Arpeggios?

[OmniAxiS]

Whats up with arpeggios? isnt that where u basically strum the chord slowly note by note? what are their significance? how can they help and what are they used for? should i learn them? am i learning them?!?! help...

[StoneDragon]

Here comes another long one... everybody run for the hills http://www.zentao.com/ubb/smilies/devil.gif

Arpeggio comes from the root word arpe which means harp. So when asked to arpeggiate, you are being asked to play it as the harp would.

When a harpist playes a chord, they don't pluck all of the notes in the chord at the same time... that would sound dull and lifeless. Instead, they pluck the notes in quick succession from the thumb out to the pinky (or whatever fingers they are using for the chord) in a rolling motion. You will sometimes hear arpeggios caled rolled chords.

So, in answer to your first question... Yes, if you strum a chord slowely, you are arpeggiating the chord.

That is where the arpeggio comes from, but its use has evolved quite far beyond slowely strumming a chord or fingerpicking your way through a chord change.

In today's rapidly changing world (there's one for ya Guitarzan!) an arpeggio consists of the tones of any chord played like a scale rather than like a chord. They are used just like scales are used.

The "significance" of arpeggios is a very large subject, worthy of much study and consideration, so what I'll do is just outline a couple of important aspects of this tool.

Let's say that there is an A power chord (A E) being played. By itself, that power chord is neutral. It doesn't contain the 3rd (C#) or b3 (C) that would make it sound major or minor.

Now, let's say that I want to play a melody line over that chord. By playing notes from the A arpeggio (A C# E) or the Am arpeggio (A C E), I can begin to shape that power chord just enough to qualify the sound as major or minor without introducing any other "color" to the sound.... it's still very open.

If I want more color, I can use the major and minor arpeggios off of different root notes. For example, I could play notes from the C arpeggio (C E G) which would give us an Am7 sound (A C E G) or I could play notes from the C#m arpeggio (C# E G#) which would give us the AMaj7 sound (A C# E G#).

If I wanted to add some dissonance, I could play Adim (A C Eb) or Aaug (A C# F) or B (B D# F#)... and many other possibilities.

When it comes to playing lead solos, here's something to think about. The major and minor pentatonic scales are really nothing more than arpeggios. Major pentatonic (1 2 3 5 6) is nothing more than a 6/9 chord (1 3 5 6 9) and the minor pentatonic (1 b3 4 5 b7) is nothing more than a min11 chord (1 b3 5 b7 11)... so you can look at arpeggios the same way you would look at the pentatonic scales.

The same thing is true of the major scale and all of the modes.... the major scale is nothing more than a Maj13 chord (1 3 5 7 9 11 13)... the Dorian scale is nothing more than a min13 chord (1 b3 5 b7 9 11 13)... the mixolydian is nothing more than a 13 chord (1 3 5 b7 9 11 13) etc...

As I said, there's a lot to the study of arpeggios. This is just a few of the ways that you can use them.

The answer to your last two questions is Yes and a qualified yes.

You certainly should learn arpeggios if you really want to develope as a musician or composer.

Are you learning them already? yes and no... Every chord that you know is also an arpeggio, but unless you learn to break that chord up into its individual notes and then learn to play those notes like a scale all over the fingerboard, you are not even scratching the surface of the modern day arpeggio.

[geoffreyt]

Nice commentary. Thanks Stone Dragon

[OmniAxiS]

thanx for laying down the truth stone D http://www.zentao.com/ubb/smilies/wink.gif