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From the July/Baronial 2019 result ofAcoustic Guitar | By MIMI Trick

T he uncomplicated yet evocative melody of "America the Beautiful" has ever moved me. When I was preparing to tape my most recent anthology, This Bird Nevertheless Flies (Origin Records), I wanted to come with an arrangement of "America" that would be fresh and personal while retaining the original song's beauty and simplicity. As an arranger and improviser, there were many routes I could take taken, but I chose to keep the tempo relatively slow and stately, so that the melody would actually stand out. And while there are a few tricky passages, I stayed pretty close to the fundamental harmony, and so it shouldn't be likewise hard to play. I hope yous volition savour learning my interpretation of "America" as much as I enjoyed arranging it.

The Harmonic Linguistic communication

When I interpret a melody, I always try to honor the composer's intent commencement and foremost. In order to practice this finer, I must accept a strong connection to the music and then apply my knowledge to the piece. In other words, I permit the emotions I feel serve as my inspiration and then approach information technology with whatever ideas seem most appropriate.

For "America," I decided non to superimpose likewise much complex harmony on a relatively elementary melody. Just I did adapt the original chords slightly, as shown in this transcription, which is based on my original studio recording. For instance, in the intro (confined ane–4) and throughout, in place of a plain D triad I play a Dadd9 chord. It's a bit of a stretchy voicing—I play it with my first, second, and fourth fingers on strings 1, ii, and iii, respectively, atop the open D string—but it's worth it for the hint of color it adds.

That Dadd9, by the style, is a very useful voicing in that information technology's moveable. Be certain to play around with the shape. You can shift it up to the seventh fret for Eadd9/D (or an E9 chord with the seventh, D, in the bass), to the 8th fret for Fadd9/D, to the tenth for Gadd9/D, and then on. Also, if y'all accept the Dadd9 shape and lower your second finger by one fret (half step), you transform the grip into a one thousand(add9) chord—the type of voicing the cracking jazz pianist Bill Evans made frequent use of.

Some other key part of this arrangement is the frequent utilize of pedal tones. (Briefly, a pedal tone is a annotation, commonly in the bass, that remains constant while the chords higher up it change.) I utilize pedal tones a lot when playing solo guitar, similar on versions of the jazz standards "Caravan" and "On Green Dolphin Street" from my 2006 album, Perpetually Hip (Favored Nations). Pedal tones are as well commonplace in classical guitar literature—like what I recollect of as an inverted pedal, in the Heitor Villa-Lobos slice "Prelude No. i," where an Eastward minor chord stays constant while the bass notes shift below it. In any example, y'all can find lots of open D and A pedal tones in my arrangement of "America." As you lot can hear, these tones create harmonic fullness and greatly enrich the sonic experience.

Measures xviii and 19 feature parallel harmony—which is when a single chord type is moved in different intervals. In this case I take taken a basic major triad and moved information technology from B to C to D with a B pedal. This is a haunting effect that creates a bit of tension in an otherwise adequately consonant passage. You'll observe that I play the D/B (which can also exist seen as Bm7) with natural harmonics, which strengthens and reinforces the haunting effect while providing textural variety.

In measure out 25–27, I utilize ii different harmonic devices to render the melody. Starting time, I play an A7 b nine chord voicing at the fifth fret and then move the same shape down to the second fret (the 2nd one-half of bar 26). This tin can also be seen as a series of diminished seventh shapes moved in small-scale thirds—a common jazz motility for negotiating an altered dominant chord like A7.

In measure 27, in order to conform the melody of the song—and for a modern flourish—I harmonize using major seconds. An open-A string pedal throughout makes for a seamless transition betwixt the A7 b ix voicings and the seconds.

Finally, in measures 37 and 40, note that, for extra melodic color, I use the D Lydian mode (D E F # G # A B C # ), rather than the D major calibration (D Due east F # G A B C # ). D Lydian is identical to D major, except that D Lydian has a raised fourth (Yard # ). That one note makes a big difference in mood!

Technical and Improvisational Aspects

As with learning anything new, when tackling this organization, accept it slowly and work on getting a beautiful tone in both hands. Some of the chord voicings may be new to y'all, so you'll need time to go your ears—and fingers!—accustomed. When I am learning a new slice, I like to play only a few measures at a time to really piece of work on playing a passage cleanly and with stiff emotion.

Many students ask me about my picking-paw technique. I prefer a hybrid approach, using a pick and my centre and ring fingers for additional notes. Even so, this arrangement too lends itself to fingerstyle play. It'southward a good idea to experiment with picking approaches because they will reveal unlike qualities of both the guitar and your musicality. Switching up techniques is too a good way to avoid repetitive-stress injury.

Some other thing that students often ask is if there'due south a trick to go a slice to really come alive. The truth is that there is no fox at all. Just allow your life experience and your humanity guide you. And, though this is an instrumental organisation, keep in mind the song'southward beautiful lyrics as y'all play it. (Google the lyrics if you don't know them.) For example, "amber waves of grain" is brilliant imagery. I might choose to play the music that corresponds with that particular phrase (measures 10–11) with vibrato to really bring it to the forefront.

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When I arranged "America," I chose some pretty fixed harmonies just naturally left plenty of room for improvisation. You tin hear this past comparing the starting time and second passes through the form on my studio recording, or by comparing that album version with the video I filmed for this lesson. If y'all're new to improv, y'all might observe it likewise intimidating, and then you take my blessings to play my arrangement exactly as written. However, I want to encourage you to try playing a few things off the cuff, even if minimally. In measures 36, 37, and 40, utilize your own D major or D Lydian lines instead of mine, and practise the same wherever else you experience inspired to exercise so.

Mimi Trick is a guitarist, composer, and educator/clinician based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has performed with Branford Marsalis, Abbey Lincoln, and Joey DeFrancesco, among other prominent jazz musicians. mimifoxguitar.com​


This article originally appeared in the July/August 2019 issue ofAcoustic Guitar magazine.