Arpeggios
Major and minor triads across strings
What Are Arpeggios?
An arpeggio is a chord played one note at a time rather than strummed together. Where scales give you all the notes in a key, arpeggios give you only the chord tones — the root, 3rd, and 5th (and 7th for seventh chord arpeggios).
Arpeggios are incredibly powerful for soloing because they outline the harmony directly. Playing an Am arpeggio over an Am chord means every note you hit is a strong chord tone — it sounds deliberate and melodic.
Triad Shapes
Major and minor triads have consistent shapes across string groups. The most useful are across strings 4-3-2 and 3-2-1:
Major triad (strings 4-3-2): Root on string 4, 3rd on string 3, 5th on string 2
Minor triad: Same but the 3rd is one fret lower
These shapes are moveable, just like barre chords. Find the root on the appropriate string and the shape gives you the arpeggio.
Tab Examples
Am arpeggio across the neck
e-------------------5----8-- B--------------5--8--------- G--------5--9--------------- D---7--10-------------------- A--7------------------------- E----------------------------
C major arpeggio
e-------------------8--12--- B--------------8--12-------- G---------9--12------------- D---10--12------------------- A--10------------------------ E----------------------------
Tips
- Arpeggios = chord tones played individually
- Use arpeggios to outline chord changes in your solos
- They work beautifully with fingerpicking and sweep picking
- Start with major and minor triads, then add 7th arpeggios
Practice Exercises
- Learn the Am and C major arpeggios across the neck
- Play the arpeggio for each chord in a progression as it changes
- Try fingerpicking an arpeggio pattern over Am-C-G-Em
- Combine pentatonic scale notes with arpeggio tones in your solos