Subject: Two guitars and a voice?
From: GUEST,Shalini - PM
Date: 28 Jan 09 - 11:59 AM

"Both guitarists are not very confident of their abilities to improvise and arrange a song."

Both of these things are difficult. I've been working on them for over 20 years and I still have a lot to learn.

You have a great advantage in that you have two guitarists, so one can play the chords while the other works on improvising (and then switching!). I wish I'd had another guitarist to play with. An "arrangement" doesn't have to be fancy to be good. In folk music (definition available upon request), simplicity is often better than complexity and _always_ better than slickness.

My advice, based on years of struggling, is, again, to not want to be too fancy. A simple solo, played well and with feeling, is better than 90% of the one-size-fits-all solos one often hears.

The basic building blocks of improvisation are scales and (especially) arpeggios and the most useful skill, in my opinion, is being able to play by ear. A solo built around scales and arpeggios will sound like, well, scales and arpeggios. However, practicing them will help a lot with playing by ear and gaining confidence.

I personally wouldn't bother trying to learn and copy arrangements by other groups. Listen yes, copy no. Just my opinion.