Boplicity Arrangement

**jakeruthmusic** · 06-18-2026, 07:42 AM

Hi all! I have been working on arranging the tune "Boplicity" for solo guitar. Surprisingly difficult to do! This tune has always been one of my favorites off of "Birth of the Cool". Are there any other versions of this tune you guys like? Would love to find some more

**pamosmusic** · 06-18-2026, 09:51 AM

Originally Posted by jakeruthmusic

Hi all! I have been working on arranging the tune "Boplicity" for solo guitar. Surprisingly difficult to do! This tune has always been one of my favorites off of "Birth of the Cool". Are there any other versions of this tune you guys like? Would love to find some more

beautiful playing. Balance in the voices and stuff is really cool.

**AllanAllen** · 06-18-2026, 10:46 AM

Very nice arrangement!

**bluenote61** · 06-18-2026, 03:04 PM

Cool arrangement and a beautiful playing!

**James W** · 06-18-2026, 03:28 PM

I enjoyed your rendition, OP. I have to admit, I probably first encountered this tune played by Kurt Rosenwinkel back in 2012 when this appeared on youtube -

**Question** · 06-19-2026, 09:12 AM

Jake, excellent playing, nice arrangement and touch/balance between the melody and accompaniment!

I regret not starting much earlier with hybrid picking. Working on it ,but have been mostly fingers-only (with the pick stowed between two fingers), or pick alone.

The way that you often use the pick in the melody or single notes on the higher strings while jumping to grab a bass note or chord is something that I haven't seen much before, and very effective. It gives me some ideas to get away from feeling obligated to use the pick primarily on the bottom three strings.

Joe Pass said something like "People think that I am doing everything at the same time, but actually if I just play in time I can get away with juggling the melody, chords and bass to give this illusion".

The long reverb is giving you a bit of help with sustain, but that is not in any way a critique of your playing.

Are you using nails?

Anyway, really nice.

**mr. beaumont** · 06-19-2026, 09:27 AM

I saw this yesterday on Facebook but my page refreshed before I could comment or take note of who it was...im glad you posted here. Really cool arrangement, great sound...its a tune most folks probably wouldn't think of taking on as a solo guitar piece, but not only does it work, it sounds great!

**darkwaters** · 06-19-2026, 12:15 PM

Wonderful.

Your arrangement (and playing) is much better than mine.

I hate you…..

JazzKatua · 06-19-2026, 01:48 PM

Originally Posted by jakeruthmusic

Hi all! I have been working on arranging the tune "Boplicity" for solo guitar. Surprisingly difficult to do! This tune has always been one of my favorites off of "Birth of the Cool". Are there any other versions of this tune you guys like? Would love to find some more

Great playing of this not easy music to play!

**Cunamara** · 06-21-2026, 01:03 AM

That's great- and proof that jazz is in the mind, heart and fingers rather than the instrument. This is a song close to my heart, in my old band our vocalist used to do a scorching take on this... but she has passed away far too young. This was the song we used to play in remembrance of her, so I am delighted and touched to hear your version. Bittersweet memories.

**grahambop** · 06-21-2026, 04:25 AM

Great playing, I wouldn’t have thought of attempting this as a solo piece.

I once did this video playing all the original parts on multi-tracked guitars. Syncing up all the video segments was quite an effort (especially as my computer was a bit under-powered for the job!)

**grahambop** · 06-22-2026, 06:57 AM

Mark Murphy did a version with lyrics:

**jakeruthmusic** · 07-09-2026, 05:59 PM

Originally Posted by Question

Jake, excellent playing, nice arrangement and touch/balance between the melody and accompaniment!

I regret not starting much earlier with hybrid picking. Working on it ,but have been mostly fingers-only (with the pick stowed between two fingers), or pick alone.

The way that you often use the pick in the melody or single notes on the higher strings while jumping to grab a bass note or chord is something that I haven't seen much before, and very effective. It gives me some ideas to get away from feeling obligated to use the pick primarily on the bottom three strings.

Joe Pass said something like "People think that I am doing everything at the same time, but actually if I just play in time I can get away with juggling the melody, chords and bass to give this illusion".

The long reverb is giving you a bit of help with sustain, but that is not in any way a critique of your playing.

Are you using nails?

Anyway, really nice.

Thank you!! I have worked a ton on hybrid picking and including my pinky as well. This allows me to get 4 voices at once. I do keep my nails just a bit longer on my right hand to achieve this

**jakeruthmusic** · 07-09-2026, 06:00 PM

Originally Posted by grahambop

Great playing, I wouldn’t have thought of attempting this as a solo piece.

I once did this video playing all the original parts on multi-tracked guitars. Syncing up all the video segments was quite an effort (especially as my computer was a bit under-powered for the job!)

This is awesome!!! Sounds pretty wild all the voices being on guitar. Thank you for sharing

**jakeruthmusic** · 07-09-2026, 06:01 PM

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

I saw this yesterday on Facebook but my page refreshed before I could comment or take note of who it was...im glad you posted here. Really cool arrangement, great sound...its a tune most folks probably wouldn't think of taking on as a solo guitar piece, but not only does it work, it sounds great!

Thank you so much! This one was pretty tough to figure out for solo guitar, but I wanted a challenge haha

**Question** · 07-09-2026, 06:09 PM

@Jakeruth

Watching your technique motivated me to reevaluate the way that I hybrid-pick.

Have a listen to my humorous version of "I'm Confessen'" in this Songs section of the forum.

I realized that I was unnecessarily restricting certain right hand techniques.

**Christian Miller** · Yesterday, 02:22 PM

Originally Posted by jakeruthmusic

Hi all! I have been working on arranging the tune "Boplicity" for solo guitar. Surprisingly difficult to do! This tune has always been one of my favorites off of "Birth of the Cool". Are there any other versions of this tune you guys like? Would love to find some more

Lurvely… the pinky is the final boss of hybrid picking haha. I’ve been playing this way for a while but your command of it is both impressive and musical. Top arrangement, too.

I’ve been listening a lot to Roni Ben Hur version of this tune with a trio. He adds some nice twists including a bit of reharmonisation. Having the bass take the second A is a really nice touch.