In this article I provide a detailed review of the Guitar 1 book for RENT. I discuss its level of detail and accuracy, identify any errors I noticed, and my approach to playing it. A similar review of the Guitar 2 book can be found here. For details of the equipment I used and my thoughts on playing the show, see my article Playing RENT – Guitar 1 and Guitar 2. The bulk of the article is a song-by-song review of the Guitar 1 book, which is easier to understand if you have the book to refer to. I hope my review will be useful for guitarists preparing to play the show.
I have played several productions of RENT, and used all three versions of the book. This review is based on the current Typeset version of the Guitar 1 book, although I do offer some comments on the School Edition, mainly to point out errors. I’ve also played a “combined” book, where I covered both Guitar 1 and Guitar 2 parts in the absence of a second guitarist. I provide details of how I combined the books here.
RENT has an enjoyable and interesting Guitar 1 book, without being overly complex or technically demanding to play. However, it is long (Act 1 is 90 minutes), and it’s sung through, so the music never stops; you are always busy and have to stay focused.
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The book can mostly be played as written, and where slash notation and chord symbols are used, you usually just reach for the most obvious chord voicings (often power chords). There are several numbers which lack adequate detail, most notably #14: “Out Tonight”, #18: “Santa Fe” and #38: “What You Own”. In the case of “What You Own” there is so much missing from the score that I prepared my own charts. I address these issues fully in the detailed song-by-song review below, but in general, where detail is missing, the best approach is to listen to the Original Broadway Cast Recording to get a better idea of what to play.
Having to fill in missing details means you have to put more effort into preparing for the show, but does allow some latitude to interpret the material. It’s worth spending time getting the parts right before going into rehearsals.
Another minor complaint is that the book doesn’t always indicate whether you should be playing electric or acoustic guitar. I provide full details below, and listening the cast recording helps as well (Note: the School Edition incorrectly calls for the electric guitar on most of the acoustic guitar numbers, which I put down to sloppy editing).
Bryan Adams:
Page turns are mostly OK throughout the book. There are a few quick ones, but none are impossible. There are also a few very quick guitar changes. In the detailed notes below I identify these, and make suggestions for changing effects pedals and setting capos in advance of when they are needed to allow these quick instrument changes to be made.
I describe my equipment setup for RENT in detail in the companion article, Playing RENT – Guitar 1 and Guitar 2. For the purposes of this review, it is sufficient to state that I used four basic guitar tones:
My intent in using three overdrive/distortion tones was to provide more sonic variety to the guitar parts and to best serve the mood and style of the material at various points in the show. I indicate where each tone is used in the detailed notes below.
Seasons Of Love (from Rent) Sheet Music
The following notes give specific details on how I approached playing each number in the Guitar 1 book (Typeset version). They are intended to be suggestions and practical insights, rather than an “instruction manual”. RENT is a pretty flexible score and I hope every player will find their own way to interpret the music. If there are no notes on a particular number, it is because Guitar 1 is Tacet throughout. The notes will be most meaningful when read in conjunction with the book itself.
Set the delay and tremolo pedals to the settings to be used for #07: “One Song Glory” and #12a: “Tango Maureen” respectively. Both of these pedals require changes to settings later in the show, so you should check/reset them before the downbeat.
This number is meant to be played on stage by the character Roger. Every production of RENT I have played has expressed an intention for the actor to play the on-stage guitar parts, but it’s only actually happened once! So, you should be ready to play the on-stage guitar parts throughout the show.
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Technique: this number involves repeatedly de-tuning and re-tuning the low E and A strings while picking 1/8 notes. To eliminate the risk of the guitar being out of tune at the start of #3: “Rent”, I avoided any actual re-tuning by using the tremolo arm instead (operate the tremolo with your fretboard hand). I played the number exactly as written.
Technique: I played this number as written. After m.37 I made a quick change to humbucker pickup (which is still fairly bright on my Anderson) and changed the amplifier channel to heavy overdrive. There’s a short solo, then a quick page turn and you’re straight into #03: “Rent”.
I think this is my favorite number in the show to play. After the low key opening of the Tune Ups, this is where the show really announces itself. It’s an explosive, fast and exciting number which is always a lot of fun for the band. Guitar 1 drops out for long sections during the verses where Guitar 2 picks up the rhythm. It’s more fun playing a combined book where you get to play the whole number.
Centimeter (mattyyym Tab)
Technique: on the whole note Gm chord at m.23 I used the tremolo arm for vibrato, as heard on the cast recording. I usually throw in a little widdly lead break over the D chord at the end (m.189). Otherwise I played the number as written.
Technique: I played the number as written. There’s a very quick page turn into #07: One Song Glory, combined with effects pedal changes (switch to clean channel and turn on delay pedal) which can be tricky. If using a capo in #07, the fermata at the end of m.12 is a good place to quickly put it on.
Technique: most of the song is played using a clean tone, palm-muted with delay. The score calls for a 210ms delay, but what you really need is a 1/8 note delay and that will depend on your tempo. I set the delay mix fairly high, and with a decay giving 4 to 5 repeats. For m.45-60 (the rhythmic section in the middle of the song), I used an old Ibanez TS-9 Turbo Tube Screamer overdrive.
Thinking Out Loud By Ed Sheeran
The whole song has to be played crisply, precisely and mostly exactly as written; the guitar is exposed throughout, and this song is in Gb major – 6 flats! I kept making mistakes in the melody section, so I transposed the whole number into F major and played it with a capo at the first fret. The best time to fit the capo is at m.12 in the previous number.
Using a capo also gives you a better voicing for the Ebm chord at m.59-60 (you can play it like a first fret Dm voicing). For the chords in m.45-60 (overdrive section) I used full, low voicings. For the final Ab chord I played harmonics at the 13
Tone: clean with chorus throughout. Using the bridge pickup on humbucker setting gave a bright tone with a bit more warmth than the single coil sound. The chorus effect is fairly subtle, just a gentle warble.
The Dave Pike Set
Technique: I played the number as written. The part alternates between sections of ringing arpeggios and palm-muted melody. For the final Eb chord at m.134, I used a low Eb5 voicing (Eb, Bb, Eb) at the first fret.
Guitar 1 plays G7#9 chords in measures a and b, and is tact for the rest of the number. Oddly, the part in the School Edition book is different. There, Guitar 1 is tacet for measures a, b, 1 and 2, then plays a rhythm part for m.3-10.
Tone: the score calls for “Chorus throughout”. I always end up not using the chorus pedal – I find the clean tone of the acoustic sounds better.
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Technique: this number involves a lot of fairly fast and repetitive picking. I used a pick rather than fingers to get a clean, sharp attack. The part is very exposed, especially in the first verse (m.9-26), so you have to play crisply and accurately. The Guitar 1 and 2 parts are also closely intertwined, so it’s important to keep a steady time – this is an easy number to rush.
The part on the Broadway recording is actually more complex than the score in places. For example, after the first verse Guitar 1 has a series of whole notes, whereas the recording continues a fast picking pattern. One of these days I might transcribe it. In the meantime, I played this number as written.
The score is a
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