![]() Once my friend left for the evening, instead of going to sleep, I found myself intrigued with the Sousa piece. Attempting to play it on the guitar was even more fun. Kids sing this melody as "Be Kind to Your Web-Footed Friends" with silly lyrics about ducks. Eventually we happened on the trio theme of John Philip Sousa's famous march "The Stars and Stripes Forever." This is the tuneful section that begins in bar 39 (see music on page 41). We both play finger-style, and were "ragging the classics." By that I mean we were attempting to finger-pick any tune or melody we could think of: fragments of Mozart and Bizet, cola commercials, old TV themes, anything we could remember enough to play by ear. Way back in the 1970s, around the time of the nation's bicentennial, a friend and I were playing guitars together at the kitchen table after dinner. Below, Van Duser shares the music as well as comments on the background of the arrangement and suggestions for learning it. YouTube videos of renditions by these and other performers abound. Among the many who have performed and/or recorded it are Chet Atkins, Rick Foster, and Doug Smith. It was an instant audience pleaser at Van Duser's live concerts, and loads of American guitarists took note of it. Phil FarnsworthEarly in his career, Guitar Professor Guy Van Duser created what has become an iconic arrangement of John Philip Sousa's march "The Stars and Stripes Forever." Initially, Van Duser's version of the piece gained attention because it seemed to be one of the least-likely candidates for a successful solo guitar arrangement. At Berklee, Van Duser teaches guitar arranging for songwriters and the Chet Atkins guitar lab. He has performed and recorded as a soloist and in a duo with clarinetist Billy Novick. Guy Van Duser is a finger-style guitar specialist known for adapting the “stride” piano style to the guitar.
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