Shell chords can be quite helpful arranging solo guitar or duo/trio band arrangements.
As mentioned they provide the harmonic color using a minimum of strings.
Different voicing (drop2 drop3) allow you to put the shells down in the lowest 3 or 4 strings.
That leaves strings 1-2 open for the melody or to add some color during your comping.

If a bass player shows up it adds more freedom.
Now double stops can carry a lot of the chording load.

As a practical exercise, I've been rebuilding some of my BIAB/DAW performance tracks with only bass and drums.
I pan drums hard left and bass hard right.
This allows me to "perform" as a trio or duet.
With these arrangements I work more on harmonizing the melody for solo/duet work.
It also provides a nice comping workout using the various voicings of the shell chords and various string sets.


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