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Example 1
We have four arpeggios from the key of C major on the first three
strings. The first arpeggio is a C major (C, E, G) the second one is B
diminished (B, D, F) the third one is Am (A, C, E) and the last one is G
Major (G, B, D). These are some of my favorite arpeggio shapes, you can
really get these flying up and down the neck. I don't use sweep picking
for these, I alternate pick the notes and use a pull off on the first
string. Make sure you move these shapes around the neck to different
keys. |
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Example 2
Now we are going to do string skipping arpeggios. This is a really cool
way to play arpeggios. They are played on the first four strings, but we
don't even play the B string. The first arp is a Em arp (E, G, B), the second is G major (G, B, D) the third is a F#m (F#, A, C#) and the
last one is D# dim (D#, F#, A). I use hammer-ons and pull-offs to make
them more fluent sounding. The progression is based off an E dorian
scale, except the D#dim which is from the E harmonic minor scale. |
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Example 3
This is the main theme from my song "Touch the Sky" from my Full
Circle cd. The arpeggios are based off the E major Scale (E, F#, G#,
A, B, C#, D#) in 6/8 time. The first arp is a E maj9 (E, G#, B, D#,
F#). The second is a C#m7#5 arpeggio, (C#, E, A, B) and the last one is
a B add9 arpeggio (B, D#, F#, C#). I don't use any sweep picking for
this one either, I use alternate picking.
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Example 4
Our last lick starts off with some extended arpeggios. In the first bar we
have a F#-11 arpeggio (F#, A, C#, E, G#, B). I rearranged the notes so
it drapes across the neck. The next arp is G add9 #11 ( G, A, B, C#, D),
which is based off the G lydian scale. For this one, I also spread the notes
across the neck—pretty cool huh? The second measure uses smaller triad
arps: A Maj (A, C#, E) and G maj (G, B, D). The last two arps are Bm7 (B, D,
F#, A) and F#m7 (F#, A, C#, E).The last measure of this lick sounds
great over an A Dom11 chord because the notes in the triads A and G
make up that chord. Again, no sweeping is used, but feel free to
experiment.
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