Muriel Anderson’s InnovationsforAcousticGuitar
Arioso
F INGERSTYLE
A great way to get inspired when writing a new tune is to find a song
or instrumental piece that really grabs you and then try to determine
what it is about that tune that makes it so appealing. Is it the rhythm,
the accents, the chord progression, the melodies, or the way phrases
build and fade? It can be any or all of these things – the trick is to borrow the compositional ideas that you find appealing rather than the
actual notes and phrases.
you can apply to add emotion and develop your own personality in the
way you bring out the melody. Sometimes it helps to finger the notes
in a different way with the left hand to allow one note to ring out over
the next, to slur into the next or to allow a finger to slide. Listen to
which notes want to connect and which ones want to be detached
and then find a way to make it so.
I was listening to a Bach piece where the melody stood out as especially gorgeous, and I thought, why is it so gorgeous? I listened to it
critically and realized that it started on one note, went above the note,
then dropped down below the note before coming back to it. No
matter where the melody went, it always remained close to this one
note. I thought, I can take a note and go above it, below it, and then
come back to it, too. And that idea eventually formed the basis for this
month’s piece, “Arioso.” Building upon that basic “skeleton” helped to
suggest the direction for the rest of the tune, with ideas like descending bass lines becoming apparent in relation to the basic melody.
The other thing that is equally as important as connecting all those
notes is how they’re phrased, with both volume and tempo. Try to
keep the volume changing all the time. I never keep the volume the
same in anything – I’m always going softer or louder. You can also
vary the tempo in addition to the volume – sometimes I’ll stretch out
one note longer than another. This tune can be played in a very rubato
style, which allows for great variation in tempo.
But how do I know which notes to hold longer? The easiest way is to
just hold your favorite notes. It sounds simple, but it’s completely true
– stretch out whichever notes strike you most. The best part is that
your favorite notes will change with every repetition of the song, keeping this tune fresh and interesting.
As you work through this piece, it’s very important to keep in mind
the concepts of phrasing and connecting the notes. These are ideas
While working through “Arioso,” be mindful of the parts that speak to
you, and recall them later for inspiration in your own compositions.
92 PREMIER GUI TAR NOVEMBER 2007
www.premierguitar.com
