What's New?: Solo Guitar

These arrangements strike an uncommon balance between authenticity and playability. Rather than simplifying the melodic or harmonic content, Haggart voices each standard in a way that lets guitarists achieve genuine musicality at an intermediate level. You'll find yourself actually enjoying these pieces as solo guitar repertoire, not just practicing them.

These arrangements open a door into the golden age of American songwriting. Each tune carries the warmth and sophistication of the 1930s through 1950s while living comfortably on the fretboard. The result is music that feels both timeless and immediately rewarding to play.

Intermediate to early-advanced guitarists who want to expand beyond rock and pop into the jazz and popular music tradition. Solo performers preparing recital material, as well as guitarists looking for repertoire that reads naturally on the instrument while maintaining artistic depth.

• Pay attention to the chord voicings as written; they're carefully voiced to suggest the harmonic language of the original while remaining guitaristic. Resist the urge to substitute simpler shapes.
• Let the rubato in these standards breathe naturally. Many of these tunes rely on slight hesitations and tempo flexibility to convey the ballad tradition from which they come.
• Use dynamics across the full range of the guitar. The difference between a whispered melody on the higher frets and a full, resonant lower register will bring shape and storytelling to each arrangement.

These standards work beautifully as recital closers or as part of a mixed repertoire concert that pairs classical pieces with jazz-influenced material. Alternatively, draw from this collection to build a full evening around Great American Songbook standards, or select individual titles to complement other jazz-influenced guitar works.

• Jazz harmony interpretation and chord voicing understanding
• Melodic phrasing and lyrical expression on guitar
• Sight-reading fluency with common jazz chord symbols
• Tempo flexibility and rubato in ballad contexts
• Fingerstyle technique across multiple registers