Today's solo selection is Prelude No. 1 "American Study" by Peter Kun Frary. American Study is turbulent and fast. A good choice for those desiring a challenge or wishing to express an agitated mood.
Olympic Mountains | Always brooding, dark and wet | Peter Kun Frary
Study Tips
The rough and tumble melody of Prelude No. 1 "American Study" is under your thumb: the bass line! Accompaniment is the open first string (E) repeated incessantly against the bass melody. This droning technique is called a pedal point, named after organists leaving their foot on a pedal while changing chords. American Study sounds a little unhinged because of the blues-rock scale based melody, obsessive pedal points and breakneck tempo.
Prelude No. 1 "American Study" | Peter Kun Frary
Right-Hand Fingering
Fingering for the right-hand is straightforward: thumb (p) for all bass notes and ring finger (a) for the open E pedal point. If your ring finger isn't cooperating, substitute the middle (m) finger.
Implied Chords
American Study features implied chords. For example, the last two measures in the example above contain an implied chord: fret all the notes in the implied chord at the beginning of the measure (watch the video at 0:15 and 0:28). You'll produce a smoother sound than trying to fretting each finger in sequence.
Tempo
The performance tempo of American Study is allegro (120+ BPM). Don't try to play fast initially: start slow and work up to the goal tempo.
Practice Strategy
You'll learn faster and get more out of your solos with an organized practice strategy. Before practicing a solo, do these things:
Study the lesson and learn the new notes and techniques.
Listen to the audio track to get a feel for the piece.
At this point you are beginning to build an image of the piece in your mind and form musical goals. Now, it's time to grab your guitar!
Learn new pieces in short sections: phrase by phrase or line by line.
Practice each section slowly until smooth. You can speed it up later.
Next, knit together the sections and practice the entire solo.
Spot practice difficult areas.
Finally, play along with the audio track.
As you play with the track, you may notice incorrect rhythms or notes. Go back and spot practice those areas until squeaky clean. If the audio track is too fast for you, practice with a metronome and gradually increase speed to performance tempo.
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Study Tips
Right-Hand Fingering
Implied Chords
Tempo
Daily Review
