Arpeggios On 3 Strings Writing out the shapes We are going to write out and learn to play major and minor arpeggios on the top 3 strings of the guitar. The most useful shapes for these arpeggios will have: Ø 2 notes on string 1 Ø 1 note on string 2 Ø 1 notes on string 3 We’ll start with a C major arpeggio: Root 3rd 5th C E G Using a blank fretboard diagram, here’s how to work out the root position arpeggio. 1) Draw the C note on string 3 (5th fret). 2) Draw the next note in the arpeggio (E) on string 2 (5th fret). 3) Draw the next 2 notes (G and C) on string 1 (3rd and 8th frets). You have now worked out a root position C major arpeggio on the top 3 strings. Follow exactly the same process to work out the other 2 shapes for this C major arpeggio. These will start from E (called the “first inversion” – starting from the 3rd of the chord) and G (called the “second inversion” – starting from the 5h of the chord). Now follow the same process to write out the C minor arpeggio shapes: Root b3rd 5th C Eb G You now have 6 shapes (3 each for C major and C minor). Play these up and down to get familiar with them. Then spend some time transposing them to different keys (just move the shapes) eg D major/minor, A major/minor etc. This will prepare you for the fun part! www.aucklandguitarschool.co.nz Playing Chord Progressions Now that you have the 3 shapes for the major arpeggios and the 3 shapes for the minor arpeggios, you can use these to play some short chord progressions. If we took the chord progression C F Dm G, for example, it could be played like this: Notice the arpeggios are not all the same inversion – you need to move to the nearest shape for the new chord each time. This sounds better and avoids position shifts. Here are a few chord progressions to play using these arpeggio shapes. (You can of course take any song you know already and play through the major and minor chords using the arpeggios). C G Dm Am Dm A Em G C G Am F Dm Bb C F Em Am C D G Em C D www.aucklandguitarschool.co.nz .