Pit Notes: DEAR EVAN HANSEN

Recently I had the immense privilege of playing Guitar 1 for Chattanooga State's production of Dear Evan Hansen. Bucket list show, check!

About the Music

Let's go back a few years to when I took an online musical theatre-writing course taught by Pasek and Paul. They did a great job of unpacking how a musical is put together, the way the music serves its purpose, and how intentional so many tiny things we take for granted truly are.

They also revealed some things about their approach to composition, including how Justin Paul approaches the guitar as an instrument for writing. This is relevant when we get into the tunings later.

I think they broke one of my number one rules, namely, Every Musical Has A(t least one) Waltz. I don't know. "Requiem" has plenty of bars in three, but they are decidedly un-waltzlike, and then it goes into 4/4. "Only Us" is in six-eight, and though that is tempting, it is duple time. Period. End of argument. Not a waltz.

I have read online comparisons people draw between this show and Next to Normal. Usually the analysis appropriately centers the subject of mental health. One poster found the opening numbers share a theme of a household containing high school students and everyone's crazy daily life. I find more than a few musical inspirations as well. The amount of nerding out about those would exceed even this page's liberal bounds, so I won't detail them. But they exist.

As a listener, my favorite numbers are "Requiem" and "Only Us." I like "You Will Be Found" too, because it's hard not to, even though it carries the unmistakable odor of CCM.

About the Orchestration

In summary, this show is pretty great chamber pop. Piano/keyboard, string trio (plus the upright bass double), two guitars with lots of sparkly acoustic, bass, and drums. The guitar parts are often written to fit together like an intricate puzzle. (Other times, as in "Good For You" and "Sincerely, Me," they just rock together.) Alex Lacamoire elevated this score with his brilliant touch.

The Guitar 1 book is worth its own paragraph or three. Some of the chord changes taught my fingers new fretboard moves, which is a good thing. This part is very exposed at times, either carrying the song's pulse ("If I Could Tell Her," "Requiem") or as a solo accompaniment in one of the most intimate, vulnerable moments of the show ("So Big / So Small"). Total "walking the tightrope" moment—and yeah, I slipped a couple of times.

Preparing to play Guitar 1 for Dear Evan Hansen

Oh, and you have to have two acoustic guitars (plus the electric). Trust that I tried at first by "cheating" with a synth-enabled guitar running into a Boss SY-1000 that could handle every guitar type, alt tuning, partial capo, and regular capo in the book. In a less prominent part, that would have worked, and it helped in rehearsal. (I used the SY-1000 for Mean Girls and it was good enough for that production.) But the deviation in tone from real acoustic guitars (or even IRs) to the pitch-shifted Boss model was a dealbreaker. As a result, I now have a new acoustic-electric guitar, to go with the one I bought when I got the first Next to Normal gig. (Hmm. N2N again.)

I practiced for this show more than usual. I always aim to do my best, but some scores take less repetitive input and rely more on experience. However, nearly every note of this piece is written out, and care must be taken with fingerings to make some of the chord changes even possible. I don't recommend walking into the first orchestra rehearsal or Sitzprobe without this largely under your fingers.

Resources: there are guitar cam videos by Matt SanGiovanni and some tutorials by the OG G1 himself, "Funky Butter."

Tip: The song "You Will Be Found (Reprise)" calls for you to tune the electric's high E string up to F#. Um, I politely decline, à la Bartleby the Scrivener. I did it a few times (after the SY-1000 was no longer doing it for me), then in final dress rehearsal the string broke, sending the entire guitar's tuning into chaos (and missing the point of the up-tuned string). You can figure out alternate fingerings for practically all of it. Not worth it.

Tip: Make sure you have a capo that doesn't cover all the strings by default. For "Requiem," you will need to capo the four lowest strings only. Your basic Kyser capo will work, but I was worried about intonation and also the quick changes, so I got a G7th model.

Note: The alt-tuned guitar starts out tuned in fourths: D#-G#-C#-F#-B-E (with capo on 2 and then 3 for "Anybody Have A Map?") and from there the top two strings get tuned down, first a half-step each to put the guitar into standard a half-step down ("Disappear," and in my case, also "Waving Through A Window"), and then the smallest string gets tuned down another whole step for "You Will Be Found" and "Good For You." Given my experience with the electric, I found it mildly comforting to know that the only time I needed to tune up was before each show. During the show, it's down all the way…down.

In Summary

I would recommend this show, as a player and an audience member. There are online quibbles aplenty regarding the story, and I don't get into those. From a purely musical perspective, it is a delight, the "light megachurch" nods notwithstanding. Oh, and we should have a moment about "To Break In A Glove." Yeah, yeesh. OK. But overall, it's solid, and the gems more than make up for the relative duds.

If you get the chance to play this show, either guitar part, you likely will find it a rewarding challenge.