DJANGO-STYLE GUITAR

 

Introduction

The Idea is to focus on the right hand only. To warm up the left hand, you'll do another exercise after this one. Spend about 10 to 25 minutes for each. The right-hand ex. can easily take 20 minutes, when it's precisely executed.

With this exercise you will work on your precision of attack and your feeling for metrics and timing.

We will use open strings only, so you can rest your left hand slightly on the neck without touching the strings. Watch out that the strings can ring freely!

Picking patterns

We will do groups of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 notes...

There is the rule that notes are picked alternatively down/up. Every group starts always with a downstroke!

Now, triplets (group of 3 notes) are played: down/up/down.
Three triplets in a row would give: down/up/down -down/up/down-down/up/down.
Eights, (group of 4 notes) are played: down/up/down/up.
Quintuplets, (group of 5 notes) are played: down/up/down/up/down.what gives us two downstrokes when played in a row.
Group of 6 notes is like two triplets in a row: down/up/down/down/up/down.
Group of 7 notes can be considered as three groups of 2, followed by a downstroke, that gives us two downstrokes when played in a row: down/up/down/up/down/up/down-down/up/down/up/down/up/down and so on...
Sixteenth, group of 8 notes: no problem, always down and up.
And finally, group of 9 notes is like three triplets.

NOW, the thing is that each group is played on ONE beat of the metronome.

We play each group four times in a row on each string.
From low E-string to high E-string and back to the low E-string. (On all strings.That's why it can easily take 20 minutes to do all groups on all strings.)

The goal is not to play fast (for now), but to have a regular pace along with the metronome. Each note played with the same force/attack - no accents on the beginning of a group. Keep the timing and fall ever with the metronome beat on your first note of a group. Anyway, to play 8 or 9 notes on one metronome-beat, we have to set the metronome very slow. Best is, to start with 40bpm (fourty beats per minute - what means one beat lasts more than a second!)
And here, you'll see that it is not that easy to play slow. What I mean is: When you play groups of 2 notes at 40bpm you have to be very careful, not to loose the timing... and with groups of 7 or 9 notes things get quite tricky to fall in time on the metronome-beat with your first note!

Let's try it... as I said, start slow and raise the metronome for one tick only after one or two weeks. Not before you can do it without fuzz and stumbling. The goal is precision, accuracy and metric feeling. The speed will come by itself as long as you keep the discipline and daily execution.

Oh yeah... ... let the notes ring, no use to mute the strings with either hand! The idea is to play all groups on each string without pausing. And later when you have the feel for all groups (specially the hard ones, 5, 7, 9) to mix them. i.e. group of 4, then group of 1, then group of 3, then group of 7, then group of 6, and so on.
But to start, I suggest to start with 1, then 2, then 3, and so on... all with the same tempo!

Here's a schematic illustration of the exercise...

 

 

COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS

Please go to my guitar-blog to post any comments or questions. http://twohands-guitar.blogspot.com

Thank you