Flatpicking Up the Neck - Part Two
by Jeff Troxel

Hello everybody, and welcome back. This column continues a discussion on playing up the neck that we began last month. In Part One we looked at ways to use open strings and upper-position notes together to create timbral effects and expand the range of the C Major scale. This time I'd like to offer some ideas on how you might organize the fretboard to help you find your way around the upper positions.

The key of G is a good starting point for flatpickers since so much of the repertoire is in that key. One way to start to understand the lay of the land up the neck is to learn some chord voicings for G in different positions. To keep it as simple as possible, I'll use only voicings found on the top three strings.

Figure One shows six voicings for a G Major chord moving up the neck. Notice that Examples 3 and 4 use the same voicing, but with a different fingering that moves the left hand to a new position.

In the key of G the "one" chord (I) is the G triad. Other triads that would commonly be found in the key would be the IV chord (C), and the V chord (D). Figure Two shows how we can take the same chord fingerings found in Figure One and apply them to the I, IV and V chords in a progression.

The following examples in Figure 3 show how a melody can be woven into our chord progressions. Each example is a short etude based on the chord examples above. In some examples I've mixed open strings with the upper position notes to stay true to the flatpicking style. Some fingerings will change slightly from the chord shape to accommodate the moving line, but if you look closely you'll still find the basic shapes contained in the melody.

Recognizing chord shapes up the neck can help you bring out the underlying harmony of a song in your solo, thus making for more interesting melodies and arrangements. Over time you'll learn to recognize and use these shapes in other keys as well.

I hope the ideas presented here will help you see some of the possibilities for playing up the neck. In the next column I'll apply these concepts to a flatpicking tune. Until then, good luck with your practice!

Jeff Troxel

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