This Is It: Lead Sheet

This collection captures the essential Loggins catalog in an arrangement that honors the original recordings while remaining genuinely playable for developing guitarists. The mix of ballads, rockers, and folk-inflected songs gives students real variety in tone and technique without oversimplifying the harmonic or melodic character that made these songs endure.

Playing these arrangements feels like stepping into the world of FM radio at its best: accessible, warm, and designed for listening enjoyment rather than technical showmanship. The combination of melody, harmony, and rhythm creates songs that feel satisfying to play even at a modest technical level.

Guitar students in the easy-to-intermediate range who want to learn songs they recognize and that sound complete when played well. Teachers working with students interested in contemporary songwriting, rock history, and radio hits from the 1970s and 1980s will find immediate motivation here.

• Pay attention to the chord frames provided; they're designed to sit well under the melody and reflect the original voicings without requiring advanced technique
• Use dynamics to shape the longer phrases, especially in ballads like 'Danny's Song' and 'Heart to Heart,' where subtlety matters as much as accuracy
• Reference the original recordings to internalize the rhythmic feel and phrasing; the tab shows you what to play, but the recordings teach you how
• Practice the tempo changes between verse and chorus smoothly; many of these songs shift energy, and transition control separates confident playing from tentative playing

These twenty songs work beautifully as a semester-long repertoire resource, with enough variety to cover multiple genres and moods. Feature individual arrangements in studio recitals, use them as supplementary material alongside a guitar method, or build a full concert around the Loggins catalog for students who love this era of rock music.

• Reading and applying chord frames and tablature simultaneously
• Interpreting melody and harmony from lead sheet notation
• Developing rhythmic accuracy in both strummed and fingerstyle contexts
• Building stamina for longer song forms with verse, chorus, and bridge sections
• Recognizing common chord progressions across multiple songs in the same style