For most guitar students the early stages of their studies focus on learning the foundations of playing the instrument. These things include  the mechanics of playing single notes, strumming patterns, and basic chord vocabulary. Sometimes teachers are so consumed with these building blocks of playing that students aren’t taught how to combine chords & melody into a musical performance piece. Just think of how many  students you know who can’t play a complete song on the instrument, other than strumming  an accompaniment to a vocal song.

Creating a simple arrangement of melody and chords for solo performance can be achieved with a basic level of knowledge. The key is picking a song with the right characteristics including a melody and chords that can be played in the open position, and pauses in the melody to insert chordal accompaniment.  In this expert tips video blog Mike Christiansen lays out a system that can be easily mastered  and built upon to create sophisticated solo guitar arrangements that are fun to play.