Scary demisemiquaver rollercoaster whatsits in MOKH

[Mike Moss]

So I was trying to play through Alfred Farland's arrangement of My Old Kentucky Home, and the first "brilliante" variation contains some pretty crazy demisemiquaver arpeggios... the notes aren't hard to hit (since he makes a very intelligent use of the open strings) but I don't know how I'm supposed to play them that fast without sounding messy. Farland's fingerings basically instruct you to hit the first notes with an index finger glide, and then the rising notes with a thumb glide, but I think it sounds better played using the ring finger as an auxiliary... does anyone know how to approach these lightning-fast arpeggios?

[Jody Stecher]

Farland's instructions should produce the fastest possible results. One upward motion of one finger followed by one downward motion of one thumb. The glide is a continuous motion.The player doesn't stop at each string. It's like the sound produced when dusting off a piano keyboard. Separate fingers aren't likely to be able to compete.

[Mike Moss]

Thanks, it's a bit clearer now -- I wasn't sure whether every single note had to be picked cleanly or wheter it should be, as you said, like dusting off a piano keyboard. I'll stick to Farland's method and see if I can get the hang of it. It's a really nice arrangement, I especially like the 2nd (minor) variation.