There are all kinds of ways to finger arpeggios. In this lesson, I’d like to share one of the most useful ways I’ve found: breaking them down into repeating patterns of two notes per string.

 

First, we have an Amaj7 arpeggio, starting on the sixth string. We start with the 7th of the chord, then play the root. On the next string, we play the 3rd, then the 5th. Next, we simply repeat this pattern on the remaining pairs of strings (4 and 3; 2 and 1). The result is an Amaj7 arpeggio that covers two octaves and a sixth, yet is pretty easy to finger.

 

Second, we'll apply the same idea to an Am7 arpeggio, again starting with the 7th and keeping two notes per string.

 

 

Third, here's how an A7 arpeggio would look done the same way.

 

 

And fourth, how about Aø (Am7b5)?

 

 

There are many other arpeggios you could play using this kind of "7-1-3-5" pattern; think about it and see what else you can come up with.

 

COMING SOON: some not-so-obvious uses for these arpeggio fingerings!

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