An arpeggio is a chord played one note at a time. Instead of strumming C major, you play its notes, C, E and G, in order across the strings. Soloing with arpeggios makes your lines outline the chords, so they sound connected to the harmony instead of running up and down a scale.
Key: C major and C minor, root on the low E string, fret 8 (the E shape from the CAGED chapter). The pattern covers two octaves between frets 6 and 10.
- Major: root, major 3rd, 5th (C E G)
- Minor: root, minor 3rd, 5th (C Eb G)
Only the 3rds change: on the A string fret 7 becomes fret 6, and on the G string fret 9 becomes fret 8. Everything else stays put.
Fingering and picking
Major: middle on the low E at fret 8, index on the A string at fret 7, pinky on fret 10 of the A and D strings, ring on the G string at fret 9, index on fret 8 of the B and high e. Minor: the index stretches to fret 6 on the A string, and fret 8 on the G string moves to the index or middle. Use alternate picking for now; the third lesson introduces sweeping.
Play in triplets: seven notes up to the high C, then five back down, so each loop is twelve notes and takes one bar.
The common mistake is letting notes ring into each other like a chord. Lift each finger as the next note sounds, and roll the fingertip off the string when two notes sit at the same fret on neighboring strings. Practice at 50 bpm and say "root, three, five" as you go.