Solo Jazz Guitar Repertoire

**gtrhead** · 05-10-2011, 07:13 AM

In all my years of playing guitar, one thing has remained constant: when people learn that you play guitar, they will invariably shove a guitar into your hands and expect to be entertained. You know the drill. You’re at a party and somebody casually asks at the top of their lungs, "You play guitar?!?" All heads turn to you and a guitar miraculously appears out of the crowd and you are suddenly no longer allowed to be a guest at the party, but instead expected to be the free entertainment. Requests start getting called and you feel like an idiot standing there to the sound of crickets chirping.

This might sound a bit forward on peoples’ part (and trust me, it IS…I mean, nobody likes to be put on the spot), but it turns out that proper etiquette on your part as a self-proclaimed musician is to NOT disappoint them, lest their belief that you can even pluck a note on the thing vanishes.

The point I’m trying to make here is that it is important for a guitar player to have a solid repertoire of material that he can whip out at any given moment – even when he/she does not expect to be required to play. Trust me, it is not a question of IF it is going to happen, but WHEN it is going to happen.

Regardless of what genre you specialize in (i.e. jazz, rock, pop, bluegrass, classical, etc.), I’ve found it beneficial to have a set of pop tunes that sound good on acoustic guitar that you can produce on a moment’s notice. I recommend tunes on an acoustic guitar because it seems that any time somebody puts you on the spot to play, they don’t have any trouble producing an acoustic guitar for you to demonstrate your chops on.

Having said that, it is equally important to play tunes that people will want to hear. Certain pop tunes are more widely known than others, so if you want to get the most mileage of out tunes that will appeal to a wider range of audiences (young and old alike), stick with those.

The following is a suggested list of tunes that every guitar player should learn to play on acoustic guitar to prove to the masses that you do indeed know something about the instrument. It is by no means comprehensive.

Most anything by the Beatles outside of “Revolution No. 9” (i.e. "Yesterday", "Blackbird", "Here Comes the Sun", et. al.)
Most anything by James Taylor (i.e. "Something in the Way She Moves", "Fire & Rain", "You've Got a Friend", et. al.)
Most anything by Simon & Garfunkel (i.e. "The Sound of Silence", "Scarborough Fair", "April Come She Will", "Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall", et. al.)
“Girl from Ipanema” (A.C. Jobim)
“Tears in Heaven” (Eric Clapton)
“Change the World” (Eric Clapton)
“More Than Words” (Extreme)
“Wish You Were Here” (Pink Floyd)
“Stairway to Heaven” (Led Zeppelin)

In general, I’d recommend tunes with a more positive vibe (i.e. “Here Comes the Sun”, “You’ve Got a Friend”, “Change the World”, “More Than Words”, etc.) than tunes by Nirvana or Nine Inch Nails. People react better to the good things in life, not how you got your heart broken or about your suicidal tendencies. For that reason, I’d only play “Wish You Were Here” and “Stairway to Heaven” only as absolute last resorts due to their darker lyrics. Still, it doesn't hurt to have them ready since certain audiences will call these tunes.

If you’re feeling a bit more ambitious, you might try preparing the following instrumental tunes. Note that these are not for the casual player.

“Mood for a Day” (Steve Howe)
“Clap” (Steve Howe)
“Bron-yr-aur” (Jimmy Page)
“Anji” (Paul Simon)
Intro to “Crazy On You” (Nancy Wilson)

**JohnW400** · 05-10-2011, 09:30 AM

What? No Sinatra?

**mr. beaumont** · 05-10-2011, 09:39 AM

You too, can be the life of the party!

I dunno, somebody puts me on the spot like that that, I'm doing what I do best...I'll give 'em a chord melody of something Chet Baker would have sang, and that's usually enough to please the musicians and bore everyone else.

Either way, I'm "off the spot."

**matt.guitarteacher** · 05-10-2011, 10:11 AM

A little Crazy Train and Smoke on the Water goes a long way.

**max_power** · 05-10-2011, 12:48 PM

Good thread.

A few more things:

1) You know those songs/riffs that everyone learns to play on the guitar (some of which were mentioned earlier)? Songs like Smoke on The Water, Sweet Home Alabama, Blackbird (Beatles), Stairway to Heaven, Day Tripper, Under The Bridge (without a capo, since you probably don't carry one around)... well, people expect you to be able to play these, no matter what kind of guitarist you are. If you can't play them, learn them now, and make sure you can play them ALL THE WAY THROUGH, since people often want to sing along.

2) Have a few instrumental tunes you can play for people. If you're good enough, a badass chord melody will do the trick. If not, memorize some pieces. Classical pieces work well for this. "Spanish Romance" and "Canon in D" sound pretty and are easy to play, and the latter can always be turned into a sing along for the Graduation Song by Vitamin C. You can also play solo arrangements of pop tunes, which go over very well. There are a number of books with classical guitar arrangements of Beatles tunes... the best is probably the one by Larry Beekman, which has 30 tunes and sticks pretty closely to the original songs. There's also the Freddie King blues tune "Hideaway", which also isn't hard and sounds pretty good solo.

3) Make sure your ear is developed enough that you can figure out the chord progression to basic pop tunes on the spot. If you can't pick up the guitar right now and fake your way through songs like "Closing Time", "Time of Your Life" and "The Times They Are A Changin'" (assuming familiarity with those songs), you might want to practice picking up chord progressions from pop tunes.

**max_power** · 05-10-2011, 12:53 PM

Oh yeah, and anything by Bob Dylan and Neil Young as well.

**mr. beaumont** · 05-10-2011, 01:04 PM

Buffett tunes. Ya gotta know a few Buffett tunes if it turns into a singalong.

**matt.guitarteacher** · 05-10-2011, 01:04 PM

I was actually just kidding, but with me, the people who usually do the asking are in one of my middle school classes. So, those tunes are big ones. For some odd reason kids are really big on old video game tunes and such.

**mr. beaumont** · 05-10-2011, 01:08 PM

Yup.

If you can play Super Mario Bros. or the Tetris theme, you are a god.

That goes through high school too..."Mr. Matz, play the King of the Hill theme!"

**JohnW400** · 05-10-2011, 01:09 PM

What? No Stevie Wonder? No R&B?

**JohnW400** · 05-10-2011, 01:10 PM

What? no Moody Blues?

**Stackabones** · 05-10-2011, 01:32 PM

If you can play the guitar while you're singing, you'll actually entertain the crowds. Otherwise you'll be asked to play that old and oft-requested chord-melody solo standard, Could You Please Play More Quietly?

**gtrhead** · 05-10-2011, 04:49 PM

@JohnW400: I was actually thinking of tunes that are already played on acoustic in their original recording. That way you know the tunes sound great on solo acoustic guitar and people will recognize them more easily. (Moody Blues might have some acoustic tunes -- I'm just not familiar enough with their stuff to know).

Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, R&B and Moody Blues do resonate well with people, but that would entail a bit more work on your part to have a cool acoustic "unplugged" arrangement ready. Nothing wrong with that, mind you...I was just looking for the simpler approach.

**gtrhead** · 05-10-2011, 04:53 PM

@max_power: Great ideas! Thanks!

**gtrhead** · 05-10-2011, 04:57 PM

@Stackabones: Yes, if you have even a semi-decent voice and can sing in tune while playing guitar then that opens up a whole plethora of possibilities for you.

Funny you should mention the request to play more quietly. After playing "Blackbird" and "Tears in Heaven" for people, I almost always get asked to "play something fast." :-D

**JohnW400** · 05-10-2011, 05:02 PM

Originally Posted by gtrhead

Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, R&B and Moody Blues do resonate well with people, but that would entail a bit more work on your part to have a cool acoustic "unplugged" arrangement ready. Nothing wrong with that, mind you...I was just looking for the simpler approach.

Just teasing.

I have an anecdote about Mood For A Day

About 20 years ago I was doing a solo gig at a local bar. You know the kind, pool table, darts , deer head on the wall, lots of tap beer. Nothing fancy, just a good place to hang out.

I start to play Mood For a Day and some guys playing pool decided to whistle the melody as I played it. It through me off. I haven't played it out since

**gtrhead** · 05-10-2011, 05:09 PM

@JohnW400: Too funny about your "Mood for a Day" story...these were probably the same guys sitting next to me at my last Yes concert shouting "ROCK AND ROLLLLLL!!! ROCK AND ROLLLLLL!!"

**Jazzaluk** · 05-10-2011, 05:19 PM

Originally Posted by Stackabones

...oft-requested chord-melody solo standard, Could You Please Play More Quietly?

Do you have the changes to this tune??

**gtrhead** · 05-10-2011, 05:22 PM

Other acoustic possibilities:

- The Eagles (i.e. "Hotel California", "Tequila Sunrise", "Desperado", "Peaceful Easy Feeling", et. al.)
- Elvis Presley ("Fools Rush In", "Hound Dog", et. al.)
- Sting ("Every Breath You Take", "Fragile", "Fields of Gold")

For older audiences:

- Chord melodies of standards
- Jazz standards you know the lyrics to (i.e. "Autumn Leaves", "Fly Me to the Moon", "All the Things You Are", etc.)

For younger audiences:

- most anything by John Mayer
- "New Slang" (The Shins)

I've always found "Hotel California" to be a pain in the neck to play and sing but I once played it for a private party of about 100 Hispanic people who had just come in from the backyard listening to all-Spanish music. The entire room erupted in singing along with me as they knew the lyrics better than I did.