Arpeggios through Am, F, C and G in one position
The notes of Am, F, C and G, the four chords of a great many songs, played one at a time in fifth position, up through one chord and down through the next, so each change happens without the hand moving. Playing only chord tones is how a solo outlines the harmony underneath it, and it teaches which notes of a scale belong to which chord.
Opens in the player looped and counted in, with drums playing along, and speeds up 5 % every 2 loops to 100 bpm. No account or microphone needed.
- Goal tempo
- 100 bpm
- Starts at
- 60 bpm
- Length
- 4 bars, looped
- Tuning
- E standard
- Time
- 4/4
- Level
- Intermediate
- Plays with
- Drums
How to play it
Stay in fifth position: the 1st finger on the 5th fret, one finger a fret; only the chord's notes, nothing between.
An arpeggio is a chord played one note at a time. Am is A, C and E; F is F, A and C; C is C, E and G; G is G, B and D. All four can be played without moving the hand from fifth position, the 1st finger at the 5th fret.
Bar 1 climbs through Am from the low A to the high C. Bar 2 comes down through F, bar 3 climbs through C and bar 4 comes down through G, ending on the B at the 7th fret of the low E string, which leads to the A that starts the loop.
Play each chord as a shape: put down the fingers its notes need before you start the bar, and let the notes ring into each other where they can.
Mistakes to watch for
- Playing notes that aren't in the chord; each bar uses only its chord's three notes.
- Shifting the hand when the chord changes. Everything is in fifth position.
- Cutting the long notes at the end of bars 2 and 3 short.
A speed plan
The player starts at 60 % of the goal and plays each tempo twice before stepping up:
- 60
- 65
- 70
- 75
- 80
- 85
- 90
- 95
- 100
That's 16 loops and about 3 minutes before you're playing at 100 bpm. If it stops being clean on the way, stop the ramp there and loop that tempo until it is. With a microphone or an audio interface you can record while you play instead: Demiurg checks every loop and steps up only after two clean ones in a row, and back down after a poor one.
Questions
How fast should I play Arpeggios through Am, F, C and G?
The goal is 100 bpm in eighth notes, which is 3.3 notes a second. Start wherever every note is clean: the player begins at 60 bpm. Signed in, you can set a goal of your own, slower or faster, on the Exercises page.
Why practise arpeggios?
Because chord tones are the notes that sound right over a chord. A solo that lands on them when the chord changes follows the harmony instead of running over it.
How is this different from a scale?
A scale is every note of the key; an arpeggio is just the chord's few notes. The A minor scale in fifth position holds all four of these arpeggios.
More fundamentals exercises
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