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Tutorial #1 - Arpeggios Printer Friendly Version

Arpeggios are the most important right hand exercises for fingerstyle guitar, in part because they use all of the fingers and require independence of the fingers, and in part because they are used in the repertoire so much. Many great collections of arpeggio exercises exist- Giuliani has a collection of 120 and Papararo has a collection of 135, for instance. Learning all of either of these can be a daunting task, of course, and they don't necessarily present the arpeggios in a progressive order. The Giuliani has the added difficulty of shifts in the right hand as well as the use of the left hand. The Papararo has neither, but does have the thumb change from string to string as the arpeggio repeats. This group of arpeggios that I am presenting has three advantages:

  1. It completely eliminates the left hand and any changes of strings in the right hand, which allows the students first to simply learn to move the fingers.
  2. It presents a much smaller group of arpeggios - every one is commonly used and/or just good for the development of the hand (especially m-a alternation). I may add more in the future, but it will not approach the 100+ in the other collections, even though I have included every commonly used arpeggio.
  3. The exercises are presented in a progressive order, with the ones near the beginning being the most important, and generally starting easier and getting more difficult (with one exception, but there is a purpose for that, too). This is the order that I teach them, and the order that I play them in each day. Once the student feels that these are mastered, he/she may decide to work on the Giuliani or Papararo.

Not every exercise uses all 4 fingers, but each finger plays the following string when it is used: P (thumb) plays the 5th string (you can opt to play the 4th or 6th string instead, depending on which is the easiest), i (index) plays the 3rd string, m (middle) plays the 2nd, and a (ring) plays the 1st. Each exercise should be repeated a number of times with a completely even rhythm and even volume between the notes. I tell my students that before they work on speed, they should work on everything else (even rhythm, volume, tone, relaxation, etc).
"...for the artist of the future...may virtuosity be a means, never an end..."
Franz Liszt
Ex.1 is just a block chord using i, m, and a. Listen for the balance- the highest note (played with a) should be the loudest, with the other notes equal to each other. You should learn to hear every note. Keep the hand loose and relaxed.
1)  
Ex.2 adds p, and listen for the same balance as in ex.1.
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Ex.3 is a simple alternation between p and the other 3 fingers. These 3 exercises are important - don't ignore them!
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Ex.4 is a very important arpeggio that is used a lot in the repertoire. Keep listening for an equal volume in every note, keep it slow and relaxed.
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Ex.5 is the opposite, and also an important arpeggio. These 2 are more difficult than some of ones that follow, but I like to present them first because they get all of the fingers moving. Return to Exercise 18
5)  
Ex.6-11 are all played in triplets, since they are 3-note arpeggios. 6-7 are very common, 8-9 a little less so, and 10-11 are not very common (because the same arpeggios could be played using p, i, and m, which is easier), but they are very important in the development of m-a alternation, which develops the hand more evenly.
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Ex.12-17 are variations of 6-11.
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At this point, I like to revisit ex.4-5, both in my teaching and in my practice, and they are usually a little easier.
Back to Exercise 4
Ex.18-19 are very difficult to keep even. They should be played as triplets. 18 is very common, 19 is much less so, but good for the hand.
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Ex.20-21 are simply good workouts for m-a alternation, while giving them a brief time to rest while p and i play.
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