Lady Brown - Solo Guitar

This is my solo guitar style arrangement of one of my absolute favorites from the works of Nujabes, Lady Brown.

This song has nostalgic and beautiful melodies and Latin-ish feel. That makes it so addictive to play it on the guitar, doesn't it?

Nujabes

He has a special place in my high school memories. As both a musician and a Japanese person, I truly have massive respect for him.

Today, he has so many fans all over the world partially thanks to the great anime series Samurai Champloo. Some people say his music is hip-hop, which is not wrong but I think he really established a highly distinguishable musical style and genre of his own - "Nujabes".

The relaxing vibe and feelings we get from listening to his music are quite difficult to put into words. Usually, it just makes me feel so happy. The lyrics are so beautiful and the singers he worked with are amazing. It all makes me feel that his music is so personal and relatable.

It is such a shame that he passed away so young from a traffic accident. However, we all have everlasting love for his music and will continue listening to it.

Lady Brown

This very popular song is from one of his masterpieces: Metaphorical Music (2003).

The album is so great that many of us listen to the whole album on repeat. But, especially the tasty lo-fi guitar sample from this song hits me hard. Also, I need to mention the impeccable performance by Cise Starr and the beautiful lyrics.

Anyway, you know I have enough reasons to make a fun solo guitar arrangement for this song.

Guitar Playing

The basic structure of this song is just 2 sections, hooks and verses.

It's pretty simple but the rhythm could be kind of tricky. So, I would recommend you to start with a slower tempo, and gradually speed up. Eventually, you would wanna play it in the infinite loop.

By the way, the key of this song is E minor, but the guitar tuning is drop D, just so you know.

Hooks

The hooks have melodies with 3rds harmony, and we can consider these as the "calls." Then followed by 2 different melodies that are the "responses." What a beautiful sonic world they create.

The response melodies are a little fast, so don't try too hard to pluck all the notes. You can always use some pulling-offs as long as the notes are relatively audible.

Verses

Although the hooks end on the high position of a fretboard, the verses start on the lowest position. This could be difficult, to be honest. So, I recommend practicing the transition part on a slower tempo.

This section is basically about playing chords and melodies at the same time. Maybe to practice playing the bass notes in the 2-feel would be a good start.

TL;DR

The original melodies are an octave higher, and the track has the accompaniment guitar, too. But for this time I arranged it like the chill solo-guitar style. Nothing too complex.

The rhythm might not be so easy to follow, but I'm sure you will be hooked once you get familiar with it.

Enjoy playing!