Arpeggio study in C: p-a-m-i for the right hand
The thumb plays a bass note on every beat and the ring, middle and index fingers answer it down the top three strings, p-a-m-i, through eight bars of chords in C. It's the pattern of many of Giuliani's right-hand studies: the ring finger, the weakest, leads each group, so it gets as strong and as even as the others.
Opens in the player looped and counted in, with the metronome on, and speeds up 5 % every 2 loops to 72 bpm. No account or microphone needed.
- Goal tempo
- 72 bpm
- Starts at
- 43 bpm
- Length
- 8 bars, looped
- Tuning
- E standard
- Time
- 4/4
- Level
- Beginner
- Plays with
- A metronome
How to play it
a on the high E, m on the B, i on the G: the ring finger starts each group, and the three notes fall evenly.
Every beat is four 16ths: the thumb on a bass string, then the ring finger on the high E, the middle on the B and the index on the G. On C and Am the thumb alternates between the A and D strings, on G7 and E7 between the low E and the D, and on Dm it stays on the open D. The last bar is half Dm, half G7, leading back to C.
Rest the thumb's side lightly on its string before you pluck, and let each finger's tip and nail sit on its string just before it plays: preparing the finger is what keeps the notes even. The thumb plucks forward, past the fingers, never under them.
Hold each chord for the whole bar and let the notes ring into one another. Listen for the ring finger's note: it's the weakest finger, and the note it plays is the melody that moves on top.
Mistakes to watch for
- The ring finger's note coming out quieter than the middle and index fingers'. Play it a little firmer until all three match.
- Moving the whole hand to reach the strings instead of the fingers alone. The hand stays still over the soundhole and only the fingers move.
- Bunching the three fingers' notes into a quick roll after the thumb. Count four even 16ths to the beat.
- Lifting the fretting fingers early on the chord change, so the last notes of the bar are cut short.
A speed plan
The player starts at 60 % of the goal and plays each tempo twice before stepping up:
- 43
- 47
- 50
- 54
- 58
- 61
- 65
- 68
- 72
That's 16 loops and about 9 minutes before you're playing at 72 bpm. If it stops being clean on the way, stop the ramp there and loop that tempo until it is. With a microphone or an audio interface you can record while you play instead: Demiurg checks every loop and steps up only after two clean ones in a row, and back down after a poor one.
Questions
How fast should I play Arpeggio study: p-a-m-i?
The goal is 72 bpm in 16th notes, which is 4.8 notes a second. Start wherever every note is clean: the player begins at 43 bpm. Signed in, you can set a goal of your own, slower or faster, on the Exercises page.
What does p-a-m-i mean?
The right hand's fingers by their Spanish names: p is pulgar, the thumb; i is índice, the index; m is medio, the middle finger; a is anular, the ring finger. Classical guitar music writes them over the notes, and the tab here shows them under each note.
Who was Giuliani?
Mauro Giuliani (1781–1829) was an Italian guitarist and composer. His 120 right-hand studies, Op. 1, take a few chords and work through every way of arpeggiating them, and classical guitarists still practise them. This study is our own, in the same manner.
More classical exercises
All 12 classical exercises · Fretboard notes trainer · All 107 exercises