THE BEST ARPEGGIO EXERCISES TO PRACTICE
AND HOW TO PRACTICE ARPEGGIOS FOR SPEED, CONTROL, AND RIGHT-HAND FINGER INDEPENDENCE

Copyright Douglas Niedt. All Rights Reserved. This article may be reprinted, but please be considerate and give credit to Douglas Niedt.

Want to DRAMATICALLY improve your right-hand arpeggio technique? Forget the Giuliani 120 studies or the Carlevaro 230—they're for people who enjoy root canals and filling out income tax forms. There is a much better way.

Now don't get riled out there. There is nothing wrong with practicing the Giuliani or Carlevaro right-hand arpeggio studies. Of the two, I think the Carlevaro is far better because it is more thorough. The downside of the Giuliani and Carlevaro books is that they require a tremendous amount of time to practice properly.

But if you develop speed and evenness with just the four patterns illustrated here (instead of all 230 Carlevaro patterns), you will be able to play almost any arpeggio pattern with great precision and speed.

The four patterns may be practiced on open strings as shown here, on any chord progression of your choice, or for a little more fun, on a piece titled El Abejorro (The Bumblebee) by Emilio Pujol.

Start everyday at an easy, relaxed speed at which you can play all four patterns absolutely evenly and effortlessly. There should be no tension in the right hand. If you begin at too fast a tempo tension will be triggered in the right hand. As you try to speed up, the tension will increase. This will prevent you from reaching your top speeds. So start slowly.

Using a metronome, increase your speed notch by notch (or by five's if your metronome "dial" is digital) over a thirty-minute period. Play each pattern at least ten to twenty seconds and play all four patterns at each speed setting. Pay particular attention to the two patterns using "m" and "a." The natural lack of independence between those two fingers is the major cause of uneven arpeggios and tremolos, and arpeggios that fail at high speed.

Play at varying volume levels especially very quiet and very loud. Be sure to accent the third note of each pattern. This helps keep the arpeggio rhythmically even. If the downbeat and upbeat are placed rhythmically precisely, the entire arpeggio will usually be even. Think of the thumb as the downbeat and the accented note as the upbeat. Instead of having the metronome only tick on the thumb strokes, you may want to have it tick on the thumb and the accented note.

I also recommend that you practice the patterns in the order given. Practicing the "im" patterns between the "ma" patterns helps the "m" and "a" fingers to "recover," preventing any kind of overuse problems.

As your top speed increases over time, increase your starting speed so you are not practicing more than thirty minutes on these arpeggios. Keep track of your speeds each day. Write them down! I start at MM=100 every day (tick on each thumb stroke). My top speed is MM=160 for all four patterns.

Here are the four "magical" patterns:

As you can see, there is nothing magical about them! They are very basic. But that is why they are effective. These are the movements that are used in one way or another in almost any other arpeggio pattern except for some patterns where a finger plucks simultaneously with the thumb.

If you practice El Abejorro with these patterns, note that you must change the order of the written notes for the "pama" and "pmim" patterns:

Although El Abejorro (The Bumblebee) takes the drudgery out of practicing these patterns, it also can be used as a fun concert piece or encore. The pattern I use for performance is "piam."

Try This Daily Arpeggio Practice Procedure

• Initially, for the first week or two, practice the arpeggios only for about 10 minutes to acclimate and strengthen the muscles. Then, to prevent straining your hand, over a period of two to four weeks, gradually work up to a full 30-minute session each day. During your practice session, increase your speed by increments of five beats per minute (BPM) on a linear-scaled digital metronome, or notch by notch on a logarithmic-scaled traditional metronome.
• Begin at 80 beats per minute (BPM) with the tick falling on the thumb AND the third note of the arpeggio pattern. If you can start faster, that’s great. However, if you start even a little too fast, your right hand and right-hand fingers will almost imperceptibly tense up, making it impossible to play at high speeds. It is always better to start too slow rather than too fast. Even a small amount of tension in the playing mechanism will be amplified as you play faster and faster causing no end of problems. To be on the safe side, after finding the slow easy tempo at which you believe you are playing with no tension, subtract about ten beats-per-minute and begin there.
• Practice the patterns in order. Play them on open strings first. After a week or two, you can graduate to holding chords. However, do not change chords in the middle of a pattern. We want to focus on the right hand, not chord changes. Later, you can progress to using a fun piece titled “El Abejorro (The Bumblebee)” if you wish.
• Play each pattern for at least ten to twenty seconds and play all four patterns at each speed setting. Pay particular attention to the two patterns using "m" and "a." The natural lack of independence between those two fingers is a major cause of rhythmically uneven tremolos and arpeggios.
• Practice at varying volume levels, especially very quiet and very loud.
• Be sure to accent the third note of each pattern. The accent will help keep the arpeggio rhythmically even. If the downbeat and upbeat are placed rhythmically precisely, the entire arpeggio will usually be even. Think of the thumb as the downbeat and the accented note as the upbeat. At slower speeds, instead of having the metronome tick only on the thumb strokes, have it tick on the thumb AND the accented note.
• Start every day at your slow speed and increase the speed notch by notch (or in fives if your metronome is digital). Over a period of thirty minutes, increase your speed until your control falters. Do not graduate yourself to the next notch until you have complete control of the current speed setting.
• Keep track each day of your starting speed and fastest speed. As you increase the fast speed, you will be able to increase your starting speed as well.
• Meet or surpass your top speed every day. Keep track of your speeds. Write them down. This is precision work. Remember, never begin at too fast a starting speed that could produce tension in the hand or fingers.

You will need to practice these four right-hand patterns 30 minutes every day for three to six weeks before you will see improvement. But if you stick with it, you will see your speed, evenness, control, and right-hand finger independence on your tremolo and ANY arpeggio improve dramatically.

But remember, be careful not to over practice these exercises. Start with 10-minute sessions and over two to four weeks, gradually work up to 30-minute sessions. You can strain or injure your right hand if you overdo it.