Lateral Arpeggio Exercises

By Larry P. Schrof

Copyright 2002

Purpose

In this lesson, you will learn one way in which simple arpeggios can be manipulated and utilized to strengthen your knowledge of the fretboard.

After investing some focused effort into this lesson (AND the expansion material!) , you will:

Increase your awareness of the various locations for the 12 chromatic notes in all areas of the fretboard.
Improve the lateral dexterity and accuracy of your left hand fretting technique.
Increase your awareness and control of specific intervallic jumps on a single string. (For example, you'll be able to quickly jump up a major 6th or down a perfect 4th on a single string.)

3-Note Arpeggio Example

For our first example, I picked the three-note arpeggio F Major. The notes in this arpeggio are F, A, and C. Figure 1 shows all locations of these three notes on or below fret 19. (The root is highlighted in red).

Figure 2a and 2b are exercises derived from Figure 1. Figure 2b should always be played immediately after Figure 2a.

It is very important to do the following things when playing through 2a and 2b:

Try as quickly as possible to understand how 2a and 2b are derived from Figure 1. After playing through the exercises for a bit, you should not be looking at the tab, and you should NOT be trying to memorize the exercise.
Play every note in Figure 2a and 2b WITH THE SAME LEFT-HAND FINGER. For now, use your 1st (index) finger.
Say the name of each note out loud as you play it.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I apologize, but I still need to work out some quirks with my imaging software. The tab in this lesson is rather horizontally 'crunched'. Just be sure to remember that you are always playing only one note at a time, and you are to play every note on one string before proceeding to the next string.

By using the same finger for each note, you are training your left hand to accurately hit notes after a significant lateral leap. By saying each note name out loud, combined with the 'bouncing' type of motion in the exercises, you are really locking in a solid knowlege of the note layout of the fretboard.

Another 3-Note Arpeggio Example

Figure 3 is a diagram showing notes of the G minor arpeggio. (G, Bb, D). Figure 4a and 4b are, you guessed it, the exercises that come out of Figure 3.

Notice how when you play through 4a and 4b, it 'stretches' out your mental focus. It takes some serious concentration to hit the correct frets without looking at the tab. This is because you're still adjusting from the previous set of three notes in 2a and 2b.

4-Note Arpeggio Example

Let's move on to something a little more difficult and interesintg; a 4-note arpeggio. Figure 5 shows the diagram for E Major 7 (E, G#, B, D#), and Figures 6a and 6b show the derived exercises.

Notice that since we're using 4 different notes instead of three, the melodic motion is a little less repetetive, but more intricate and interesting.

Expansion Material

First, go back through each of the above examples, but use your middile finger instead of your index. Repeat again using your ring finger, and finally using your pinky. (That one's a killer - try it out!) This really works on your lateral dexterity for each finger.

Next, to really gain the full benefit of the above material, you should diagram the following arpeggios, similar to figures 1, 3, and 5. You should then derive ascending and descending lines similar to the other figures above. To help you with your diagrams, here's a blank guitar diagram template that you can print copies of and use.

Diagram and practice (in the same manner as above) the following arpeggios:

Bb minor ( Bb , Db , F )
F# Major ( F# , A# , C# )
G7 ( G , B , D , F )
Cmin7 ( C , Eb , G , Bb )
AbMaj7 ( Ab , C , Eb , G )
Bmin7b5 ( B , D , F , A )

Final Words

This material falls under my 'brain-crusher' catergory. That means you really have to concentrate hard and proceed slowly to absorb the material. After practicing the material (correctly) for awhile, your brain will probably begin to feel like mush. That's ok. Take a break, and come back later. If you work hard at this for a couple of weeks, the payoff is enormous. Good luck!

- Larold