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Arpeggio Deep Dive: How to use Arpeggios when improvising chord changes – EP512

Description

In this week’s guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play major Arpeggios and dominant 7 Arpeggios and how to integrate them into your lead when improvising. This lesson also comes with 3 practice exercises.

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Exercise 1

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Exercise 2

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Exercise 3

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Composition

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Comments

    • Robert Burlin says

      You could do the next 10 lessons in a row on arpeggios and I would love it.
      All the patterns and the playing of arpeggio patterns never took with me.
      But now I want to do it and do it well like you say and doing the right work is also important.
      And the way you got me working here is as right as it can be, even thrilling and twanging my musical funny bone.
      I will digest this one until it becomes part of me.

  4. jimbostrat says

    Michael Allen beat me out here!! What’s that well-known Cars hit tune?? You’re just what I needed?? At any rate…long week and getting late here but this is just the boost I needed Brian!! Everyone keeps talking arpeggios and triads to really charge up my more professional sounding solos and this study is absolutely perfecto, Brian!! Jim C.

  5. Kiwi Rowan L says

    Hi Brian,
    Wishing everyone a happy and restorative Easter including you mate – I hope you get a break from your formidable schedule of work !!!
    Thanks for putting this together – I feel as though you had me in mind – this is one of those gem lessons which look simple on the surface but if pulled apart , moved around and really thought about becomes transformational and a major milestone – it makes me think of the one ring to bind them all’ type of thing – it pulls so much of your other teaching together as a sort of a major intersection and makes the end goal of improvisation clearer..
    Thank you so much Brother!
    (Another suggestion perhaps? -Could you please do a lesson in minor 3rds and 6ths following your excellent series EP363, EP490 , EP504 and EP443 which I studied in that order for many weeks and it finally came together.)

  13. T-Bish says

    Perfect timing on the lesson. I had ventured into C shaped arpeggios when practicing your 501 lesson, where you use the C shape arpeggio for the G chord on the 10th fret. Mainly I was trying to strengthen my pinky finger, which doesn’t always like to stretch that far across the fret board. Now you’ve provided us something to practice the 1, 4, 5 arpeggios in the same region. Very cool. Thanks for all the work on the PDFs. Appreciate it.

  14. Raymond P says

    This is one of the most helpful lessons I’ve seen yet. Showing us how to utilize the chord shapes along the fretboard and your Arpeggio patterns guide is absolutely fantastic. Also, numbering each note in their various positions is extremely helpful too. I’ve always wished the notes would be numbered like this. It sure helps me understand and remember the fretboard note patterns better. I can’t thank you enough Brian.

  15. Robert G says

    Hi, Brian,
    I’m going to second what NB said; this is timely. Just this week past I’ve been looking over two previous lessons you’d posted on Arpeggios – EP164 and 166. I watched them both back to back completely, just to try and get the gist of the lessons as a whole. This latest lesson just makes it more solid for me, fills in some of the gaps.
    I know, as you say repeatedly, that this is not a simple topic, and we have to “just do it”, so to speak. But I think it’s worth it…you’ve shown that there’s something to be gained from this.
    Thanks again, Brian,
    Keep up the good work!
    Bob

  17. Greg W says

    Thanks Brian! Excellent lesson material… really appreciate the thought and work that went into this. Definitely a new way of looking at the fret board for me – and can see how this brings a more sophisticated sound to my playing. It will take some time to fully embrace and internalize this – but can see the prize at the end of tunnel. Also – thanks to those that have referenced previous lessons in their comments!

  20. Randy H says

    Great Lesson……..This is one of the keys to open up the fretboard tying chord shapes together for the changes. I would be interested in any other future lessons on the arpeggio approach to figuring out the fretboard.
    Thanks for your help,

    Randy

  25. Dick S says

    Hi Brian,
    The best to all your family and Argo too this Easter holiday. This is such a great lesson. So much music can happen using arpeggios. It’s my go to for fills and soloes. Let’s next go minor.

    Dick from Philly.

  27. Laurel C says

    Timely lesson, arpeggios are a secret weapon and deserve a deep dive as they have patterns of their own too. Good to get to some foundational building blocks on major arpeggios as this will really help to integrate them into our playing using the C-E-G shapes of CAGED and the 1-4-5 chords with the supplied material. Appreciate the major work that has gone into collating the visual and practical material for this lesson. While there are a dozen or so lessons on arpeggios such as ep 205 and others, it is this lesson that provides the fundamental understanding of the arpeggio shape and connection to the fretboard. It is a Yes for a continuation of highlighting the building blocks to understand arpeggios, minor shapes and all of CAGED and any essential theory to know about them..

  28. David S says

    Brian, I don’t know if anybody else could hear intro to Pretty Woman in these arpeggio’s but I sure could.Keep up this kind of lessons Happy Easter to all. Thank You, Thank You, Thank
    You for your lessons.
    .

  30. Jack B says

    Everything seems to come together with this, scales, fret noted, chords, triads and intervals! I had to stop the video and noodle around with all of this because everything just clicked! Great!

  31. Michael H says

    I would definitely encourage you to develop more exercises with arpeggios. This lesson has a big affect on my thinking about my guitar playing. Perhaps a lesson where you mix in minor chord arpeggio s in the composition would be very helpful.
    Thanks for your hard work.

  36. Jesse P says

    Great lesson! I need to drill these into my brain. If you were to practice arpeggio runs would this be what you would do? That’s how I’m thinking of it, because I only new one position until today. Thank you!

  37. Alan V says

    I love this Brian, as well as all the triad stuff. It is really unlocking the mystery of the fretboard layout. Even when there is a change of key or just odd “out of key” chords thrown in, they provide a solid foundation to grab hold of. I’m learning to mentally run through the triads and arpeggios I will use in improvising, and that gives me a lot of confidence. Excellent lessons.

  38. Max d says

    Hi Brian, you are testing us ‘slow learners, but great stuff. At last, I am beginning on your short course lessons but struggling with some of the concepts, but this doves in real well. Just a suggestion, but it would be great if, when you display a scale or notation diagram on the screen while you’re explaining about it, if it could be anotated, eg. “Lydian scale”, etc, as I take screen shots of your video for quick reference when your talking. It’s probably duplicating effort for you, but again for ‘slow learners’ it would be great!

  39. Robert M says

    I found this really helpful Brian … the study sheets are brilliant and I would ask that you extend this lesson by doing a few more bars in a different position on the neck but in the same key … and with a fresh set of study sheets/exercises to (a) really embed the approach and (b) show us how you might further extend the horizons of what you’ve done in this week’s lesson. So grateful to you for the insight and encouragement. If you’re not a premium member and you’ve been stuck noodling with limited progress for years … like I have … this is such an amazing resource and well worth the entry ticket.

    Happy Easter

  40. RobertBlower says

    Great lesson Brian. Definitely takeing guitar playing up a level, and something I have been looking for. I would like to see you do another lesson on appegios in a more jazzy context. thanks so much for your enthusiasim and teaching ability

  41. Rick C says

    What a great lesson. Yes, I would go for more Arp lessons.
    I sort of knew these in Dom7 form… to now understand better… add the 6, b7 makes for a great toolbox. Love it.
    As I learned CAGED from Brian–I made myself learn the root notes for each. Applying these Arps now is sweet stuff, right out of the forms.

    Thanks.

  42. Mark G says

    I’ve been playing for 18 years, practice 2-4 hours every day and have learned some difficult pieces, but playing the changes has always been much harder than anything I’ve ever done – its a completely different thought process.

  44. chuck w says

    Thanks so much for expanding my arpeggio knowledge. I know arpeggios however, I don’t use them in the context you described. Please do more of these arpeggio lessons in different keys. That opens up a whole other way to improvise. Lightbulb moments in abundance.

  45. Mike H says

    Thanks Brian. I have been playing for 2 years now, and have been a member here for 12 months now. I could not be more happy with my return on investment of the membership cost (which is super reasonable) and the countless hours spent reviewing and practicing the concepts you teach. And the lessons of the past few weeks have really hit the mark for me. So thank you and keep up the great work!

  49. rickwallenbrock says

    I noticed a comment by Kiwi Rowan in which he says

    (Another suggestion perhaps? -Could you please do a lesson in minor 3rds and 6ths following your excellent series EP363, EP490 , EP504 and EP443 which I studied in that order for many weeks and it finally came together.)

    I think he has the kernel of a great idea for you, though probably bit of work. But there are buried in your 5000+ lessons these “SERIES” as he say that have a common theme. I have tried to search some out, but wonder if that is something that could be added to your “lesson categories. Not sure if this makes sense but will give it a shot.
    thanks

  51. Bob C says

    At the end of the lesson, you asked, “let me know if you’d like to see more of this”
    YES
    This was a particularly rich lesson.. If down the road you go into other positions, maybe covering the A and D arpeggios.. that would be GREAT
    Thanks for putting that one together
    it’s plenty to work on

  54. David K says

    This is a very basic lesson. I have been a Premium Member for four years. I have learned the lessons on CAGED and arpeggios.

    This website is like a one room school house. This lesson is like First grade, maybe second, but not much use to those of us students of Brian who have moved on to Grade 6 or 7.

    Maybe its time for me to move on from Active Melody?

    • Brian says

      David, I couldn’t disagree with you more. This is far from a “1st grade lesson” and is one of the more difficult concepts to be able to utilize effectively when improvising. If this one is too basic, just remember there are over 500 other in-depth lessons and new ones coming out all the time. Also, you must realize that every single lesson isn’t going to be 100% perfect for you. That’s why I try and have a fair amount of variety.

      • houliAK says

        I totally agree that this is far from a 1st grade lesson. I have been a long time member and recently (in June 2023) one of your lessons sparked an interest in arpeggios. I started going back looking for arpeggio lessons and found EP512 and 418. Those lessons are totally changing my view of the guitar. I’ve been stuck in pentatonic scales for years. Thanks to arpeggios, Im now starting to see the (CAGED) chords within the scales and I specifically like understanding the note intervals. EP 512 is a HUGE break out lesson for me! Part of the break through is finally being ready and at a learning level to accept this approach. Your variety of lessons and the way you explain things is excellent and having the resource to be able to go back and seach lessons when you are ready is awesome. Thank you.

  56. Lee W says

    Wow. Great lesson Brian. I’ve been working on CAGED and the associated arpeggios for the last few weeks. This lesson really helped me put it all together. I’d love to see you add the other positions as a follow-up lesson. Thanks so much.

  58. fhalstead4@gmail.com says

    I just heard you say it and I haven’t heard it said before but I believe it’s true. You said you believe the caged system is the best way to organize the fretboard. Too bad that guitar isn’t taught that way. It would save years.

  66. Georg B says

    Hi Brian,
    Fantastic lesson! Thank you. Even though I know it will take me some time to make my fingers do what I want them to do, I can feel that I am making progress now. This feels nice. 🙂
    Georg

  67. Glen B says

    Best explanation ever on arpeggios, with some double stops mixed in! The G-shape is really hard for me to play with arthritic fingers, so a further dive using E, C, D and A shapes would be awesome! Thanks Brian, you make the fretboard so easy to understand!

  68. Christopher K says

    Hey Brian, I agree with Jorg B. “Great lesson, keep lecturing on this” subject.
    What an excellent basic explanation with practical ways to apply to my improv leads.

    Love that you explained what pentatonic scale you were in and how to add “flavor” to your leads.

    Keep up the great work!

  69. Scott M says

    I’ve been slammed with work and a little behind on lessons. This one is awesome and I love the exercises – and your explanations to bring it all together. I would love to see more of this! It’s really helping me mix up positions. More please!

  74. Daniel H says

    Just revisited this lesson… it is the best lesson out there for arpeggios! Another lesson covering the D shape, A shape and perhaps introducing a minor 7 arpeggio would make for another great lesson.

  75. Benjamin T says

    Interesting lesson. One question, though- what do you mean by the one chord, four chord, and five chord? One thing I would also suggest is maybe include diagrams that include the root notes with the arpeggios and scales.

  76. Benjamin T says

    This seems interesting, but I have to admit I’m a little lost. What do the numbers mean on the diagrams that pop-up in the upper right of the video? It seems implied that the viewer should know what they mean, but I don’t.

  79. Michael K says

    This is a very important lesson when it comes to being able to improvise melodies. Beginners won’t quite be able to benefit from this right away because this is for those that already know CAGED and the interval theory background, but I’m a big believer in learning intervals along with your regular practice as soon as you can. The earlier you can get the music theory stuff involved with every thing you learn the better because that’s essentially the language the musicians use to communicate idea’s with each other.

    I always knew that arpeggio’s are essentially broken down chords into individual notes, but the value is that they are broken all the way down into every note in a given area on the guitar neck. We cannot play every note in a given area as a chord, but they can be arpeggiated. Triad’s help us to play different chord voicings all over the neck and they are related. Arpeggio’s help to play melodies in context of chords in the rhythm track. Each arpeggio can be linked to one of the five GAGED patterns. That’s it in a nutshell.

    All of this will begin to pay off in ability to improvise after putting the effort to learning the most often used arpeggio’s both ascending and descending fluently. Don’t be discouraged if you cannot play through them fast, just keep working on executing them smoothly at your current pace.

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