Cross-String Ornaments

I suggest you read a few articles on cross string ornamentation by two people way smarter than I:

David Russell: Two String Trills
Stanley Yates: Everything You Wanted to Know about Cross String Ornaments

Russell and Yates give two different fingerings to use for cross-string ornaments. Russell’s method is to use aimp:

aimp-trill

Yates uses imam, which is a bit harder to get down. However, he offers practice advice that works very well in the article linked above.

miam-trill

There’s also the option of raking a finger across two strings, which can work really well, but it’s hard to get in time and rhythmic.

mimm-trill

The advantage of miam and mimm is that the thumb is free to do it’s thing. This can be a big advantage in more complex pieces.

Personal Preference

Your personal preference and strengths are going to determine which fingering pattern works best. My go-to cross string trill is aimp. However, I’m working on nailing miam because it frees up the thumb.

Posted on in Classical Guitar Technique

Comments

  • Joe

    Hi, Chris! I follow you to your blog from twitter. Nice blog!

    I like this kind of articles, short and clear, with references.

    Thanks for sharing!

  • Mark

    It seems like everyone has a different preference on this! My guitar teacher recently recommended aimi and mimp.

  • kuan

    The problem with Yates’ fingering is if you want to play, say, six notes. DR’s fingering just comes back around.

  • Ken Brown

    For cross string trills my guitar teacher likes
    to use combinations that are taken out of the right to left direction
    of ami tremolo. mia or iam.

    so I use m i a (m being the longer finger) and p

    by the way, I’m my own teacher now. 😉 LOL