Arpeggios
An arpeggio is simply a chord played one note at a time. Because every note belongs to the chord, arpeggios let you solo melodically while spelling out the harmony underneath — the bridge between rhythm playing and lead guitar.
Chord vs. Arpeggio
A chord sounds all its notes together; an arpeggio (Italian for "broken") sounds the same notes in sequence. Same raw material — root, 3rd, 5th, sometimes a 7th — but spread out in time. That makes arpeggios perfect for outlining changes in a solo, writing fingerstyle parts, and connecting chord shapes across the neck. Hear the difference below: play the block chord, then arpeggiate it.
Arpeggio Explorer
Root note
Arpeggio type
Every chord tone in this position. R = root. Play them one at a time — that's the arpeggio.
Dark and emotive — the workhorse of rock and metal lead playing.
Compare the block chord with the arpeggio — same notes, different feel.
Arpeggio Formulas
| Type | Degrees | Notes (A) |
|---|---|---|
| Major (maj) | 1 – 3 – 5 | A – C# – E |
| Minor m | 1 – ♭3 – 5 | A – C – E |
| Major 7th maj7 | 1 – 3 – 5 – 7 | A – C# – E – G# |
| Minor 7th m7 | 1 – ♭3 – 5 – ♭7 | A – C – E – G |
| Dominant 7th 7 | 1 – 3 – 5 – ♭7 | A – C# – E – G |
Click any row to load that arpeggio above.
Putting Arpeggios to Work
Land on a chord tone over each chord in a progression and your solo will always sound "right" — arpeggios show you exactly where those notes are.
One note per string lets the pick "sweep" through the shape in a single motion — the technical heart of neoclassical and metal lead playing.
Rolling through a chord one string at a time is the basis of countless fingerpicking patterns, from folk to classical to pop ballads.
Soloing over changes
Shapes are step one. The real payoff is outlining the harmony: as the chords move, switch to the arpeggio of the chord you're on. Suddenly your solo isn't "a scale over everything" — it's spelling out each chord in real time. Here's the most important set of changes in music, the ii–V–I, to hear it on.
Key
First hear the block chords, then arpeggiate each one — the arpeggio spells the chord out in a solo line. Finally, "Target the 3rds" plays just the 3rd of each chord: land on those notes over the changes and your line locks to the harmony every time.
Three ways to use arpeggios in a solo
On the downbeat of each new chord, aim for a chord tone — ideally the 3rd or 7th (the guide tones). It anchors your line to the harmony no matter what you play around it.
Learn each arpeggio in several places on the neck, then link the shape you're in to the nearest shape of the next chord. Small shifts beat big jumps — the closest chord tone is usually a fret or two away.
You don't have to play the whole arpeggio. Grab two or three notes of each chord and connect them with scale steps or chromatic approaches — that's how bebop lines are built.
See the full shapes
Explore every chord voicing in the Chord Visualizer, or map the scales these arpeggios live inside with the Scale Visualizer.