Arpeggios
An arpeggio is a chord played one note at a time: the C major arpeggio is C, E and G. There are 96 arpeggios per instrument here, 8 types in all 12 keys, with the notes, the degrees, the positions and the sound going up and down.
Choose your instrument
- Guitar (acoustic and electric) The 5 CAGED shapes, in one and two octaves · 96 arpeggios
- Bass One octave, with the root on the 4th or the 3rd string · 96 arpeggios
- Piano The keyboard with the notes, in 1 and 2 octaves · 96 arpeggios
Good first ones on guitar
How to practice an arpeggio
- Learn the notes and the degrees: 1, 3 and 5 in triads; 1, 3, 5 and 7 in seventh chords.
- Play slowly, root to root, going up and down, with the metronome on.
- Raise the tempo little by little, only when it comes out clean.
- On guitar and bass, go through every position until they connect; on piano, play one octave and then two.
Frequently asked questions
What is an arpeggio?
Playing the notes of a chord one at a time instead of all together. The C major arpeggio (C) is C, E and G; the A minor arpeggio (Am) is A, C and E.
What is the difference between an arpeggio and a scale?
A scale has every note of a key (7 in the major scale); an arpeggio has only the notes of the chord: 3 in a triad and 4 in a seventh chord. That is why an arpeggio sounds like the chord itself.
What is the CAGED system?
A way of dividing the guitar neck into 5 regions, each one with the shape of an open chord: C, A, G, E and D. Moved to another note, the 5 shapes cover the whole neck, and the arpeggio of any chord fits in each of them.
Do the guitar arpeggios work on electric guitar?
Yes. Acoustic and electric guitars share the same tuning, so the positions and shapes are the same.