I am starting to study arpeggios for guitar. My goal is to use them in solos. I have started with dominant 7th and major and minor 7th (in that order). I want to add other extended and altered chords later.
From my intensive bass days I am get used to play basic triads and I was also practicing these triads on guitar some time ago. I am following some fingerings but I am mainly trying to understand the relations between the notes and which notes are in each chord for playing them.
I am playing up and down each arpeggio and I am also following the usual patterns by playing them in groups of three notes, four, etc. and also other usual patterns.
Any advice for practicing arpeggios and how to start to use them in solos?
Thanks!
Hello Nuno, great question.
I devoted a lot of my practice to this last year, and so I am not the person you want to be answering this question, as it is all newish territory to me too. :D
What I personally found helpful to me, in terms of getting to use them off the bat in improvised solos was the following. (but i would wait for better advice :D )
I took each chord shape I knew, and then learned to play major 7 arpeggios, minor 7 arpeggios from each note in that chord shape. So for a typical E shaped bar chord I would learn these arpeggios from all 6 strings, plus another 3 arpeggios from the 7th. I then switched Chord shape and did the same with the new shape. This took a while, but not as long as you might think. the advantage of this, was that I was learning that I didnt always have to start on the root because I used chord shapes as references. Also i could think more quickly in improv, and thought more in terms of intervals than actual notes, which made it easier to transpose my arpeggio licks.
What this meant was, that now, when I improvise, as long as I know the chord I am playing over, I have the choice of loads of different arpeggios from lots of places othe neck, starting on any note of the chord, and I regularly use them in improve when gigging, so I know they must be in my muscle memory now. Also, looking at the in this way, it is easier for me to link them into longer arpeggios covering more frets.
What I am working on now,what I see as the next step is learning which arpeggio substitutions I can use for certain chords, but it is early days for me in this.
I am sure you will get much better advice but I just wanted to share what I did :D
Good luck
"I like to play that guitar. I have to stare at it while I'm playing it because I'm not very good at playing it."
Noel Gallagher (who took the words right out of my mouth)
Exactly! I am finding the same troubles: I must start the arpeggio from the root (even from the lowest root), I have lots of problems trying to play from the highest note. I think I am get used to play from low to high and it is difficult to me to break this way of play them.
I have started from the dominant 7th because I read that these arpeggios can be used over standard blues progressions. As it is well known progression to me, it should be easier to practice over it.
I guess I must keep doing so until it goes to me muscle memory, too.
Thanks for the tip!
