By Mike Roberts
Now that we’ve learned some right hand patterns without the left hand, it’s time to reward your patience and put those patterns to use with some real music.
Last time we looked at arpeggiated patterns: playing the notes of a chord separately with different fingers of the right hand, a specialty of fingerstyle and classical guitar music. Amongst the patterns we learned were the basic ones for two classic rock gems: “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac and “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas. Let’s revisit those patterns, this time with the left hand included.
Note: I’ve written out only a piece of the tunes; if you’re interested in learning them in their entirety, transcriptions are readily available on websites like OLGA (temporarily down due to legal issues) or Ultimate Guitar. But beware: there’s no quality control on the web, and most transcriptions range from imperfect to unrecognizable. If you really want to learn a song, you’re better off investing in a published transcription.
If you’re a beginner, rest assured we will soon take a closer look at left hand technique. For now, I recommend getting the chord shapes (written above the staff) comfortably under your fingers before attempting them with the right hand pattern. In the examples, the fret numbers on the tablature are equal to the finger number of your left hand (index=1, middle=2, ring=3, pinky=4), except where indicated with a numeral between the TAB and standard notation. Get those fingers nice and close to the next highest fret, and arch your fingers to keep them away from the other strings. Above all, be patient with yourself! Learning chords takes a long time; it can take months to really get them down. (I suspect some of my students would say years!)
For all you bluegrass fans, here’s an arrangement of the classic “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” using the string-skipping arpeggio we learned last time. Notice that we start working in the ‘a’ finger in measure 9. This is a complete chorus; try repeating the form with some of the variations we looked at, plus some patterns of your own. This tune, with its long stretches on a single chord, is a nice testing ground for pattern variations. Also, I’ve put the vocal melody in tablature, and I encourage you to learn that as well. Makes a lovely duet!
Note the fingering for the G chord: with the strings we’re playing, we only need one finger. So convenient! For those of you who are used to the standard G fingering, this may be a new fingering, and illustrates a good general concept to keep in mind when playing fingerstyle: we often don’t need every finger in the full, standard chord fingerings we’re used to when strumming. In this example, I’ve included the standard G major chord fingering on the final chord—beginners take note. That wavy line is telling you to strum slowly through the chord like a harp—in this case, with your thumb.
What to Practice:
1) If you’re a beginner, get down the chords we use in these examples: C, Cmaj7, Cadd9, G/B, Am7, G, and D.
2) Learn the “Landslide” and “Dust in the Wind” introductions, bringing in the metronome when you’ve established some degree of comfort. As always, the tempos suggested here are flexible; you should go as slow as you need to in order to play the patterns accurately.
3) Learn “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” and experiment with some pattern variations as you repeat the form.
Next Time: Classical Guitar Music with Arpeggiated Patterns
See you then,
Mike
http://www.hotmike.com
Contact Mike: [email protected]
Comments