$14.

97

47 Killer Arpeggios
Every Guitarist Must
Know

Don J MacLean
 You do NOT have the Right to Reprint or Resell this
eBook!

You also May Not Give Away, Sell or Share the

Content Herein

© Copyright 2005, Don J. MacLean.

All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form

or by any means, mechanical or electronic, including
photocopying, recording, or by information storage and retrieval
system—except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a
review to be printed in a magazine or newspaper—without
permission in writing from the publisher. For information, please
contact Agogic Publishing 406-109 Tenth Street, New
Westminster, British Columbia, V3M 3X7.

Text editing by: Jeneane McKenzie

ISBN 1-896595-42-1

Agogic Publishing 406-109 Tenth Street, New Westminster, British

Columbia, V3M 3X7, tel. (604) 290-2692, fax (604) 540-4419.

Contact the author at agogic@iglide.net.

Visit us on our website:

http://www.agogic.biz
for free downloads
and product information.

2 47 Killer Arpeggios Every Guitarist Must Know

© 2005 Don J. MacLean All Rights Reserved International Copyright Secured
 About the Author
Don J. MacLean is an active freelance guitarist, composer and educator. His musical
training includes studies at the Royal Conservatory of Music, Humber College, and York
University, where he obtained his B.A. (Dbl. Hons. Maj.) in music and psychology. His twenty-
five years of teaching, performing and composing have made Don a highly sought-after
expert for workshops, seminars and master classes.
Don J. MacLean is the author of:

The World of Scales: A Compendium of Scales for the Modern Guitar Player
The World of Scales: A Compendium of Scales for all Instruments

Guitar Essentials: Chord Master

Guitar Essentials: Chord Master Expanded Edition
Guitar Essentials: Scale Master 1
Guitar Essentials: Scale Master Expanded Edition
Guitar Essentials: Improviser
Guitar Essentials: Music Theory

Music Essentials: Improviser

Absolute Essentials of Music Theory

Absolute Essentials of Music Theory for Guitar
Absolute Essentials of Guitar

Guitar Quick Start

Fit Fingers Book 1

Fit Fingers Book 2

Quick Tips for Faster Fingers

Quick Tips: Guitar Chords 101
Quick Tips: Guitar Technique 101

Mega Chops: Scale Mastery Beyond Hanon

Mega Chops: Guitar Technique Volume 1
Mega Chops: Guitar Technique Volume 2
Mega Chops: Guitar Technique Volume 3

21 Secrets to Learn Any Song Super-Fast

Top 30 Most Powerful Guitar Technique Exercises of All Time

47 Killer Arpeggios Every Guitarist Must Know 3

© 2005 Don J. MacLean All Rights Reserved International Copyright Secured
Introduction
Welcome to the Special Report: 47 Killer Arpeggios Every Guitarist Must Know.
Arpeggios are formed when you play the notes of a chord one-by-one.
Let’s face it. Arpeggios sound cool. When you play them slow, they sound great.
Rifle them off, and they sound amazing.
In this report you will discover 47 killer arpeggios that you must know. Some of these
arpeggios are easy to play, while others are quite tricky. Most of these arpeggios require a
bit of stretching, while others require some very serious stretching.
The best way to learn these arpeggios, is to pick one or two arpeggios to start with
and practice them for a week. The following week, add an additional one or two arpeggio(s).
As you add these additional arpeggios keep practicing the ones from the previous week.
Repeat this process.

4 47 Killer Arpeggios Every Guitarist Must Know

© 2005 Don J. MacLean All Rights Reserved International Copyright Secured
How to Read the Music Notation
Contained in this Report
Guitar music can be notated in four different ways: standard notation, tablature,
rhythm/slash notation and neck diagrams or grids. What follows is a quick overview of the
notation you will encounter in this book.

Neck Diagrams/Grids
The following fretboard diagrams represent isolated sections on the neck of the guitar. The
vertical lines represent the strings, while the horizontal lines represent the frets. The strings
are numbered from the thinnest (1), to the thickest (6). To save space, only the applicable
portion of the neck will be shown for each arpeggio. So, instead of showing all of the frets
on the guitar, we will just show a representation of the portion of the neck we need.
Neck diagrams or grids are the main form of notation used in this book. This form of
notation will enable you to “see” the arpeggio patterns.

F ⇒
R ⇒
E ⇒
T ⇒
S ⇒
Frets

6 5 4 3 2 1
6 5 4 3 2 1
⇑ ⇑ ⇑ ⇑ ⇑ ⇑
STRINGS

47 Killer Arpeggios Every Guitarist Must Know 5

© 2005 Don J. MacLean All Rights Reserved International Copyright Secured
How to Read Arpeggio Diagrams
All of the arpeggios shown in this book are presented in neck diagrams.

E min

Play these
notes one at a
time.

7th fret ⇒

Here is the same arpeggio shown in tab:

A Quick Overview of Tablature

In tablature, each horizontal line represents a string. The strings are numbered from the
thinnest (1) to the thickest (6). The numbers on these lines represent the frets that you
need to place your fingers on.
One bar Bar lines
or
measure

6 47 Killer Arpeggios Every Guitarist Must Know

© 2005 Don J. MacLean All Rights Reserved International Copyright Secured
How to Play Arpeggios
There are two approaches you can use to play arpeggios: alternate picking or sweep picking.

Alternate Picking
Alternate picking is the most common and efficient way to play notes on individual strings.
This technique is great for scales. Alternate picking requires that you strike the first note
with a down-stroke (≥) and the next note with an up-stroke (v). The pattern is repeated for
each successive note. Below you will see an E minor arpeggio played with alternate picking.

Alternate Picking Exercise # 1

Sweep Picking
Sweep picking is used primarily for arpeggios. An arpeggio is produced by playing the notes
of a chord one-by-one. Arpeggios are often played with just one note per string. Instead of
using alternate picking to play arpeggios, sweep picking is more efficient. In sweep picking,
you use as many continuous down or up-strokes as possible. If the arpeggio changes
direction, you then reverse your picking.
Here is how it works: In Sweep Picking Exercise #1 you will see an E major arpeggio.
In this fingering for the arpeggio, there is one note on each string. The way to play this is to
use one continuous down-stroke for strings 5-1 and then one continuous up-stroke for
strings 2-4.
Sweep picking gets its name from the way it looks when performed—it looks like you
are sweeping across the strings with your pick.

47 Killer Arpeggios Every Guitarist Must Know 7

© 2005 Don J. MacLean All Rights Reserved International Copyright Secured
Sweep Picking Exercise # 1
E minor arpeggio
Perform this arpeggio with sweep picking. You should find this to be easier than playing the
arpeggio with alternate picking.

Sweep Picking Exercise # 2

In some arpeggios you will need to play two or more notes on a string. To do this, use
alternate picking on the strings that have two or more notes and sweep pick the rest.

E minor arpeggio

8 47 Killer Arpeggios Every Guitarist Must Know

© 2005 Don J. MacLean All Rights Reserved International Copyright Secured
Moveable Arpeggios
Moveable arpeggios are as their name implies—moveable. This means that you can take
one arpeggio shape and move it up or down the neck of the guitar to produce any desired
arpeggio.
Here is how it works. The black notes in each arpeggio represent the root notes. The
root note indicates the letter-name of the arpeggio. All you have to do is line up one of the
root notes in an arpeggio. The others will automatically line up. If you take a major arpeggio
and position it so that the root note is on a C, you will have a C major arpeggio. Move the
same arpeggio shape so that the root note is on an F and you will have an F major arpeggio.
When you first start to practice arpeggios, you should practice them ascending and
descending. Once you have nailed down the fingering, you can start to experiment with
different melodic patterns.
To understand how chords are built and therefore arpeggios, see the Absolute
Essentials of Music Theory for Guitar (ISBN 1-896595-32-4).

E A D G B E
F C F
B E A C major
G C F D G arpeggio
This arpeggio is played
B with your first finger on
the 8th fret.
A D G C E A
F C Major
B E A D B
C F G C
B E
D G C F A D

E A D G B E
6 5 4 3 2 1

47 Killer Arpeggios Every Guitarist Must Know 9

© 2005 Don J. MacLean All Rights Reserved International Copyright Secured
 Now move this same arpeggio shape so that the sixth root is on the first fret. Since
the root note is on the note F, we now have an F major arpeggio.
F Major
E A D G B E
F C F
B E A
G C F D G
B
A D G C E A
F
B E A D B F major
C F G C arpeggio
B E This arpeggio is played
on the 1st fret.
D G C F A D

E A D G B E
6 5 4 3 2 1

10 47 Killer Arpeggios Every Guitarist Must Know

© 2005 Don J. MacLean All Rights Reserved International Copyright Secured
The Arpeggios

47 Killer Arpeggios Every Guitarist Must Know 11

© 2005 Don J. MacLean All Rights Reserved International Copyright Secured
 Major
All of the arpeggios contained in this report can be played on any fret. The black notes
represent the root notes. The root notes indicate the letter-name of the arpeggio. Position
the fingering on the appropriate fret for the desired arpeggio.

Major 7th

12 47 Killer Arpeggios Every Guitarist Must Know

© 2005 Don J. MacLean All Rights Reserved International Copyright Secured
 Minor

Minor 7th

47 Killer Arpeggios Every Guitarist Must Know 13

© 2005 Don J. MacLean All Rights Reserved International Copyright Secured
 Augmented

Diminished 7th

14 47 Killer Arpeggios Every Guitarist Must Know

© 2005 Don J. MacLean All Rights Reserved International Copyright Secured
 Dominant 7th

47 Killer Arpeggios Every Guitarist Must Know 15

© 2005 Don J. MacLean All Rights Reserved International Copyright Secured
 Some Monster Arpeggios
Dim 7 Major Minor

16 47 Killer Arpeggios Every Guitarist Must Know

© 2005 Don J. MacLean All Rights Reserved International Copyright Secured
Minor Major

47 Killer Arpeggios Every Guitarist Must Know 17

© 2005 Don J. MacLean All Rights Reserved International Copyright Secured