Arpeggios

[Shroomy726]

Ok, folks, new topic!! I come bearing questions again, lol. This is concerning the infamous arpeggio. I find it quite hard to do an arpeggio, it seems like a very difficult skill to master. I have noticed that the practice in the tremolo is kind of helping my arpeggios. Do you have any good exercises to apply in order to improve my ability in that area? Any post, as always, are greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance, Lionel

PS: How do you flamenco players do arpeggios? Do you put the hand in the thumb-like stance or do you place it like when executing the tremolo (or picado). This might seem confusing, so it's ok if you wish me to clarify it.

[Sandra]

A lot of etudes by the likes of Sor and Giuliani are based on arpeggios.

[Shroomy726]

Such as...?

[Tomas-Lobos]

Such as Sor's study in B minor. A truly beautiful piece. Or, Romance, anon. Or Terraga's study in E. Prelude #1 by Villa-Lobos is excellent.

[nebula_34]

Hey Shroomy,

I totally love arpeggios and how the guitar can cover such a large spectrum of notes in one arpeggio (much easier than say.. a piano or wind instrument). NEway... some things to think about in terms of arpeggios.

Arpeggios work off of sympathetic movement of the hand... in essence, your fingers move like a wave - they're not acting in isolation. The tricky part is to have the ABILITY to isolate these movements when needed.

Preparation: Take a simple C chord, and plant your thumb (p) on the low C, index (i) on G, middle (m) on C, and ring (a) on E.
Now we must first remember that our fingers must be perfectly placed on the contact point - where our finger/nail will begin moving across the string. You do NOT want to place your finger on the string for an arpeggio, and then have to slightly move your finger to actually play the note (i.e. Don't put the fleshy part of your finger down on the string, and then have to shift your finger towards the string, so that your finger nail begins contact with the string). When done properly, this will develope consistancy for a better tone, and eventually more speed.
Also, make sure that your joints in your fingers are not moving in opposing directions. It is easy to develop the habit of "pulling up" your finger - try to "push through" the string instead

Package Prepared: This style of arpeggio is when you set i, m, and a all at the same time on the strings. For example, play the low C note with p, and have i, m, and a all set (remembering guidelines above). Then proceed to play i, then m, then a. Now recycle the motion - play p again, and by the time your thumb has played the low C, have i, m, and a set. You can also reverse this so that you play p-a-m-i or a-m-i-p, but the same theory stays. (by the time the thumb plays - the other fingers are set).

Sequential Prepared: Now we will have our fingers set in place, and using the same C chord (you can do it with any, but C is a convenient example), play the low C with p. When p plays, set your i finger, when i plays set the m finger, when m plays, set the a finger, and when a plays, set p again. Between the ring finger and thumb are the hardest to get the timing down. Again, all of these can be reversed, flipped, whatever! (p-a-m-i or p-m-i-a.....) This style works great for things like spanish romance, ave maria (bach) etc...

hope that I didnt confuse everyone! My Teacher (Jeffrey McFadden) passed this valuable insight to me - and I've found it really helpful...

until next time,
-Adam
<><

Oh yeah - be PATIENT. better to go slowly and develope GOOD habits, and not have to go back and fix all the problems! ROCK ON!

[flamencofreak]

I just picked up on this thread, since I'm a newbie around here.

In learning to play arpeggios, Christopher Parkening describes the the "planting technique". This means placing your fingers on the strings ready to play (the tip of the finger is actually on the string), then, starting with your thumb, play the first note of the arpeggio letting your thumb come to rest on the next string (rest stroke with the thumb). Follow with the other three, each one in succession, plucking up toward the palm like a spring unwinding.

I do not agree with the other poster that this is a "sympathetic" action of the fingers. The fingers must work independently if you ever want to develop rapid arpeggios.

Find a good book with some arpeggio exercises. This will help tremendously.

A little practice and you should be playing arpeggios fairly well.

Just my 2 cents :wink:

[Hucbald]

Can we clarify some definitions here, please?

By arpeggios, do you mean arpeggiating a chord in which all the notes sustain until the next chord (Like in a Bach prelude), or do you mean playing arpeggios where the notes are only connected to each other as a single line (As in a violin arpeggio)? Those are two very different techniques.

Hucbald

[rumbamaster]

I would assume he's talking about sustaining arpeggios. I really haven't found too many single line arrpegios in classical guitar. Unless you play a piece transcribed from violin such as the Paganini Caprices.

[Shroomy726]

Luvkily my teacher already started to teach me some exercises which already paid out. Thank you all for your input.

[dap22]

Hello,
All these posts, many long and involved, and yet not one person has mentioned the Mauro Giuliani 120 Studies for the Right Hand? Sandra mentioned the etudes (and yes, I understand an 'etude' is a 'study') by Giuliani and Sor. A good investment (of course, only after the Giuliani 120 RH Studies) would be Frederick Noads Graded Repertoire for Classical Guitar. I think it has 100 pieces. They are all etudes by Sor, Giuliani, and Carcassi. These are so beautiful, they can be played in concert, and they will really improve your technique...especially your arpeggios.

I am not sure that Prelude #1 by Villa-Lobos would be the smartest choice...it wil help you improve your block chords though...the only arpeggio work in that piece is when it goes to Piu mosso, and it is a very small amount. Maybe you should try Prelude #2 and #4 which have excellent arpeggio sections which will help you out a great deal. You probably don't want to jump into the VL Etudes yet due to their technical difficulty. Do the Sor, Giuliani, and Carcassi first, then you will appreciate the VL Etudes much more. Etudes 1, 2, and 11 have excellent arpeggio work...but stay away from that until you have the basics down.

Scott Tennant's book Pumping Nylon would also be a great investment, of course, from it you will learn much more than the excellent teaching on arpeggios.

I hope my post has helped point you in the direction towards the right resources. Best of luck!

[flamencofreak]

Can we clarify some definitions here, please?

By arpeggios, do you mean arpeggiating a chord in which all the notes sustain until the next chord (Like in a Bach prelude), or do you mean playing arpeggios where the notes are only connected to each other as a single line (As in a violin arpeggio)? Those are two very different techniques.

Hucbald

Arpeggiating a chord is really the same technique: The thumb plays the lowest note (usually) and the fingers follow with the remaining notes of the chord. A chord written out note by note, from the lowest note to the highest (ascending) and then back to the lowest (descending) would be your basic arpeggio.

Did I not understand your question, maybe??

[Jubilee Valence]

...cuz' in this thread are some interesting relative points....but I've got a question too within my own answer; Huc'ster, with your "line up of letters", I know that in your question was also a relative answer to my question, if you will, & if you can hear my "man on the street" meaning, perhaps you can clear up or help me define a like set of terminology(considering maybe as if I had just arrived on this planet & really aren't familiar with the pieces mentioned-hence the m.o.t.s. symbolism...);also folks, hucbald mentioned the "violin"-a "term" akin to my question-but I don't mean to imply a "personal" question--rather, it's just that his comments sparked my query here...back in the late 60's/early 70's, when I started, the term arpeggio was "defined"(?) as simply "broken chords"...a la "House of the Rising Sun"(in my world, then-"rock,blues,fusion") but is increasingly becoming very sophisticated in it's carraige in syntax(well, the language/terminology hasn't really changed a la the tab/notation debate... but perhaps that myself & listeners & players on average--not the conservatory types--are what's gaining in it's level of sophistication...) Now I noticed that neb laid out an arpeggio which neatly "covers"..."Heart & Soul"(sorry-my m.o.t.s verbage...)--a three(two + the octave)note octave plus the additional note of "color"-actually the next of the chord itself-especially if played in the first position typical of open E like at the eighth fret...; a typical 4 note arpeggio say, A,Db(C#),E,A...a la "Yngwie"(again, my m.o.t.s-apology-) sounds to me more "violinish" & by dropping the higher A by one half step, gives a sort of "Major seventh" flavor,-but if done--A,Db,E,A,Db etc ascending & repeating it seems to generate a much more "robust" color or feel; my "style"(interpretation...)follows this formula with any "colored" or flavored notes following the third note in the sequence which colors the transitions between arpeggiated chordal changes;...my question ,(-if there really is one in there!), is basically,--is there a formulaic difference or "usage" difference in these two similar note progressions and does it comply with terminology thus; am "I" doing it wrong or improperly as to wit-placement in a piece or style, or even "school"/method....?--coffee? "shrooms?....I'll get some aspirin & a couple of beers....hopefully someone can decipher the Jubi-gram...... :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

[Jubilee Valence]

:P ....well, the one good thing about us "self-taught" types is:-we got no argument!-eh, Professor? 8)