Keith Whalen: looking for stimuli outside of guitars

Although I haven't denuded the Holy Grail of guitar lickery, I did stumble across a beautiful slew of arpeggio ideas while digesting Felix Blumenfeld's piano Etude Op. 3 No. 1. In all sincerity, I can only attribute the first example to the etude, but with the beauty of the work resounding in my head I went on a hunt for new sounds. At new costs, too.

One thing of significant importance is to look for stimuli outside of guitars, guitar playing and guitar players. Or, at times, even outside of music! How will I tackle the arpeggio formations of Paganini or Wieniawski? Is Blumenfeld, Henselt or Alkan playable on our instrument and how? How can I duplicate piano, violin or vocal ornamentation? All of these questions are valid and will arise as you broaden your musical intake, especially if you attempt to translate the language onto the guitar. more

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