When learning how to play effective lead guitar, there are two areas guitarists must be prepared to delve into - the theoretical side, and the physical side. Theoretical aspects include things like knowing your scales, knowing how certain notes work to highlight particular tensions, basically anything that involves the translation of the creative mind onto the fretboard. The physical aspects include techniques such as hammer-ons, vibratos, tapping, and anything that involves your fingers really working the creativity onto the fretboard.
Arpeggios are no exception - they involve both these aspects.
Firstly, let's define what an arpeggio is: simply, the notes of a chord played separately in a sequence. So whereas with a regular rhythm chord you would make the notes overlap, or play them simultaneously, arpeggios as a lead guitar technique involve the dynamics of one note at a time, with each note cleanly separated from the last. The effect is very different.
As a lead guitar technique, you have the benefit of using slides, hammers, pulls etc. within the arpeggio, giving it even more depth. This is where the physical aspect comes in. However, there is theory (ah, the dreaded T word) to learn before one can master the physical side of this technique.
1) You need to know how chords work within scales
Remember this, if nothing else: Where there is a chord, there is an arpeggio!
Since arpeggios are theoretically the same as chords, we can use the same process to pull the notes we need from scales.
Think of the scales (especially the "natural" major scale) as the pot from which we draw the tones we need to create a particular chord. In the world of lead guitar, this process can also be seen as identifying "tensions" or "flavours", that build up the melodic soundscape.
E.g. if we wanted an A major flavour, we would pull out the Root (1), 3rd (3) and 5th (5) from the A major scale. Of course, the A major scale appears across the whole fretboard - you just need to know where these tones are situated in relation to the scale.
If we wanted an A minor flavour, we would pull out the Root (1), flat 3rd (b3) and 5th (5) from the A major scale. No, that wasn't a typo - minor chords are still referenced against the natural major scale. That's why we label a "flat 3rd" as "flat" - it is flat in relation to its natural position in the major scale!
Once you learn how to pull chord tones right out from their fuller scales, you'll know how to use exactly the same process with arpeggios.
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2) You need to be able to make the fingering of these "chords" more appropriate for lead guitar phrasing
Regular chords are naturally created to be "boxed" in, to allow all the tones of the chord to be reachable, with your static fretting hand. However, lead guitar is about dancing your fingers across the fretboard and creating more kinetic phrasing.
This is where knowledge of ascending and descending scales comes in. A lot of scales we learn as guitarists are presented in "boxed" format, spanning only 4 frets, but what you need to realise is that the tones used in these boxed scales recur across whole fretboard (this is a whole lesson in itself!)
So if you can get into the mindset of learning broader scale patterns, you'll be able to give your fingers the "breathing space" to embellish slides, hammer ons, pull offs etc. into your arpeggios. Whereas regular static chords devote one string to each note, arpeggios across wider scale patterns can accommodate more than one note per string, which allows hammer ons, pull offs and other physical lead guitar techniques to be used.
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3) Finally, make sure you know how to incorporate arpeggios into your regular solos
Let's say your solo is in the key of A major - would you keep it all simple and just play an A major arpeggio?
Or would you spice it up a little and use the rules of modal music to play an arpeggio from a different chord, but still within the key/scale of A major?
If we look at the modal scale (or "chord scale") of the key of A major, these are our basic options:
(I)A Major - (ii)B minor - (iii)C# minor - (IV)D Major - (V)E Major - (vi)F# minor - (vii)Ab diminished
So for example, we could play an F# minor arpeggio over an A major key solo and it would still be compatible. This is all about knowing what your options are, experimenting and seeing which one suits the emotion you're trying to convey. This is essentially what musical creativity boils down to.
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So, if you follow this process of learning, you should become confident with not only the physical side of playing arpeggios, but also the creative and improvisational side.
Enjoy the learning experience, take your time, explore the fretboard and above all... experiment!.
Mike Beatham runs a free, easy to follow guitar lessons site with backing tracks and audio exercises for you to develop your own unique playing style. To follow on from this article, visit the Beginner Arpeggios Lesson
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