Hymns for Fingerstyle Guitar contains twenty five well-known hymns arranged for fingerstyle guitar in standard tuning.The arrangements are designed for easy sight reading, with the potential to embellish them on the fly to create more complex arrangements in your own style. In addition to the hymn arrangements, the book includes tips and suggestions on adding your own introductions and endings as well as improvising variations. Recordings of all hymns are available as a free download.From the author's Introduction:
This book grew out of a need. Recently, I was asked to play during several funerals, with the request being to “just play some hymns.†When I began looking for material, I found a wealth of wonderful arrangements for fingerstyle guitar, but none of them were going to work for me in this situation. Naturally, I had only a few days’ notice, so I wasn’t going to learn and memorize complex arrangements, no matter how beautiful they were. Even the simplest arrangements I found were many pages long, and I didn’t want to be turning pages during a funeral service, the way I would if I tried to read the music rather than memorize it. I also realized that in this setting, the focus wasn’t on me, or how clever or complex the music was. I just needed to play appropriate music for the occasion that helped set the mood and that didn’t detract from the service. Uncomplicated, melodic arrangements would be a plus.
My solution forms the basis of this book – my own arrangements that are simple, almost “sketches†of an arrangement. What I decided I needed was a type of book known as a “fake book†in jazz circles – but for hymns – and designed for solo fingerstyle guitar. Jazz fake books are typically limited to just chord names and perhaps melody. I wanted a bit more than that – basically easily-playable arrangements with no complicated parts, and designed to be extended on the fly.
Hymns:
Abide With Me
Amazing Grace
A Mighty Fortress is Our God
Be Thou My Vision
Blessed Assurance
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Fairest Lord Jesus
Faith of Our Fathers
For the Beauty of the Earth
He Leadeth Me
Holy, Holy, Holy
I Have Decided to Follow Jesus
In the Garden
Jesus Loves Me
Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross
Just As I Am
Love Lifted Me
Praise Him, Praise Him
Sweet Hour of Prayer
The Old Rugged Cross
This is My Father’s World
Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
We Are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder
What a Friend We Have in Jesus
Whispering Hope
