This is the final installment in my three-part series on playing in church. In the first installment, I shared some thoughts, encouragement and advice on performing in church. In the second installment, I discussed the tune "Hyfrydol", provided my arrangement and listed the many hymns that employ that tune.

In this installment, I'd like to share a few thoughts about rendering hymns on guitar, and provide music for another one of my favorite tunes, "Be Thou My Vision," based on an ancient Irish folk song.

The topic of arranging tunes for guitar is beyond the scope of this piece or series. Nevertheless, it is important for guitarists to be aware of three key elements or problem areas in rendering hymns as guitar instrumentals; these are familiarity, repetition and sustained notes.

Before I identified these problem areas in songs, I would routinely "hit the wall" during the arrangement process. In my experience, guitarists hit the wall in arrangements somewhere between 40 seconds and 1:30 into the tune. This is often the time when good intentions and ideas go astray, interest is lost and emotion wanes. The culprit can often be found lurking in one or more of these three problem areas.

Familiarity
Familiarity is both a blessing and a curse. It's a good thing, because a familiar melody can immediately draw a listener into the music. It can lead to problems, however, in that there is a fine line between enhancing the music and veering off into meaningless variations, chord shadings and musical peccadilloes.

Adherence to the melody, and what I would call the "chordal environment" of the tune, are essential to maintain interest. At this point in my career, frankly, I want to arrange or render a tune only if it will end up reflecting my own voice and sensibilities.

I like to think that I have developed a sixth sense in choosing tunes that have the potential to be powerful and affecting guitar arrangements, despite (!) the way they were ordinarily sung. Good examples are my arrangements of "Onward, Christian Soldiers" and "Good King Wenceslas" which can be heard on my Amazing Grace and Soul of Christmas Guitar CD's, respectively.

On the subject of familiarity, it is rare that I will render a vocal piece at the same speed it is usually sung. It's hard to generalize, but more often than not I will push the tempo somewhat, to create urgency and pulse that invigorate an instrumental that must sally forth without vocal involvement. This is not always true, however, as in "Good King Wenceslas".

Repetition is a great thing in communal singing. It brings out the power of the voices and serves as a landmark for the congregation's musical navigation. It can be a problem for an instrumentalist, in that yet another thin line must be traversed between powerful recapitulation of a theme, on the one hand- and monotony on the other. As in the case of treating short hymns, creating a medley can be a good solution to this problem.

Finally, it is hard for acoustic guitarists to get a lot of sustain from the instrument. We guitarists can only fantasize about that soul-wrenching 10-second, vibrating note played beautifully by Mark O'Connor or another talented fiddle player. For us humble guitar types, sustain requires focused left-hand commitment (often, the slow-hand vibrato on steel-string) and determined right-hand attack. The ability to sustain and color the notes is essential for spare and effective renditions of songs that emulate the quality of the human voice. Failure to acknowledge the importance of tone and color, or insufficient attention to these elements can lead to self-absorbed, busy repetitions of the tune that cause dissipation of the emotion and depth inherent to the piece.

I'd like to share with you my arrangement of "Be Thou My Vision." It may or may not illustrate points in the article, but I really like it so want to bring it to your attention. This arrangement is in my preferred alternate tuning: CGDGAD, capoed at either II or IV.

Even if you don't know the tuning or chords, I think you will be able to find your way in the tablature, and even a little involvement will expose you to the sonority and lush quality of this amazing tuning. The hymn is based on the Irish folk tune "Slane," and my arrangement has both hymn-like elements (as in the stateliness of the opening verse) and folk elements (the looser feel of the second treatment of the melody in the bass register). I hope you like it.

By the way, there is a CGDGAD chord chart on my Web page at: http://www.elmcmeen.com/Chords2.html

I have provided an mp3 of my performance of this tune from my new CD called Amazing Grace.

Happy picking!

El McMeen