arpeggios for improvisation

Lap steels, resonators, multi-neck consoles and acoustic steel guitars

Moderator: Brad Bechtel

Post Reply
User avatar
David Famularo
Posts: 31
Joined: 13 Mar 2017 9:43 pm
Location: New Zealand

arpeggios for improvisation

Post by David Famularo »

Hi

Can anyone recommend resources for learning arpeggios to use for improvisation? I would like to learn some nice patterns to play over one or a series of chords!

thanks!
User avatar
Einar Baldursson
Posts: 93
Joined: 26 Aug 2015 7:34 am
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Contact:

Post by Einar Baldursson »

I highly recommend Exploring C6th Lap Steel by Andy Volk. It has a lot of arpeggio patterns and etudes over chord changes.
User avatar
Mike Neer
Posts: 10990
Joined: 9 Dec 2002 1:01 am
Location: NJ
Contact:

Post by Mike Neer »

This book by Mimi Fox goes a little deeper into the use of arpeggios for improvisation, but obviously you would need to find them on the neck yourself (which is a good thing!).

Guitar Arpeggio Studies on Jazz Standards (Mel Bays Private Lessons)
User avatar
David Famularo
Posts: 31
Joined: 13 Mar 2017 9:43 pm
Location: New Zealand

Post by David Famularo »

thanks! I'll check those out

I forgot to mention that I play a C6 lap.
User avatar
Guy Cundell
Posts: 901
Joined: 31 Jul 2008 7:12 am
Location: More idle ramblings from South Australia
Contact:

Post by Guy Cundell »

One very effective method of learning is to take a specific tune and write out a succession of arpeggios to suit, paying attention to interesting voicings and ease movement between them. This is straight out of the jazz educator’s playbook. You can use ‘vanilla’ chords or get adventurous with chord extensions and substitutions. It is a slow process but once you’re finished you have a valuable resource for daily practice. This is a great way of discovering the neck and expanding chord knowledge in a way that ‘sticks’. If you pick your tunes carefully, you can get a lot of mileage out of the result (eg I’ve Got Rhythm, Sweet Georgia Brown).

Here is an example that I did on ‘Misty’ for dobro tuning.

https://soundcloud.com/guy-cundell/mistral

Image

Image
Former Member
Posts: 355
Joined: 11 Jun 2008 7:35 am

Post by Former Member »

---Stairway 2 heaven...anyone?
Thanks for posting that Guy! Got me to thinking.
I've always wanted to put together a tricone version of 'Moon', just getting started is beyond my level...

https://youtu.be/Wa-N_r1IqTY
User avatar
David Famularo
Posts: 31
Joined: 13 Mar 2017 9:43 pm
Location: New Zealand

Post by David Famularo »

"One very effective method of learning is to take a specific tune and write out a succession of arpeggios to suit, paying attention to interesting voicings and ease movement between them."

Thanks - that's a great suggestion
User avatar
Andy Volk
Posts: 10251
Joined: 4 Aug 1998 11:00 pm
Location: Boston, MA
Contact:

Post by Andy Volk »

Ron, nice to hear that Winston tune again - it's been a long while. He has a beautiful style. I believe he called it "folk piano." It would be cool to hear what you come up with for a steel interpretation.
Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com
Former Member
Posts: 355
Joined: 11 Jun 2008 7:35 am

Post by Former Member »

Andy,
I'm getting my son's piano copy out of storage,
I'll try to scan and post it. Maybe we could all figure it out together!
Post Reply