Welcome back!
Today we present a series of seven exercises, seven decisive arpeggios for charango that are useful for developing confidence in arpeggio technique for beginners, and for improving it in more advanced musicians.
First, download the PDF with the seven decisive arpeggios for charango, written in both standard notation and tablature:
Exercises 1 through 4 are in duple meter, while exercises 5 through 7 are in triple meter. These arpeggios are designed to quickly cover the various challenges encountered on the instrument using the right hand, and they serve as a kind of universal master key with which you can play many passages from very famous and fundamental pieces in the charango repertoire.
With practice, everyone will find the most natural way to perform them. In general, the suggestion is to place the right hand on the strings so that the ring finger plucks the first string (high E), the middle finger plucks the second string (A), the index finger plucks the third string (low E), and the thumb plucks the fourth string (C). This can be considered a neutral hand position, from which the thumb can move to pluck the fifth string (G) when necessary: to understand the mechanics of this position, study exercise no. 2.
The little finger is not generally used for arpeggios, but there are no strict rules. If you feel comfortable using it, go ahead.
When studying arpeggios, using a metronome is essential. If you don’t have one, you can download one of the many smartphone apps that will perfectly serve the purpose. Choose a starting tempo (for beginners, I recommend 50-60 bpm) and read the written exercises: note that the same arpeggio is presented first in quarter notes, then in eighth notes, and finally in sixteenth notes.
As you become more comfortable, gradually increase the tempo.
If you have any doubts or particular problems, as always, do not hesitate to contact me!
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