Arpeggios
ARTICLES
What Makes the Melodic Minor Scale So … Melodic?
January 2, 2021
Find out why this pattern favored by metal shredders and jazz gurus is one of the most accurately named modes.
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Grant Green's Bebop Blues
December 19, 2020
Dip a toe in the jazz-blues pool with these simple chord subs.
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Learn to Love Your Arpeggios
October 31, 2020
No matter the context, the arpeggio is the easiest and clearest way to outline harmony. I’ll prove it.
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Guthrie Govan’s Single-String Arpeggios
March 16, 2019
Break free from tired old patterns by rethinking your approach to shred.
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Beyond Blues: Bridging the Gap Between Chords and Arpeggios
March 21, 2015
Learn how to solo effortlessly using the CAGED system.
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Style Guide: All About Arpeggios
February 15, 2014
Play more melodic—and meaningful—solos by exploiting the sound of arpeggios.
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Fretboard Workshop: Non-Chord-Tone Soloing
November 16, 2013
Take a few triads and throw in some non-chord tones to make your solos more interesting.
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Fretboard Workshop: Using Triads to Create A Solo
July 14, 2013
Learn how to take some basic triad shapes–both major and minor–and turn them into a compelling, melodic solo.
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Beyond Blues: "Chicken" Blues
July 3, 2013
Investigate the 16-measure form found in "The Chicken" and learn to successfully navigate through the changes.
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Beyond Blues: How to Use the Super Locrian Scale
June 5, 2013
Get deep inside the Super Locrian scale and learn how to add ear-twisting tension to your blues lines.
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Beyond Blues: Altered-Scale Secrets
May 6, 2013
Unlock the secrets of implying altered sounds over dominant 7th chords using the Super Locrian scale.
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Drop Dead Shred: Sweep City
May 1, 2013
Learn the ins and outs, ups and downs of sweep picking with this lesson by uber-shredder Nita Strauss.
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Style Guide: Django Reinhardt and Gypsy Jazz
April 8, 2013
Uncover the secrets behind Django''s style by learning about three- and four-note voicings, blazing arpeggios, and some cool diminished-sounding tricks.
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Beyond Blues: 12 Keys, Five Shapes, and the Blues
April 2, 2013
Understand how to visualize chord shapes all over the neck and learn how five simple arpeggio shapes can unlock 12 keys.
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Twang 101: Why You Should Care About Hybrid Picking
March 25, 2013
What in the heck is “hybrid picking” and why should you care? Learn how to unleash some picking-hand tricks, create open-string phrases and pedal-steel licks.
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Beyond Blues: Chromatic Colors - How to Add Outside Notes to Your Lines
March 5, 2013
Learn about neighbor tones, enclosures, and develop some ear-twisting blues lines in this lesson about adding "outside" tones to your playing.
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Beyond Blues: Diminished Capacity
August 10, 2012
I’ve always been a fan of Robben Ford, Larry Carlton, and more recently, Matt Schofield. Influenced by the jazz language, they will use more complex ideas but don’t sound brainy doing it.
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Shred Your Enthusiasm: One, Two, Three, Four
August 10, 2012
If one had to choose the best “one, two, three, four” in all of recorded music, who would get the prize?
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Jazz Bootcamp: Breaking Down Minor II-Vs
June 18, 2012
The minor IIm-V7-Im progression often has people guessing. But as soon as you start exploring some of the different modes of minor scales, you can find sounds that you won’t get from your basic garden-variety major scale.
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Fretboard Workshop: Avoiding Practice
May 11, 2012
Learn how to transform otherwise boring exercises into musical phrases.
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