Arpeggio Connections (Major)

These exercises are specifically designed to increase your fluency with arpeggios and although all of them are
illustrated here using major arpeggios, you should easily be able to transfer them to other arpeggio types such as
Minor, Diminished, Augmented and also the various different 7th chords.

They are deliberately written in one octave to help facilitate quick key changes such as you might find in Jazz
standards or some Fusion style compositions. Each exercise should be played within a span of five frets where
possible (using open strings if required too) You can use the supplied fingerings or your own, as there are different ways
these arpeggios could be played. There is actually merit in exploring all the possible fingerings here to ensure coverage
of all the various possibilities.

The first exercise takes us through all 12 keys, with the root of each arpeggio ascending in semitones (i.e.
chromatically) Each time you switch arpeggios you will be reversing the direction of the next arpeggio, keeping a
pattern of ascending then descending arpeggios.

Exercise One: Chromatic Root Movement through all 12 keys - ascending & descending

° œ bœ bœ nœ bœ bœ
& œ œ œ œ bœ #œ nœ œ bœ
nœ
C Major Db Major D Major Eb Major

2 3 4
5 1 2 3 0
2 5 3 4 1
¢⁄ 3 4 5

5
° nœ œ œ #œ #œ œ œ
& nœ #œ nœ œ œ #œ #œ œ œ
E Major F Major F# Major G Major

1 2 3
5 1 2 3
1 4 2 3 4
2 3 4 5
¢⁄

9
° bœ n œ nœ
œ bœ #œ nœ
& bœ œ œ bœ nœ #œ
#œ n œ
bœ
Ab Major A Major Bb Major B Major

4 5
1 4 5 2
1 2 3 4
0 3 4 1
¢⁄ 1 2
2

Exercise Two: Minor 3rd Root Movement through all 12 keys - ascending & descending
13
° bœ bœ #œ nœ œ #œ nœ
& œ œ œ œ bœ #œ #œ #œ
œ
C Major Eb Major F# Major A Major

2 5
4 2 5 2
5 3 0 3 2
2 5 1 4
¢⁄ 3

17
° bœ nœ
& bœ œ bœ œ #œ bœ
œ œ œ nœ œ œ bœ
Db Major E Major
nœ Bb Major
G Major

2 5
1 4 1 3
3 2 5 3 0
¢⁄ 4
3
2 5 1

21
° nœ b œ bœ
& nœ #œ nœ nœ œ œ nœ bœ œ nœ #œ
#œ n œ
D Major F Major Ab Major B Major

1 4
3 1 1 4
2 2 1 4
4 3 4 1
¢⁄ 5 2

You may notice in the above exercise that there are occasional octave 'jumps' which perhaps seem unusual, however
there is a reason for this, and that is to keep the entire exercise within an approximate span of five frets. I recommend
practicing this way as it forces your hands to find the required notes within a limited region of the fretboard and is
actually more akin to the way you will likely being playing these arpeggios in a real-world musical situation.

You will also note that to complete all the 12 keys, I have had to 're-start' the exercise twice, otherwise due to the
interval of a minor third being repeated, I would have ended up playing the same four arpeggios again and again. This
explains the MAJOR third movement at the end of the first and second lines here.
 3

Exercise Three: Cycle Root Movement through all 12 keys - ascending & descending
25
° œ œ œ bœ bœ
& œ œ œ œ œ bœ œ œ bœ œ bœ
C Major F Major Bb Major Eb Major

1
1 4
5 2 3 3 0
2 5 3 0 3 1
¢⁄ 3 1

29
° bœ bœ
& bœ œ bœ bœ nœ #œ
bœ œ bœ bœ b œ b œ #œ n œ
Ab Major Db Major Gb Major B Major

2
1 1 4
1 3 4 4 1
¢⁄ 4
3 4
2
1 4 2

33
° œ œ œ #œ œ
& œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ #œ
E Major A Major D Major G Major

5 3
5 5 2 3 3
1 4 2 2 4
2 4 5
¢⁄ 5

As many compositions utilise cycle movement (chords moving up or down in fourths/fifths) the above exercise is
particularly useful for improvisers. It is slightly more challenging to play than the chromatic root progression and
you may find that you have to slow things down a little at first to get your fingering organised.

It is well worth the effort in mastering the above exercise especially as you will find yourself developing increased
fluency with arpeggios.
4

Exercise Four:Whole Tone Root Movement through all 12 keys - ascending & descending
37
° œ œ œ œ #œ #œ
& œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ #œ #œ #œ
C Major D Major E Major F# Major

2
3 5 2
5 2 1 4 3
2 5 4 2 4
¢⁄ 3 5

41
° bœ bœ bœ
& bœ bœ œ œ bœ œ bœ
bœ n œ b œ œ bœ bœ
Ab Major Bb Major Db Major Eb Major

2 4
1 3 1 3 0
1 3 0 3 1
¢⁄ 4
3 1 4

45
° œ œ œ
& œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ
œ #œ
G Major
œ # Aœ Major œ
F Major B Major

1 3
1 3 0
2 4 2
3 5 2 4 1
¢⁄ 0 4 2

This final arpeggio exercise takes us through the full cycle of 12 keys but this time in intervals of a whole tone and as
with the minor 3rd root progression, we have to re-start the exercise at one point to ensure that all the keys are covered.
After playing the Bb major arpeggio, you will beginning the exercise again from Db major to complete the final 6 keys.

After you have completed the above four exercises, try them within different fingerboard locations to ensure complete
coverage of the neck and remember that these are easily transformed into the other triad arppegio forms and eventually
the various different 7th chords.

Speed is not important here either as it is all about gaining increased familiarity with the fingerboard and being able to
locate arpeggios instantly. Once you have become fully familiar with arpeggios around the neck, improvisation becomes
a lot more comfortable and especially modulating to different keys.