Arpeggio help!!!

[Magneten]

Hey!

I have learned all the 7th apreggios all over the freboard, major 7th, minor 7th, dominant 7th and minor b5 7th. And now im trying to memorize the intervals on the arpeggios, if it's a root 3rd 5th or 7th, but i'ts really hard.
For example, If I memorize one apeggio pattern i forget it when i memorize another one.

I need some help on how I should practise to get this down.

Thanks, Markus

PS: Sorry for my English!!

[TheAngusBurger]

My advice would be to learn all the inversions of one arpeggio, such as a Dominant 7th, and just alter that arpeggio to turn it into other arpeggios. Take G7 (G B D F). You could lower the 3rd to make it G Min 7th (G Bb D F), raise the seventh to make it G Maj 7 (G B D F#) or lower the 3rd and 5th to make it Minor 7th b5 (G Bb Db F). By just seeing the notes that change, it should make things a lot easier.

[billmeedog]

My advice would be to learn all the inversions of one arpeggio, such as a Dominant 7th, and just alter that arpeggio to turn it into other arpeggios. Take G7 (G B D F). You could lower the 3rd to make it G Min 7th (G Bb D F), raise the seventh to make it G Maj 7 (G B D F#) or lower the 3rd and 5th to make it Minor 7th b5 (G Bb Db F). By just seeing the notes that change, it should make things a lot easier.

Hey AngusBurger,

That seems like a pretty efffective (and mentally streamlined/"less-confusing") method for someone just getting into the arpeggios!

I guess I'm a bit confused as to why this person/student wouldn't want to learn all of the Triads ("3-note-chords" - like: major, minor, diminished, and augmented) Arpeggios BEFORE delving into the "4-note-chord" Arpeggios (major-7th, minor-7th, dominant-7th, minor-7th(b5), diminished-7th.) To my way of thinking, this would be akin to trying to learn calculus-math BEFORE having learned advanced algebra and trigonometry - LOL! (Maybe more simply, it would be like learning how to "run" before learning how to walk!)

A couple of other things to consider:

1.) Learning EVERY-note, at EVERY-fret, on EVERY-string of the guitar (by letter-name) can certainly help speed-up the process of knowing/memorizing the INTERVALS of each arpeggio's-notes.

2.) Arranging all three-note (for the triads) or four-note (for the sevenths) on a SINGLE-STRING and then practicing them (build slowly!) is a GREAT way to literally SEE/VISUALIZE the exact interval-distances from one chord-tone to the next and all the way from the lowest-pitched note to the highest-pitched note! IMO, two-handed tapping is an excellent way to execute these single-string arranged arpeggios (and their inversions.) By using the two-handed tapping approach, you get the added-benefit of psychologically putting yourself into the mind of a piano/keyboard-player where "left=descend/right=ascend" (Sorry AngusBurger and all you "Lefties"-LOL!) as well as the simple visualization benefit of the interval-distance-measuremrnt" from one chord-tone to the next. (IE: Root-Position Dominant7th: Chord-Tone-Root-->4-frets-->Chord-Tone-Maj3rd-->3-frets-->Chord-Tone-Perfect5th-->3-frets-->Chord-Tone-Dom7th.

Let's plug-in some actual notes & fret-numbers:

(We'll use Gdom7th on the E6-string):

E1------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B2------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G3------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D4------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A5------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E6-------3---7---10---13---10---7-----------------------------------------------
______*\_____---6---______/*___________________________

*I put the example time-value=sextuplets below the TAB.

** Try channeling a vintage Edward Van Halen vibe whilst tapping out these triadic-sextuplets!!! (In fact, the tapping-section of the classic-cadenza/solo by EVH called "Eruption," is LOADED with major, minor, and diminished triads alike, and even includes a few inverted-chord arpeggios as well! Check it out some time!)

Of course, if tapping is NOT your thing, and you're more of a purest or whatever, then flatpicking or combining flatpicking with fretboard-legato techniques, is a great way to improve one's concentration AND rapid position-shifting abilities!

Either way, best-of-luck, and I hope this helps someone!

~Bill Meehan~

[billmeedog]

Hey AngusBurger,

That seems like a pretty efffective (and mentally streamlined/"less-confusing") method for someone just getting into the arpeggios!

I guess I'm a bit confused as to why this person/student wouldn't want to learn all of the Triads ("3-note-chords" - like: major, minor, diminished, and augmented) Arpeggios BEFORE delving into the "4-note-chord" Arpeggios (major-7th, minor-7th, dominant-7th, minor-7th(b5), diminished-7th.) To my way of thinking, this would be akin to trying to learn calculus-math BEFORE having learned advanced algebra and trigonometry - LOL! (Maybe more simply, it would be like learning how to "run" before learning how to walk!)

A couple of other things to consider:

1.) Learning EVERY-note, at EVERY-fret, on EVERY-string of the guitar (by letter-name) can certainly help speed-up the process of knowing/memorizing the INTERVALS of each arpeggio's-notes.

2.) Arranging all three-note (for the triads) or four-note (for the sevenths) on a SINGLE-STRING and then practicing them (build slowly!) is a GREAT way to literally SEE/VISUALIZE the exact interval-distances from one chord-tone to the next and all the way from the lowest-pitched note to the highest-pitched note! IMO, two-handed tapping is an excellent way to execute these single-string arranged arpeggios (and their inversions.) By using the two-handed tapping approach, you get the added-benefit of psychologically putting yourself into the mind of a piano/keyboard-player where "left=descend/right=ascend" (Sorry AngusBurger and all you "Lefties"-LOL!) as well as the simple visualization benefit of the interval-distance-measuremrnt" from one chord-tone to the next. (IE: Root-Position Dominant7th: Chord-Tone-Root-->4-frets-->Chord-Tone-Maj3rd-->3-frets-->Chord-Tone-Perfect5th-->3-frets-->Chord-Tone-Dom7th.

Let's plug-in some actual notes & fret-numbers:

(We'll use Gdom7th on the E6-string):

E1------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B2------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G3------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D4------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A5------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E6-------3---7---10---13---10---7-----------------------------------------------
______*\_____---6---______/*___________________________

*I put the example time-value=sextuplets below the TAB.

** Try channeling a vintage Edward Van Halen vibe whilst tapping out these triadic-sextuplets!!! (In fact, the tapping-section of the classic-cadenza/solo by EVH called "Eruption," is LOADED with major, minor, and diminished triads alike, and even includes a few inverted-chord arpeggios as well! Check it out some time!)

Of course, if tapping is NOT your thing, and you're more of a purest or whatever, then flatpicking or combining flatpicking with fretboard-legato techniques, is a great way to improve one's concentration AND rapid position-shifting abilities!

Either way, best-of-luck, and I hope this helps someone!

~Bill Meehan~

Hey Guys,

I just realized that unless you can use multi-finger tapping with your picking-hand, then the example I TABbed-out is a bit of a "tough-stretch!" Here's another Gdom7 arpeggio arranged on a single-string (G-3 string) which is 2-octaves higher than the one I TABbed! This one should be WAY easier to execute while only requiring a single-digit/finger TAP with your picking-hand, OK?!?


(We'll use Gdom7th on the G3-string):

_______ /********** 6 ***********\
_______/****|*****|****|*****|*****\
E1--------|-----|------|------|------|------|-------------------------------------------
B2--------|-----|------|------|------|------|-------------------------------------------
G3------12---16---19---22---19---16------------------------------------------
D4------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A5------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E6------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*I used time-value=sextuplets as a playing-example above in the TAB.


I hope you guys find this to be a bit more reasonable/accessible to play!

Best of luck!

"Know your fretboard!!!"

~Bill Meehan~