Solo Guitar (Melody in F)

Hi everyone,

This is a solo guitar piece I wrote yesterday. It has been a while since I've written music (and even longer still that I finished a song!). It is for solo guitar in F major and relatively simple. I don't have any formal backing in music theory, and have only picked up a little out of experience and experimentation.

It doesn't compare to some of the songs I've heard here, but I'm excited to have such a wide range of original compositions to listen to. It's very inspirational and hopefully I will be able to get to know some of you.

Hopefully you all will have some critique for me!

(edit: updated files attached in post 5)

This is a charming piece. It had a nice melody and chord progressions.

However, I do feel it drags a bit for the first page as there is not enough rhythmic variety - you've used mainly crotchets (quarter notes) and quavers (eighth notes). It picks up nicely in the second page though.

Maybe you could also experiment with using some dotted rhythms too - these often give a piece a lift.

I liked it allot, I don't feel the rhythm was a problem it moved along nicely. I would have like some more complex harmony and counterpoint maybe. For instance in bar 33 maybe some complex harmony rather than just octaves. Bar 43-45 had a really nice varied rhythm that didn't feel out of place.

Thanks for the comments guys.

I do feel it drags a little for the first page, but after some contemplation I think the style of this piece was meant to be more or less rhythmically simple. The piece was a study in modulation, something I haven't been very good at because I tend to over-modulate and make it unplayable.

I will try to build/add harmonies to the fill parts, however, in between the modulation. Thanks for the suggestions.

Hello again,

This time I added a little more harmony to the "fill" parts in between the theme. I feel now that the last repeat of the theme is not as strong as it used to be, but I would like your opinions!

I also included the tabulature this time, since it can be a little undaunting to sight read. It is certainly playable, I can attest to that, but I can't say I do it very fluidly. I'm sure plenty of guitar students could attempt this piece, though.

Once again, comments and critiques are very much appreciated!

melody (f).mid

melody (f).pdf

This is coming along really nicely, I think you just need some more dynamic markings and maybe some variation on the sound, like some rubato in areas.

One question though, if there's a capo on the 2nd fret, then should it not be in the key of G rather than F?

I forgot to remove the capo from the MIDI. I sometimes change the key around for fun, to hear it a little differently. I noticed it after I put it up, but nice observation. :)

The program I use right now isn't very good at transcribing dynamic markings, but I already have some idea.

Hi. I thought your previous version was better. Now there is more stuff between which is distracting.

Some notational issue in ms 31/32: f,g,a,bes; the way it's now notated you want each note on two strings simultaneously. I don't think you want that. Assuming you use finale with layers (this is a guess, am I right?) you should remove the notes in layer2, and replace them with rest, invisible rests if you like...

I see. No I don't use finale (I actually use guitar pro, since I am so used to it). I never thought it made a difference, thanks for the heads up. I usually double-up notes because it is easier on my side, but I will remove them and replace them with rests. I realize that this would probably be read as playing the note twice. Apologies. :)

Welcome to YC

When I saw Guitar solo I was hoping for a live version. Oh well.

Can you post a link to a mp3 with better samples than general midi. Midi files often times do not show everything you want them to.

Based just on the midi, it seems like a decent little piece that would be fairly easy to play and would impress the ladies if played in front of them.

Ron

Haha, sorry to disappoint. I am still practicing myself, because as easy as it sounds it is still kind of hard for me to play, personally. Hopefully I will be able to do a recording.

As for better sound samples, I might be able to use Guitar Pro's samples but I had never liked it all that much, which is why I opted for MIDI. If there was some freeware with better samples, I would definitely upload one.