Counterfeiting Blumenfeld

...I haven't denuded the Holy Grail of guitar lickery, but 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.

One thing of significant importance is to look for inspiration outside of guitars, guitar playing and guitar players. 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.

I'll explain each example in sequence and try to simplify their hazards. They expand in length and laboriousness toward the end; the last two are 32 note patterns! Don't mind the time signatures of 22/16 and 32/16, they were implemented to force perfect repeats in GuitarPro. I implore you to make use of any information imparted here, no matter how small. Take what you need and shed what you do not.


Etude exercise: