8/11/2019 Borrow Dont Steal
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BORROW DONT STEAL BY TOM YODER
BORROW DONT STEAL - arpeggio studies by Tom Yoder
AGWDIGITALLESSON
Stealing is easy to do. Making it work for an original sound is
more difficult. Randy Rhodes dida great job when he stole the chord
progression from the first 16 measures of Leo Brouwers(1939- )
Estudios Sencillos #6. He used it for the intro of Ozzys Diary of a
Madman.
I confess, Ive also stolen. One of my more blatant rip-offs is
the contrasting middle section(starting at measure 44, 1:23 into
the tune) of Zen Parked on Z from my CD, Eat This Its Safe.It uses
a right hand arpeggio pattern lifted directly from study #1 of the
12 studies by Heitor Villa-Lobos (1881-1959).
Zen is in C Tuning: CGCGCE low to high
The arpeggio pattern is as follows: pipi pmia maim pipi. Its
done with
a sixteenth note rhythm. The whole section (measures 44-77) uses
thispattern except for the quintuplet figure at measures 64 and 77.
Tocount a quintuplet I always use the word un-i-ver-si-ty. It helps
me toplay the figure smoothly instead of lapsing into a three/two
ortwo/three feel. Say university as you play the figure. It
works.
If you reallywant to ownthis arpeggiopattern, I recommend tying
a clothunderneath the strings up by the nutaround the first and
second frets. Then
sit in front of the television and play the pattern.
To play this arpeggio fluidly and make the top two strings ring
strong, you will need to really diginto the strings. Having that
cloth tied underneath the strings will help you gain strength in
yourright hand. The ama move in the middle of the pattern is tough
to get loud and fast. But it isessential that you do. It will take
lots of practice.
Play slowly with a metronome to keep the pattern at an even
pace. It is well worth your time. Youwill end up much more
coordinated and faster, and with a much bigger sound. By using
adifferent tuning and obviously different fingerings, Ive taken
something someone else did
(not to mention a standard part of the guitar repertoire) and
made it my own.
Both the Villa-Lobos 12 studies and Brouwers 20 Estudios
Sencillos are great for fingerstyleguitarist to study. It doesnt
matter whether or not you want to play classical guitar. Working
onthem will give you lots of ideas to build upon.
Pima pickinghand conventionp = thumbi= index fingerm= middle
finera= ring finger
Tom Yoder
Tom Yoder is a guitar instructor at Coastal CarolinaUniversity
The piece this lessons is based on Zen ParkedOn Z is from his Eat
This Its Safe CD which showcaseshis phenomenal compositional and
fingerstyle talents.
Yoder bears comparison with the likes of Hedges, Bensusan
and Kottke.
Visit Toms site at:www.tomyoder.net
http://www.tomyoder.net/http://www.tomyoder.net/http://www.acousticguitarworkshop.com/http://www.tomyoder.net/
