Brian Streckfus

Hello, my name is Brian Streckfus and I am a musician and especially a guitarist. I have a bachelors degree in classical guitar performance from Peabody Conservatory. I also have a Masters degree in classical guitar performance from Towson University. 

I take a lot of pride in my arrangements. They're often complex and simple at the same time. This allows someone to do a deep dive analysis, and it also allows a beginner hobbyist to play the piece quickly without feeling like that have to have a PhD and memorizing thousands of symbols first. Some features that I often include that I don't see that often from other publishers:

1. I add chord names and diagrams that also take the melody, part writing, and difficult into consideration. Helpful for a guitarist since we only have so many fingers and strings. I don't like it when the sheet music tells you to do an impossible chord and melody combination, something like that could cause a lot of hesitation in sight-reading it. I don't like how some publishers lean on stereotypical guitar chords to heavily; there's better chords out there and they are often easier to play. 
2. Sometimes I will add letter names to the noteheads to super-charge learning sheet music.
3. Putting fingerings only if they are obvious choices.
4. Bold fonts that will stick out easier when reading in challenging situations. I don't like how publishers will often put the chord names in times new roman 12 point font, this seems to undermine their importance and readability. This change often gives my arrangements more of a jazz leadsheet style.
5. I try to understand the etiquette of arranging and engraving as much as possible. That being said, guitar is a unique instrument with busy looking scores. I'm not going to force 18th century violin sheet music etiquette onto guitar sheet music. I'm going to do what makes my scores look the cleanest, the most logic, and the easiest to read.
6. I often do solo versions of songs that originally required a band (I sometimes refer to them as "Coffee House" versions). This means I'm often notating the vocal melody to be played on guitar while also showing the harmony. This is a huge aid in singing the song correctly. I also do this because I have guitar students that perform solo recitals. It makes little sense for my student to go up on stage and just play the chords of a pop song (no one will know what song it is and there would be no melody), it really leaves something to be desired. There's also opportunities where a solo guitarist is what is needed.
7. Some publications can be rather dry, boring, and abstract with their approach to music theory. I try to make every music theory paper I publish playable, that way it doesn't feel like you have to be a mathematician to gain value from them. There's also bias that most music theory is aimed at piano and large ensemble works, so I try to bridge that gap by explaining music theory directly targeted to guitarists, but also giving reminders that ultra correct music theory isn't always practical.

Guitarists have struggled with sheet music for centuries, and I’m passionate about fixing that problem. Any kind of notation can be a helpful tool, and I truly believe embracing it can make life easier for everyone. I also understand the flip-side, where we can be so zoomed in on sheet music details that it negatively impacts the story telling which is why I purposely notate vague chord names. Let’s move past the “anti-paper” mindset in pop music and guitar and start making things more efficient and fun for all musicians! This is why my arrangements often show multiple versions. That way someone can muscle memorize the "training wheels" version with 0 training, then someone can look at the sophisticated sheet music version like a pro!