As Time Goes By (From "Casablanca"): Solo Guitar

This collection pairs instantly recognizable standards with arrangements that feel natural on the guitar fingerboard, never fighting the instrument's voice or resorting to gimmickry. Whether a student is learning jazz voicings, developing interpretive maturity, or preparing repertoire for recitals and weddings, these 18 titles offer genuine musical substance without unnecessary technical barriers.

These arrangements capture the elegance and wistful beauty that made these standards timeless. Each piece breathes with the warmth of a summer evening and the sophistication of a piano bar, inviting the player into intimate storytelling through the guitar's own voice. The harmonic richness draws you into the emotional world Hupfeld created nearly a century ago.

Intermediate to advanced guitarists working toward a recital repertoire, students exploring jazz harmony and voicing through written arrangements, and performers seeking reliable, well-crafted standards for weddings, restaurants, or private events. This collection suits anyone who wants to deepen their understanding of American songwriting while playing music that rewards careful listening.

• Honor the song's lyrical content through phrasing and dynamics, even without words; allow rubato in the melody line to shape the emotional arc that these standards demand.
• Listen closely to how the written voicings move between chords; small shifts in voice leading often suggest natural crescendos and diminuendos that don't require notation.
• Break tempos into sections and identify the harmonic turning points; this approach helps you avoid rushing through changes and maintains the reflective quality these ballads require.
• Experiment with fingering choices that keep common tones under the same fingers across chord changes, reducing unnecessary position shifts and allowing the listener to hear continuity.

Use individual selections as opening or closing numbers for recitals, particularly when programming alongside 20th-century classical or contemporary works that benefit from the contrasting lyricism of jazz standards. These titles also serve as excellent supplementary repertoire for students studying jazz history, music theory through songbook analysis, or developing sight-reading fluency with extended harmonies.

• Reading and interpreting jazz voicings and extended chord symbols
• Navigating position shifts while maintaining legato phrasing
• Understanding harmonic function and voice leading in standard song forms
• Balancing melody projection with accompaniment texture on a single instrument
• Shaping phrasing and tempo flexibility to serve a song's emotional narrative
• Transcribing and adapting melodic lines across different fingerboard positions