Ok here’s a cool idea I had playing around with arpeggios.
First, take a CMaj7 arpeggio.
You can play it like this:
Now, I first learned this kind of pattern from Derryl Gabel (www.fusionguitarsecrets.com/main.php)
But I discovered a few cool things on my own about it recently.
One cool thing is that the top 2 strings are similar to the normal, everyday pentatonic minor pattern, except its sort of “stretched out”. In other words, 4 frets instead of 3 between the notes.
You can even take an ordinary pentatonic lick such as this:
And “Major Sevenize” it like this. You’re playing the exact same pattern but the notes on the 11th fret are now played on the 12th:
Ok, that was easy enough right?
Now let me show you something a little more tricky…
(evil laugh) MOO HA HA HA HA
We are going to play a descending 1-2-3 ARPEGGIO SEQUENCE using a position shifting technique.
First of all, if you’re not familiar with SCALE SEQUENCES, they can be a powerful technique. You’re basically playing the same pattern on each note of the scale. I go over these in Killer Guitar Control Secrets (guitarcontrol.com/main.php)
Well, this is the same concept applied to the arpeggio.
We are going to play down the arpeggio. I like playing down instead of up because it just sounds cooler and you go faster.
So down 3 notes, then start at the next lower note and go down 3 notes, etc…
Play this at 150 bpm with 16th notes and it sounds pretty freakin sweet 🙂
Feel free to use plenty of hammer ons and pull offs. In fact, that’s the whole idea behind the position shift. We are basically staying in a position where we can play the notes with our first finger and pinky and just do hammer ons and pull offs.
The position shift comes into play when you get to the E note on the 9th fret G string. I’m using my middle finger to hit the note the first time it appears. Then I’m shifting position and using my pinky to hit it the second time.
Same thing happens with the E on the 7th fret A string.
Try this lick and have fun 🙂