The Steel Guitar Forum

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!

I highly recommend Exploring C6th Lap Steel by Andy Volk. It has a lot of arpeggio patterns and etudes over chord changes.

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)

thanks! I'll check those out

I forgot to mention that I play a C6 lap.

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

---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

"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

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.

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!