Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
Welcome to my 690th solo guitar arrangement video on YouTube, “Goodbye” by Pat Metheny from the album "Travels".
This one is very personal for me, even for Pat Metheny fans, this one is quite a deep cut and obscure. To the best of my knowledge, it appears only on the album Travels and a studio version does not exist. And even on the album it’s probably not the biggest “hit“ but for me, it held a mystery for years and years before I decided to sit down and analyze, let alone to try to play it. The dynamics, the instrumentation, the sheer beauty, when you immerse yourself in it as I have done 1000 times, the entire sense of form completely gets lost.
Ultimately, there is obviously a form, there’s an introduction, a “head/melody”, there are two guitar solos over this head, then another head, a unique ending and out. But when you listen to them play, the form gets completely lost, measure lines don’t matter. It feels like a continuous flow, and it really stretches the boundaries of dynamics from absolutely whisper quiet to as loud and exciting as it gets.
I’m actually not really happy with my performance here, it’s a tribute but maybe a little bit of a weak one. My Biggest obstacle was keeping a steady tempo. I tried to record it three times and despite all my efforts, I accelerate a little bit as the (long) tune moves on. If I focus too hard on trying to keep the tempo, I lose track of the other elements, harmony, and melody, so that in the end, it’s a little bit of a compromise, I didn’t rush too much but also I’m not sure how interesting this performance is. Maybe I'll revisit one day.
At the same time, for the first time today, after having listened to this track for more than 40 years, I decided to check, and lo and behold, the original performance also accelerates, like by a lot! I could not believe it! But if it’s good for them, it’s good enough for me… All right, enough about that, enjoy.
#patmetheny #PatMethenyGroup, #PMG #AreYouGoingWithMe #James #LastTrainHome#ThisIsNotAmerica #HaveYouHeard #Minuano #BetterDaysAhead #SongForBill #DreamOfTheReturn #LetterFromHome #FaceDance #BrightSizeLife #phasedance @JakeReichbart
Also, want to hear/see this and any of my thousands other arrangements live? Join me for one of my regular live-streams which I do on this channel almost every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7PM EST from my gig at The Earle restaurant, where I have been performing continuously for the past 33 years... Got a request? Let me know in the comments!
Check out my video lesson "An Introduction to Fingerstyle Guitar and Solo Guitar Arranging", here is a free and lengthy excerpt/sample: youtu.be/Yug7Qe-xNXs A complete list of all my 250+ guitar lessons, and much more, is available at jakereichbart.com please email me at jake.reichbart@gmail.com for more info. Kindly subscribe, like, comment, share and if you enjoyed this, or any of my other 650 videos I have put together for you over the past 16 years, and which I continue to post weekly, please consider becoming a patron for as little as $3 at patreon.com/JakeReichbart Monthly lessons, on air requests, custom arrangements made just for you are among the perks offered. You can also help a lot by just playing a few of my other videos, perhaps pull up one of my playlists while you do laundry, in order to let the YouTube algorithm know that the channel is active, this way my videos may show up as "suggested videos" to others...
Big news! I am now on TrueFire #truefire with great solo #fingerstyleguitar song arrangement lessons, check out my profile and lessons at truefire.com/educators/jake-reichbart/e4669 I still offer my own lessons as always and as described below! But wait, there's more - I now also have a channel at TrueFire where you can subscribe for only $10 a month and learn everything I do through countless instructional videos, check it out here truefire.com/h3092 #jakereichbart
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Welcome to my 690th solo guitar arrangement video on YouTube, “Goodbye” by Pat Metheny from the album "Travels".
This one is very personal for me, even for Pat Metheny fans, this one is quite a deep cut and obscure. To the best of my knowledge, it appears only on the album Travels and a studio version does not exist. And even on the album it’s probably not the biggest “hit“ but for me, it held a mystery for years and years before I decided to sit down and analyze, let alone to try to play it. The dynamics, the instrumentation, the sheer beauty, when you immerse yourself in it as I have done 1000 times, the entire sense of form completely gets lost.
Ultimately, there is obviously a form, there’s an introduction, a “head/melody”, there are two guitar solos over this head, then another head, a unique ending and out. But when you listen to them play, the form gets completely lost, measure lines don’t matter. It feels like a continuous flow, and it really stretches the boundaries of dynamics from absolutely whisper quiet to as loud and exciting as it gets.
I’m actually not really happy with my performance here, it’s a tribute but maybe a little bit of a weak one. My Biggest obstacle was keeping a steady tempo. I tried to record it three times and despite all my efforts, I accelerate a little bit as the (long) tune moves on. If I focus too hard on trying to keep the tempo, I lose track of the other elements, harmony, and melody, so that in the end, it’s a little bit of a compromise, I didn’t rush too much but also I’m not sure how interesting this performance is. Maybe I'll revisit one day.
At the same time, for the first time today, after having listened to this track for more than 40 years, I decided to check, and lo and behold, the original performance also accelerates, like by a lot! I could not believe it! But if it’s good for them, it’s good enough for me… All right, enough about that, enjoy.
#patmetheny #PatMethenyGroup, #PMG #AreYouGoingWithMe #James #LastTrainHome#ThisIsNotAmerica #HaveYouHeard #Minuano #BetterDaysAhead #SongForBill #DreamOfTheReturn #LetterFromHome #FaceDance #BrightSizeLife #phasedance @JakeReichbart
Also, want to hear/see this and any of my thousands other arrangements live? Join me for one of my regular live-streams which I do on this channel almost every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7PM EST from my gig at The Earle restaurant, where I have been performing continuously for the past 33 years... Got a request? Let me know in the comments!
Check out my video lesson "An Introduction to Fingerstyle Guitar and Solo Guitar Arranging", here is a free and lengthy excerpt/sample: youtu.be/Yug7Qe-xNXs A complete list of all my 250+ guitar lessons, and much more, is available at jakereichbart.com please email me at jake.reichbart@gmail.com for more info. Kindly subscribe, like, comment, share and if you enjoyed this, or any of my other 650 videos I have put together for you over the past 16 years, and which I continue to post weekly, please consider becoming a patron for as little as $3 at patreon.com/JakeReichbart Monthly lessons, on air requests, custom arrangements made just for you are among the perks offered. You can also help a lot by just playing a few of my other videos, perhaps pull up one of my playlists while you do laundry, in order to let the YouTube algorithm know that the channel is active, this way my videos may show up as "suggested videos" to others...
Big news! I am now on TrueFire #truefire with great solo #fingerstyleguitar song arrangement lessons, check out my profile and lessons at truefire.com/educators/jake-reichbart/e4669 I still offer my own lessons as always and as described below! But wait, there's more - I now also have a channel at TrueFire where you can subscribe for only $10 a month and learn everything I do through countless instructional videos, check it out here truefire.com/h3092 #jakereichbart
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