By Mike Roberts
What the heck is an arpeggio? Is it:
A) a delectable pasta variety
B) a wicked hot sports car
C) the sounding of the notes of a chord in succession, instead of simultaneously
If you guessed C, you’re right! Here’s your prize: a column about right hand arpeggio patterns as played in fingerstyle and classical guitar.
In pickstyle guitar, with only a single picking agent (the pick, or plectrum), you tend to play a lot of straight, strummed chords. In fingerstyle guitar, with four whole picking agents at your disposal (the pinky generally not being used), arpeggiating—i.e., playing arpeggios—becomes a whole lot easier, and is widely used to great effect. If we pluck all four strings at once, it’s a simple chord. Pluck them all separately, and you’ve got yourself an arpeggio.
In fact, if you checked out the last couple Fingerstylin’ columns, you’ve already played an arpeggio: our E minor chord, the intro to Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters.” Arpeggiated patterns add a whole new dimension to chords, giving them a rhythmic component and a melodic component at the same time. It’s no wonder they’re a mainstay of folk and classical music, and pop up constantly in other genres like rock and jazz as well.
Now that we’ve spent a few columns establishing good posture and right hand technique, let’s check out some of the great arpeggiated patterns that are common in the fingerstyle and classical universe. But first, let’s define a couple universal principles for right hand patterns:
1) The patterns are fundamentally repetitive. In fact, they derive their rhythmic interest and integrity from this repetition. (All the more reason to use your metronome when you practice them!)
2) For any given pattern, there are almost limitless possible variations. Elements that can be varied include the strings you play in the pattern, notes added or left out, the overall rhythm of the pattern, and the fingering. You’ll know you’ve really mastered the technique when you can vary your patterns at will, mid-song. In the meantime, we’ll check out some of the possibilities.
First, let’s build on our E minor pattern, which features a simple ascent from the bass, and descent back down. (Ex. 1a) This creates a pattern in 3/4 time (3 beats to the measure). Ex. 1b modifies the pattern to make it fit 4/4 time (4 beats per measure, often notated with a “c” and called “common time”). 4/4 time tends to occur more frequently than 3/4 time. We can also play a repeating ascending pattern without the descent (Ex. 1c), or vice versa (Ex. 1d). We can easily vary these patterns by moving the thumb to new bass notes, creating an alternating bass line (Ex. 1e and f). By the way, I’m purposefully leaving out the left hand for now—we need to focus all our energy on these right hand challenges first, and then we’ll work in the left hand.
Things really get interesting when we start skipping strings. String-skipping patterns usually still start with the bass note, then hit the other strings according to a particular pattern. For example, up 2 strings and back 1 (Ex. 2a) is especially common. Note that we use the thumb twice instead of bringing in the “a” finger; this gives us another alternating bass line between the bottom two strings of the pattern. Ex. 2b-e give some good variations on this pattern. By the way, Ex. 2c is the pattern for Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide,” and a good example of rhythmic variety (pausing just slightly on the last note). Next time, I’ll give you the left hand fingerings.
Finally, let’s add some simultaneous notes to our arpeggios—i.e., sounding some bass notes and upper notes at the same time. This is more challenging, so go slow, be patient, and remember to get a good scissor motion between your thumb and fingers when they play simultaneously. These patterns are a great way to incorporate some melody into your patterns. Ex. 3a is the pattern for the legendary “Dust in the Wind.”
That is merely the tip of the iceberg, my friend. The possibilities are truly endless, and I encourage you to experiment with your own patterns. Just remember that repetition with a solid time feel is the key! As mentioned last time, leave the metronome out while you’re getting comfortable with the patterns, but bring it in as soon as you can. Good rhythm should be your #1 priority as a guitar player—even more so than good technique (gasp!). Don’t worry, I’ll keep harping on this point.
What to Practice:
1) All of these patterns, eventually with the metronome.
2) Make up your own patterns as well.
3) If you’re a more experienced player, bring in the left hand and try these patterns with some chords.
4) For true extra credit, check out transcriptions of some of the afore-mentioned tunes and others with repetitive, arpeggiated right hand patterns. Some good candidates:
“Landslide” (Fleetwood Mac)
“Dust in the Wind” (Kansas)
“The Boxer,” “Sounds of Silence,” and others (Simon and Garfunkel)
“Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” (Led Zeppelin)
On the classical side, check out:
Estudio #6 (Leo Brouwer)
Etude #5 in B minor (Fernando Sor)
Etude #1 (Heitor Villa-Lobos)
We will most likely come back to these at a later time!
Next Time: Right Hand Patterns Applied to Real Music
See you then,
Mike
www.hotmike.com
Contact Mike: [email protected]
Pens que iba a comentar y decir que el tema limpio, lo hacen por ti mismo? Es realmente impresionante!
Posted by: nandrolone | December 07, 2010 at 07:27 PM