Nails: here I was just using my index finger nail as a pick for strumming.Fingers: for softer sounds (especially when doubling strings) and sections requiring finger-picking, I picked with my fingernails, which I coated in nail hardener ( Sally Hansen Hard As Nails) to add a little extra definition and clarity to the picked notes.I settled on the use of three different picking/strumming styles: With this variety in mind I wanted a range of tones, and experimented with several ways of achieving it (I describe the different approaches in my companion article, Playing The Last Five Years – Guitar). “A Summer In Ohio” – jazz, “The Next Ten Minutes” – finger-picked melody, “A Miracle Would Happen” – bluesy lead guitar). There are also several exposed solo sections, in different styles (e.g. “Still Hurting”), while in many places it doubles the Piano or acts as a sort of “Piano 2”. In other numbers, it fits in with the strings, often doubling Cello 2 (e.g. “Moving Too Fast” and “A Miracle Would Happen”). In the poppier up-tempo numbers it acts as a rhythm section (e.g. While the roles of the strings, piano and electric bass in the ensemble are obvious and more or less constant, that of the Guitar is much more fluid. Image courtesy of SecondStory Repertory / © 2016 Michael Brunk, Music directors preparing to rehearse a pit ensemble may also find it useful.
This article will be of most use to guitarists preparing to play the show, who have a copy of the book to refer to. The bulk of the article comprises a detailed song-by-song review of the book, offering tips on how I approached key areas, and describing any (minor) departures I made from the score.
I look at the book itself, discussing its level of detail, identifying bad page turns and the few errors I am aware of. I briefly reexamine the role of the Guitar in the orchestration, and the tones I used and how I obtained them. In this companion piece I take a deep dive into this epic book. I also described my approach to obtaining the variety of guitar tones I wanted from just one acoustic guitar. In an earlier article, Playing The Last Five Years – Guitar, I reflected on the show, its score and orchestration, looked at the available cast recordings, described my approach to preparing for and playing the show, and provided a detailed rundown of the equipment I used. Sophisticated, varied, complicated, challenging and rewarding in equal measures, physically and mentally demanding to play, it is something of a rite of passage in the sense that you feel like a better musician for having mastered and performed it. The Last Five Years is a book that any committed pit guitarist should play at some point.
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