Arpeggios across the neck

An arpeggio is a chord played one note at a time. As a soloing tool, arpeggio shapes show you exactly where the chord tones are, so you can outline the harmony instead of just running a scale. This lesson gives you major and minor arpeggio shapes built on the E-shape and A-shape barre chords you know, adds the seventh, and shows how they join up across the whole neck.

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

• Play major and minor triad arpeggios with the root on the 6th and 5th strings.
• Add the ♭7 to a minor arpeggio to make a minor 7 arpeggio.
• Switch between two arpeggios in one position as the chords change.

An arpeggio is a chord played one note at a time. For a soloist, an arpeggio shape is a map of the chord tones in one position: land on these notes and your line spells out the harmony.

The easiest arpeggio shapes grow from barre chords you already know. Hold an E-shape A major barre at fret 5 and pick its notes one by one: that is the core of the A major arpeggio. Add the chord tones that sit within reach, a fret below or above, and you have a complete two-octave shape.

• Major to minor: every 3rd drops a fret (C♯ becomes C for A minor).
• Minor to minor 7: add the ♭7 (G in A minor).
• Root on the 5th string: the A-shape barre gives a second set of arpeggio shapes in the same area of the neck. D major at fret 5 sits right next to A minor at fret 5.

Across the neck. Every chord tone appears in many places. The full-neck diagram shows all the As, Cs and Es: the arpeggio shapes are windows onto this one pattern. Moving between windows, on a root or another chord tone, is how arpeggios cross the neck.

Changing with the chords. The real power comes when the chord changes and you switch arpeggios without moving your hand. Over Am to D, the A minor and D major shapes both live at fret 5.

From chord to arpeggio.

1. Fret the A major E-shape barre at fret 5. Pick the six strings one at a time, low to high. Those are six notes of the arpeggio.
2. Release the chord. Add C♯ on the A string at fret 4 and on the G string at fret 6.
3. Play the full shape low to high and back, one note per finger, with each note separate.

Changing chords. Record yourself strumming Am for a bar and D for a bar. Over the Am bar, play notes from the A minor shape; over the D bar, from the D major shape. Aim to land on a chord tone exactly on beat 1 of each bar, then leave a rest.

Do these in order. Each one is small. Tick the ones you have practised.

• 1.A major and A minor

  4 min · 60 → 90 BPM

  1. Hold an A major E-shape barre at fret 5 and pick each note from low to high. That is the core of the arpeggio.
  2. Now play the full A major arpeggio shape from the diagram, low to high and back, one note at a time.
  3. Switch to the A minor shape: every C♯ becomes C.

  You have it when

  • You can play both arpeggios up and down without a wrong note, naming the roots.
  I practised this one

• 2.Add the seventh

  4 min · 60 → 80 BPM

  1. Play the A minor arpeggio again.
  2. Add the G (the ♭7) on the D string at fret 5 and the B string at fret 8.
  3. Play the Am7 arpeggio up and down, then over an Am7 chord you have recorded.

  You have it when

  • You play Am7 up and down, and the G notes sound like part of the chord.
  I practised this one

• 3.Change with the chord

  5 min · 60 → 80 BPM

  1. Loop Am for one bar and D for one bar (record it, or imagine it with a metronome).
  2. Over Am, play the A minor arpeggio at fret 5. Over D, switch to the D major arpeggio (A-shape at fret 5).
  3. Stay in the same position: only the notes change.
  4. Make it musical: start each bar on a different chord tone and leave rests.

  You have it when

  • You switch arpeggios on beat 1 of each bar without leaving the position.
  I practised this one

Play arpeggios slowly enough that each note is separate: 60 BPM, two notes per beat, rising to 90. Arpeggios are about precision, not speed.

• Letting notes ring together like a strummed chord. For a lead sound, lift each finger as you move to the next note, or roll the fingertip so one note stops as the next starts.
• Running arpeggios up and down without musical purpose. Use arpeggios as note choices for phrases: land on chord tones at the moment the chord changes.

Arpeggios are how soloists make the harmony audible in a single line. In blues and rock, mixing a pentatonic phrase with a few arpeggio notes on the chord change is enough to make a solo follow the chords.

Short version (10 minutes)

Play A major and A minor arpeggios up and down, naming the roots.

Standard version (about 30 minutes)

Do all three exercises, then improvise over Am to D for two minutes using only arpeggio notes.

• An arpeggio is a chord played one note at a time.
• Arpeggio shapes grow from barre-chord shapes.
• Major to minor: the 3rd drops a fret. Minor to minor 7: add the ♭7.
• Change arpeggios with the chords, staying in one position.

You are ready to move on when you can honestly say:

• I can play major and minor arpeggios with the root on the 6th and 5th strings.
• I can play a minor 7 arpeggio.
• I can switch arpeggios with the chords while staying in one position.