perform with the best! Includes access to online audio.

This comprehensive book contains the solos found in five William Bay guitar solo collections. The solos range from colorful foot tapping reels, breakdowns, hornpipes, jigs, fiddle tunes and sea chanteys to country and Celtic ballads and waltzes. Also included are numerous original guitar solos. All 143 solos in this collection are recorded by the author and online access to the recordings is included. All solos are presented in notation and tablature.

Many great Scottish traditional tunes can be traced back to 17th century lute music. In this collection, multi-instrumentalist Rob MacKillop has transcribed and arranged 25 popular tunes derived from various lute manuscripts. While idiomatic to the guitar, some of these arrangements include fast runs and chord changes, so are best suited to the intermediate-level flatpicking guitarist. This guitar collection consists of the same melodies in the same keys found in its mandolin counterpart, Tunes From 17th Century Scotland Arranged for Mandolin (Mel Bay Publications). In both books, suggested chords are provided wherever appropriate. Consequently, the settings work fine as either mandolin/violin and guitar duets, or as solos for either instrument. Until now, most of these appealing dance tunes and airs have not been available as guitar arrangements. Here, except for two tunes in drop-D tuning, all are in standard guitar tuning. With MacKillop’s spirited online recording, generous performance notes and standard notation and tablature for each selection, get ready to explore a wonderful new take on an old repertoire! Includes access to online audio.

In this book, journalist, composer, songwriter, teacher, and 2003 Winfield Flatpicking Guitar Champion, Jeff Troxel, delivers a masterclass in arranging fiddle tunes for flatpicking guitar. These 20 themes and variations on favorite bluegrass melodies are designed to improve overall musicianship and augment your own arranging skills. Ideal for the intermediate to advanced flatpicking guitarist, the author reveals techniques for enabling readers to create their own theme and variations settings. Suggested rhythm guitar chords and light left-hand fingerings are also provided. Troxel points out that one of the unexpected benefits of learning and memorizing themes with variations is that the process will ultimately facilitate linear and harmonic improvisation. It would be a painstaking process to learn this skill from a teacher or a harmony textbook, but once memorized, the scale and arpeggio patterns within these tunes and variations will set you on a viable path towards original improvised lines. As a bonus, the author includes a generous appendix containing several of his Flatpicking Guitar Magazine articles that deal with aspects of musicianship that every guitarist should know. While written in standard notation and tab, if you have relied solely on tablature and recordings in the past, this book can provide the key to understanding essential music theory and reading standard notation. If you’re not quite ready to learn to read standard notation, you can still use the tab and the author’s excellent online recordings to learn these delightful arrangements. In any case, it will be fun to get these settings of standard bluegrass tunes “in-hand” and use them in future jam sessions.