FOR SOLO ELECTRIC STEEL GUITAR

Over the Rainbow is a ballad by Harold Arlen with lyrics by E.Y. Harburg was written for the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. It is a favorite solo piece for many musicians across genres and especially, for jazz guitarists. My chord melody arrangement in Jerry Byrd’s 6-string version of E13th tuning was inspired by about 40% by guitarist Ted Greene’s beautiful arrangement and 60% by my own explorations by ear. Arlen’s original version is in the key of Ab. Like Ted Greene, I chose the key of E to take advantage of open strings in the tuning. You can easily use the same gauges as C6th tuning and/or extended it to 8-strings if desired.

E13^th tuning (low to high) D, E, G#, B, C#, E