Arpeggios and the left hand

Chad · February 2005

OK, here I am, learning my arpeggios. If I am doing an Am arpeggio on the 5th fret, am I planting my hand into that form, or am I trying to play and finger each note individually?
Any input would be appreciated...

dennis · February 2005

it depends on the sound you want to get but in general, you don't want the notes to bleed into eachother, the 5th fret Am shape involves some barring, so you have to "roll" from one fret to the other with one finger

Chad · February 2005

Cool, thats kind of what I figured, but I wasnt sure. Thanks for the clarification Dennis.
Chad

V-dub · February 2005

An old guitar teacher showed be this and I don't know if its considered bad technique. I haven't looked for examples of gypsies doing it, but it seems to help me out:

In situations where you find yourself having to bar 2 strings with your ring finger, you can sometimes get some more dexterity by substituting you middle finger on the higher (on the freboard) string and using your ring finger on the next string. Its helpful when you have to do a quick downward sweep and you barring finger gets in the way of the next string.

for example: (fingering below)

---------------5--------------- <g
-----------7-------7----------- <d
-------7--------------7-------- <a
5--8---------------------8--5- <e

1 3 2 3 1 3 2 3 1