￥Gospel music is and always has been, one of the most popular styles of contemporary music. Countless vocalists and musicians performing gospel in the church go on to have mega careers in pop, blues, R&B, soul, country, and even jazz. Accompanying yourself or a vocalist on (solo) acoustic guitar requires special skills for arranging the parts to both support the melody and emphasize the rich sonic textures that gospel music is known for.

Master fingerstyle guitarist, Ton Van Bergeijk has studied gospel music for decades and has developed a unique, and very accessible approach for accompanying the beautiful spirituals, hymns and sacred songs that are synonymous with gospel music. Ton’s Gospel Guitar Guidebook reveals the concepts, techniques and creative approaches for this specialized guitar accompaniment.

 

”“When I accompany a singer or myself, my first approach is what the old gospel quartets used to do: there’s a lead vocal and a simple rhythmic line in three-part harmony. Gospel vocal quartets like the Fisk Jubilee Singers, The Soul Stirrers, The Swan Silvertones, and the Golden Gate Quartet are the source of inspiration for this course. We’ll be using their harmonies and transplant them to the guitar. 

First, we’ll look at the technical approach to playing this type of backup. The method that Ton uses to arrange these songs for guitar stems from Eddy Lang and George Van Eps. We’ll then put these concepts to work playing through seven Gospel standards, inspired by Sam Cook & the Soul Stirrers, the Swan Silvertones, Ray Charles and many others.

 

All these new chord shapes are pretty easy to finger, so you won’t have to concentrate on the guitar part too much when your singing yourself. We’re mainly using two-finger picking but everything can easily be applied to strumming with thumb & index or plectrum-style patterns.