fingerstyle-guitarist

Beautiful & Flexible Live Music

Being a guitarist, I’m inherently biased towards Solo guitar as a wedding ceremony music option. The guitar draws on the classical elegance of Harp or a String Quartet while also being able to dip into contemporary pop styles. When I’m consulting with couples about their wedding music I often suggest a progression of gently contrasting styles to highlight the ceremony. For example, the prelude could be entirely classical music but then the bridal party processional is a Stevie Wonder song! Or perhaps the stylistic shift is saved for the Bridal processional to give an added emphasis.

Music Theory Proves Guitar is the Wedding Music MVP

Here’s a quick Music Theory 101. Music is made up of organized pitches and rhythms. Pitches(or notes) can either be played one at a time or in groups-which are called chords. If you have a string quartet than each player can play one(or sometimes two notes at a time.) Therefore, the strings combine to form chords while one instrument(usually the first violin) plays the melody. 

There are a handful of instruments that can play both melody and chords at the same time. These are the Guitar, Piano/Keyboard, Harp, and Accordion. Of these the Guitar and Accordion are the most portable, so great for all sorts of Wedding Ceremony locations. While I love the accordion! Guitar is definitely the more stylistically versatile and popular! So, Guitar wins :) 

Styles of Music for Solo Guitar Wedding Ceremony

Classical

The most traditional choice is classical guitar. This is a Nylon-String(aka Spanish Guitar) with a soft and beautiful tone. Classical guitar can play music from Bach, Mozart, Haydn, and Pachelbel – essentially all of the classical repertoire that a String Quartet might play for Wedding Ceremony. There is also a wide-variety of Guitar specific classical music from composers like Heitor Villa-Lobos, Agustin Barrios, Francisco Tarrega, and many others.

Contemporary

Another great thing about the guitar is that you can play any type of song on any version of the guitar! So, while the nylon string is ideal for the classical repertoire above it can also be used for Pop, Folk, Jazz, or Classic Rock Covers. Solo Instrumental guitar can play almost any genre. Virtuoso players like Tommy Emanuel or Sungha Jun have made this instrumental guitar style extremely popular both on YouTube and in Live-Venues! 5 of Today’s Best Fingerstyle Guitarists Beatles, Beach Boys, Journey, Rolling Stones, Allman Brothers, Folk Songs, Alternative Rock, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, the list of songs and artists is almost endless. 

Types of Guitars for Wedding Ceremony Music

• Nylon String Guitar
• Steel String Acoustic
• Electric Guitar
• Ukulele -OK this isn’t a guitar, but all our guitarists also play Uke and it so much fun for a wedding ceremony
• Mandolin -This is another really fun instrument to mix-in. It works great for Italian Music or Country/Folk Styles.

Building on Solo-Guitar

While guitar can play Chords and Melody at the same time, it is also a wonderful team player. For a wedding ceremony it works beautifully to add an instrument which can focus on the melody only while the guitar flips back and forth between sharing the melody and playing a chord accompaniment. Here are a few ideas:

• Guitar and Cello *Check out our group Clerida & Adam
• Guitar and Violin
• Guitar and Voice
• Guitar and Acoustic Bass
• Guitar and Flute
• Guitar and Sax
• Guitar and Trumpet

Another fun idea is to combine several guitars together! After a few such requests, Music Dept developed its Guitar Trio, STRING 18.

One of our most popular live music plans begins with Solo Guitar for Wedding Ceremony followed by live music for Cocktail Hour. The Cocktail Hour music could be more solo guitar, perhaps changing into a different style or guitar sound, or the guitarist could be joined by other players. One great option is to be joined by a Bassist and Horn player to form a Jazz Trio.

The portability and flexibility of the guitar is another advantage. A guitarist with a small amp can move between the Ceremony and Cocktail Hour area quicker than your guests can line up at the bar. 

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FAQ: Hire Guitar for Wedding Ceremony