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Article: Ragtime guitar--the basics: playing three-string arpeggios over an alternating bass.(TEACH-IN: GUITAR: Helpful hints & suggestions from instrumental masters)
- Article from:
- Sing Out!
- Article date:
- June 22, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Sing Out Corporation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The first maneuver you have to master in order to play ragtime on guitar is learning how to work a continuous three-string arpeggio over an alternating bass in 4/4 time. The problem here is that the alternating bass is operating in twos, while the arpeggio is in threes. Getting them to work together is not rocket science, but at first it takes a surprising level of concentration to keep from getting completely messed up!
Let's start with a simple alternating bass on an Echord, shown in Example 1. On beats 1 and three play string 6 (that is, low E) and on beats 2 and 4, play string 4 (middle E).
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Now move on to Example 2, ...