# Clear up what an arpeggio is for me



## Jim DaddyO (Mar 20, 2009)

My understanding is that it is the notes in a chord played individually. So an arpeggio of a major chord would be hitting the root, the third and the fifth of the chord. A minor would be the root, flatted third, and fifth...and so on, to which you can go on to 7th chords by adding the 7th and 9th chords by adding the 2nd an octave up...and so on. 

Is this correct?

I have always had my doubts as I never heard a really simple basic explanation for it and I think I would like to try farting around with them. Seems to be a recommended practice.


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## kat_ (Jan 11, 2007)

Yeppers, that's it in a nutshell. 



Jim DaddyO said:


> My understanding is that it is the notes in a chord played individually.
> 
> ...
> 
> Is this correct?


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## 4345567 (Jun 26, 2008)

________________


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## Jim DaddyO (Mar 20, 2009)

Thanks, much appreciated!


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## Swervin55 (Oct 30, 2009)

to take it a step further, consider playing the triads in a key through all the combinations of 3 strings. For example, play the individual notes of the triad on strings 1-3, then continue to strings 2-4, 3-5 and finally 4-6. This is what I was taught as a true arpeggio. Hope this makes sense.


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## kat_ (Jan 11, 2007)

Swervin55 said:


> This is what I was taught as a true arpeggio.


That's a cool exercise you can use to practice arpeggios but it's not a "true arpeggio". A lot of folks like to use arpeggios as sweep picking exercises or fingerpicking exercises, so the definition gets muddied by the guitar specific applications. You can sing an arpeggio. You can play it on piano. There are lots of great ways to practice it on guitar but for someone looking for a straight definition of the term it's simply the notes of a chord played one at a time.


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## Swervin55 (Oct 30, 2009)

kat_ said:


> That's a cool exercise you can use to practice arpeggios but it's not a "true arpeggio". A lot of folks like to use arpeggios as sweep picking exercises or fingerpicking exercises, so the definition gets muddied by the guitar specific applications. You can sing an arpeggio. You can play it on piano. There are lots of great ways to practice it on guitar but for someone looking for a straight definition of the term it's simply the notes of a chord played one at a time.


Cool. That clears it up for me as well then.


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## fredyfreeloader (Dec 11, 2010)

When playing the arpeggio's are you simply holding a chord formation, say a simple C in the first position, and picking the individual notes or are you expanding this into what some people call chord tones, chordal tones, chord tone scales, or chord tone riffs. I guess it depends on your own personal preference. I have been getting emails from on line teachers raving about these chord tone things. 
I hope my crappy drawing is readable, I couldn't get the book into the copier. These are used in a couple of books as scales running from the third fret to the 15th. fret and higher. There is a cd with samples of their interpretation of what a riff running the full lenght of the neck should sound like in their opinion. I found it interesting as I used basic arpeggios in old folk music, like Peter,Paul and Mary style things.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Cherry Lane Music Company has a useful book called "Arpeggios" by Joe Charupakorn which includes fingering diagrams, theory, notation, etc. 

Available from Amazon: http://www.amazon.ca/Arpeggios-Guit...UTF8&qid=1405940468&sr=1-1&keywords=arpeggios

Peace, Mooh.


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## fredyfreeloader (Dec 11, 2010)

Great link, I find anything theory related interesting. I have dozens of books on scales etc. and still I find there is no end to learning from how someone else sees a scale, arpeggio, interval or mode played on a guitar. Some of my books I acquired back in the 1960 era. Things were a little different back then teaching was slow and plodding no tab, very few guitar books available and most of them from Alfred's, you bought the books they had in their store or hoped another store had a bigger selection (LOL) different store more Alfred's.


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## Guest (Jul 21, 2014)

Good responses. If you're like me though, you'd probably
like to see/hear what these gentlemen are talking about.

[video=youtube;H0-8C8Zyl3k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0-8C8Zyl3k[/video]


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

fredyfreeloader said:


> Great link, I find anything theory related interesting. I have dozens of books on scales etc. and still I find there is no end to learning from how someone else sees a scale, arpeggio, interval or mode played on a guitar. Some of my books I acquired back in the 1960 era. Things were a little different back then teaching was slow and plodding no tab, very few guitar books available and most of them from Alfred's, you bought the books they had in their store or hoped another store had a bigger selection (LOL) different store more Alfred's.


I have the same problem. Books. Lots of books. Even books I don't need. 

Peace, Mooh.


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