How To Create An Arrangement On Guitar Using Chord Fragments

by Simon Candy

In this video lesson, I am going to show you how to create a fingerstyle arrangement of a song on your guitar using chord fragments.

Putting the chords and melody of a song together on one guitar when creating arrangements is a good starting point, however it is just that, a starting point. From here, you need ideas and approaches to create an arrangement that expresses the tune in a musical and dynamic way.

Fragmented guitar chords are a great tool for doing exactly that.

In the video below, I take you through an excerpt of the tune Danny Boy and show you how chord fragments can bring a very rhythmic element to the arrangement. This is created though the interplay between the melody line of the song and the chord fragments themselves.

It’s not that there’s anything wrong with simply putting the chords and melody of a tune together on one guitar.

But where to from there?

You need ideas, concepts, and approaches to take the arrangement somewhere musically as oppose to just going through the motions.

Guitar chord fragments are one such approach.

Let me show you what guitar chord fragments can bring to the arrangements you play:

Danny Boy Guitar Chord Fragment Arrangement Breakdown

Danny Boy Chord Fragments

Below is one way you could outline the changes of Danny Boy using chord fragments:

Danny Boy Chord Fragments And Melody

Once you have the fragmented chords outlined, you can fill the gaps with the melody of the tune:

Danny Boy Chord Fragment Arrangement

Once you have the mechanics of the chord fragments and melody together, you can start arranging Danny Boy to sound more musical.

Here is one possibility:

Checkout this free ebook/audio where I show you 5 unique ways to use chord fragments in your acoustic guitar solos