Flatpicking Up the Neck - Part Three
by Jeff Troxel

Hello and welcome back. This is the final installment of a three-part series on flatpicking up the neck that began in the September issue. Last month we looked at ways to access the higher positions using chord shapes in the key of G. In this issue we'll expand on the left-hand position shifts and apply them to a fiddle tune.

Let's begin with a warm-up exercise to help you get the hang of moving between different areas of the fingerboard. Figure One is an etude in the key of G that shifts through all the positions. The chord voicings written above the notes are a visual aid to assist you with left-hand placement. They are not intended as accompaniment for the etude.

Figure One

Now it's time to put these concepts into real music. Figure Two is an arrangement of the well-known fiddle tune The "Flowers of Edinburgh". The "A" section of Version One starts in 2nd position (meaning the 1st finger is covering the 2nd fret) and shifts back and forth to 3rd and 7th positions, using open strings as escape notes. The "B" section starts in 7th position and moves down to 5th and 3rd positions.

Take special care whenever fretted notes in higher positions mix with open strings. Precise finger placement is important if you want to reap the timbral benefits of fingering the song this way. A basic rule is to let all notes ring as long as possible, sometimes even holding a note into the attack of the next note.

An example of what I'm talking about is found in measures 12 and 13. The "E" note at the beginning of measure 12 can ring longer than its value so we hear it when the "E" is fretted in beat two. In measure 13, try holding the "B" played by the second finger all the way until beat four. Let the open "E" ring into the fretted "E" again in this measure.

These timbral effects are subtle, but essential to the sound of flatpicking tunes. Look for other places in the tune to do the same thing, using the recording as a guide for how it should sound.

Version Two starts with the "A" section sounding up an octave. Many of the position shifts found in Version One are repeated here. In measure 27 we shift up to 12th position, using the open 1st string (E) as the escape note. But when we come back down from 12th position in measure 28 there's no escape note. This is a direct position shift from the first finger in 12th position to the 4th finger in 7th position. Try to keep the fingers of the left hand in a four-fret stretch shape as you move so that all the fingers land in their respective frets in 7th position. It will take some work to achieve a smooth position shift, but it's easier than it seems.

Figure Two
The concepts we discussed in this series should be applied to other keys and other tunes. Always strive for tone over speed or technique and build your repertoire one tune at a time.
Good luck with your practice.
Jeff Troxel

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