Arpeggio Help

[Lowthorpe]

Hi all,

Up until recently, I was under the impression that an Arpeggio was simply, when you play each note of a chord individually. However, I have seem some tabs, and other such things that are leaving me confused.

Here's an example, taking, say, the Amaj chord:

--------------------5---------------------------------
-----------------5------------------------------------
--------------6---------------------------------------
-----------7------------------------------------------
--------7---------------------------------------------
-----5------------------------------------------------

That is how I think of an Amaj arpeggio. However, I've seen things such as

----------------------5---------------------------------
-------------------5------------------------------------
----------------6---------------------------------------
-------------7------------------------------------------
--------4-7---------------------------------------------
-----5--------------------------------------------------

On the A string, how does C# come into it? If you play a chord, then theres no way to play 2 notes on 1 string, nor does the 4th fret come into the Amaj chord.

I've seen alsorts of things like this, with god knows how many notes per string all over, and just wondering about it. Is it part of some magical theory stuff that I have yet to learn? I'm only familiar with intervals at the moment.

Anyway, hope someone can help, and also, a big thanks to the people at iBreathe and the posters here, you've all helped me a lot, and no doubt will continue to do so ;)

Nick

[EricV]

Hey there,

well, the term "arpeggio" actually does mean to play the notes of a chord individually. But it does not mean that you have to limit yourself to regular chord voicings. You can play an arp with two notes per string, or even more... it still stays an arpeggio.
What I mean is that it doesn´t matter WHERE you play the notes of an arpeggio.. as long as you´re playing the notes of a chord, it´s an arpeggio.
If you i.e. play a C#, E and G# on one string, tapping the G#, it´s still an C#m chord, although you couldn´t play those three notes simultaneously... at least not on that oine string.

The arps in your post... well, both of them are A Major arps.
The A maj triad consists of the notes A-C#-E... and if you look at the single notes of those arps, they´re all A´s, C#´s and E´s.
Hope this answers your question.
Warm regards
Eric V.

NP: Sting - All This Time

[Lowthorpe]

I think I get it - so lets take the Amaj chord again - we have the notes (i think)
----5-------A
----5-------E
----6-------C#
----7-------A
----7-------E
----5-------A

but the triad is A-C#-E... C# can be played 9th fret 6th string, or 4th fret 5th string, meaning we have 2 possible arpeggios here:
----------------------5---------------------
-------------------5------------------------
----------------6---------------------------
-------------7------------------------------
--------4-7--------------------------------
-----5--------------------------------------
or
-----------------------5----------------------
--------------------5-------------------------
-----------------6----------------------------
--------------7-------------------------------
-----------7----------------------------------
-----5-9-------------------------------------

Is this right?
Thanks,
Nick

EDIT: Read up a bit on triads and basic chord construction, and actually understood it, I think I'm right..but then again, could be wrong :D

[Alan(Lost)]

The two things confusing you, I think, are the factors of:

1. Different chord voicings
2. Different ways of playing the same voicing on guitar.


|5---|
|5---|
|6---|
|7---|
|7---|
|5---|

This is an A Major chord. Played as an arpegio, it would be:

|-------------------5--|
|---------------5------|
|-----------6----------|
|-------7--------------|
|---7------------------|
|5---------------------|


A different voicing of this arpeggio could be:

|------------------------5--|
|--------------------5------|
|----------------6----------|
|------------7--------------|
|--------7------------------|
|5--9----------------------|

Of course, this voicing can't physically be played on guitar as there are 7 differet notes, and you've got 6 strings.

[Lowthorpe]

I think I understand - so that there are chord voicings that follow the theory, and are correct, yet cannot be played as a chord because of the 7 notes, 6 strings thing...so can only be played as arpeggios.

[Alan(Lost)]

Well you have to realise what a chord is. A an A major chord can be called an "A Major Chord" if it contains the three notes [A C# E] (on a sidenote, the lowest note must be A, otherwise it's an inversion of the chord). So there must be the note "A" as the lowest note, and then C# and E anywhere above that (optionally along with A again), but they must be there, otherwise it's not A major.

[Lowthorpe]

Yea, I understand, so using that, as long as it follows the A-C#-E rule as you stated above, it's an Amaj chord voicing, and some will be, playable, some not physically playable, and same with, say, Cmaj, if it's using the C-E-G triad thing (great use of terminology :o) it's a Cmaj chord voicing...I'm sort of part of the way through understanding chord construction and triads at the moment, I'll get there in the end ;)
Thanks a lot, Eric and Alan,
Nick

[oRg]

I don't mean to be picky about the tab or anything but if your gonna play an AMaj arpeggio it'll go something like this:

e|------------8------------|
B|----------5---5----------|
G|--------6-------6--------|
D|------7-----------7------|
A|----7---------------7----|
E|--8-------------------8--|

I play another lick but I can't seem to figure out it's voicing. Any help would be appreciated.


e|-----------------|----------------|
B|-----------------|----------------|
G|-------7---------|-----7h11p7-----|
D|-----11--11------|---11------11---|
A|----9-------9----|--9----------9--|
E|--7-----------7--|----------------|

[Alan(Lost)]

I know. I was simply transfering the chord voicing straight to arpeggio.

[Alan(Lost)]

Hmm, hold on a minute. I showed an A Major chord and two arpeggio voicings. You've tabbed out an A Minor arpeggio, saying it's a major arpeggio (which it isn't). I already tabbed out the proper voicing of the A Major arpeggio as you meant to do.

There's no "proper" way of playing anything in a strict sense. There are only guidelines ranging from none to very strong. In terms of these arpeggio voicings, it's so wide open what can be played. You can play just 3 strings, or full 6 strings with H/P at each end.

[oRg]

oops...mistake. I'll fix it. I copied it from one of the tabs I made and I guess I didn't notice it at the time. In the strictest sense that's what the arpeggio would look like. Like you said you could play it on only 3 strings, or even 2 strings, or all 6 either way it's still an arpeggio.

[debaser]

I don't mean to be picky about the tab or anything but if your gonna play an AMaj arpeggio it'll go something like this:

e|------------8------------|
B|----------5---5----------|
G|--------6-------6--------|
D|------7-----------7------|
A|----7---------------7----|
E|--8-------------------8--|

I play another lick but I can't seem to figure out it's voicing. Any help would be appreciated.


e|-----------------|----------------|
B|-----------------|----------------|
G|-------7---------|-----7h11p7-----|
D|-----11--11------|---11------11---|
A|----9-------9----|--9----------9--|
E|--7-----------7--|----------------|


If I'm reading this lick correctly(as one lick, not two), it's a B minor 9 arp. I use these often - the half step between the 9th and the b3 sounds cool.

[oRg]

Ok, thanx for your help. I use this kinda thing alot. It sounds really cool with some wah, chorus, and distorsion.