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Musical Major Arpeggio

Exercises
21

In the first part on major arpeggios, we learned some

basic patterns and how to connect them across the
guitar neck (the roadmap).

We're now going to look at different ways in which

we can navigate these arpeggio patterns musically.
You'll be surprised at how much melodic colour you
can squeeze out of just three notes.

These exercises will also develop your fret and pick-

hand co-ordination and fluidity of movement across
the neck. This translates to ear-grabbing solos that
connect to the chords you're playing over.

Watch the presentation below for the big picture and

then scroll down for more detailed help...

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The Basic Concept

Before, we were simply playing the arpeggio in its
natural sequence - 1 3 5 1 3 5 1 3 5 etc.

The exercises in this lesson are about creating

alternative sequences, such as 1 5 3 1 5 3 1 5 3 etc.

The result is a more dynamic, less linear expression

of the arpeggio. It's about squeezing the most
possible melodic colour from these three simple
notes, simply by changing the order in which we play
them.

This not only sounds great, but it also gets you

practicing key lead skills such as string skipping,
sequential repetition and larger fret jumps.

The video showed us a few examples, but let's

explore the full potential of our major arpeggios
using the exercises below.

Try to devote at least 20 minutes per day to these

and you'll be surprised at how quickly you progress.

As always, use a metronome to speed up gradually,

using increments of 5-10 BPM, only increasing the
metronome tempo when you're 100% confident with
playing at the current tempo.

1. "Staggered" Major

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Arpeggio Exercises
Staggered sequences can best be described as
"interrupting" the straight sequence with a repetition
of certain notes along the way.

For example, here we play the arpeggio sequence as

normal - 1 3 5 - but we interrupt it with a step back.
So what we end up with is - 3 < 1 > 3 > 5 < 3 > 5 > 1
< 5 > 1 > 3 < 1 > 3 > 5 etc.

You could describe this as "one step back, two

forward".

In A major (suggested fingering in blue)...

Although I've marked on the full, 6-string sequence,

you can break these up into 5, 4, 3 and even 2-string
arpeggios. For example, you could just play the top 3
strings of the sequence.

Coming down the pattern...

Need help with picking these

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exercises? Get these exercises and

more (including other chords) with
economy picking mapped on to the
tabs - click here for info.

Remember, you can apply this sequence to any

pattern from the first part, so refer back to the
patterns as you plan your practice. You can also start
on any position in the pattern - you don't always
have to start on the lowest string and play through
the entire pattern.

For example, we could isolate a particular part of the

pattern for a short staggered phrase...

Tip: be sure to practice these sequences in other

keys. If you've learned the patterns from the 1st part,
simply move the root of the pattern to the
appropriate note - e.g. D for D major, E for E major, F#
for F# major etc.

To really challenge yourself, try this sequence across

one of the wide patterns from the first part. I
recommend breaking it down into small segments
(e.g. 6 note segments) and gradually piecing it
together...

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Reverse!

2. Note/String Skipping
Exercises
String skipping is a powerful skill to have as a lead
guitarist. It enables us to create even more dynamic
arpeggio sequences. Plus, practicing these exercises
will help to develop the muscle memory required to
negotiate those more awkward scale movements.

Before, we were simply playing from one note to the

next (or previous) in the 1 3 5 sequence. This time,
we're going to periodically skip notes in the

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sequence...

Coming back down...

If you feel overwhelmed by any of these exercises,

just remember as little as 20 minutes per day (on
whatever days you can do) will be enough to see
decent progress.

Here we play a more prolonged skipped note

sequence in 4-note groupings...

Descending...

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3. Fret Jumping Exercises

Taking just the top 3 strings of the guitar, we can
create repeating sequences up and down the entire
neck. Great if you want to move smoothly and
musically into a certain position on the neck for the
next part of your solo.

The challenge with these exercises is that we need to

make large, clean fret jumps between each
"segment". So start slow with these ones. Take a look
(I've marked the segments with a vertical line)...

Notice how the first and last segments in that

sequence are the same pattern, but an octave apart.
So we've connected the neck-wide pattern.

As mentioned before, you don't always have to play

the entire neck like this. You can isolate and repeat
any segments you want.

Let's now incorporate a "skipped note" sequence

from earlier, combining it with the fret jumping...

How These Exercises Will

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Benefit You
By practicing these 3 types of arpeggio exercise -
staggered, note skipping and fret jumping - you'll
find that you become more skillful in moving across
the neck and between strings fluidly.

As well as resulting in great sounding arpeggio lines,

the muscle memory you gain from these exercises
will transfer over to other phrases and sequences
you'll encounter, such as with scales.

The ultimate aim is to get to the stage where you can

confidently play anywhere on the neck, musically
and smoothly.

Given enough practice time, these exercises will

prove a solid foundation for your lead playing for
many years to come!

Get a printable version of this lesson

(plus a lot more) - click here for info

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