Solo Guitar - Level 4 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.1444613

Composed by Traditional. Arranged by Richard Hirsch. Folk,Instructional,Multicultural,Ragtime,Spiritual,World. Individual part. 13 pages. Richard Hirsch #1024507. Published by Richard Hirsch (A0.1444613).

I offer an arrangement of the Spiritual “Rock My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham” for acoustic fingerstyle guitar. The arrangement is in the ragtime style of guitar playing reminiscent of Reverend Gary Davis. The melody is played with alternating middle, index, and ring fingers over alternating bases played by the thumb. The melody is repeated in different major keys starting in the key of D and moving through the keys of A , G, and C, returning at the end to D.

The arrangement is intended as a fun instructional introduction to the various keys that are good for fingerstyle guitar with alternating bases in normal tuning. There are lots of little ornamentations like pulls-offs, slurs, and trills that liven up the piece and are good practice for the intermediate to advanced student of fingerstyle guitar.

I have given Presto as the tempo as that is the tempo in which I first conceived of the arrangement, but the piece can also be played at a slower tempo, i.e. Allegro.

In a number of instances in the notation harmonics are marked as sounding one or two octaves higher than notated. These notes are notated and tabulated at the position they are to be found on the fretboard. When played as harmonics they will sound one or two octaves higher.

The piece would I think work well also in contexts where the guitarist might like to have some audience participation in the way of hand-clapping of the beat while moving through the various key changes. 

The piece also works well as a warm-up. I really enjoy playing the piece. It makes my day!