- Lessons:
Note: This article assumes that the reader has a grasp of basic major and minor chord construction.
If not, please see my article Basic Chord Construction.
From Yngwie and Jason Becker to Greg Howe and Shawn Lane, successfully utilizing arpeggios and their inversions will make your solos sound more interesting
and allow you to break free of scale runs. You'll be able to complement every chord you play over, and choose just the right notes for your solos.
An arpeggio is a chord played note for note. In other words, if you strum an open C major chord once, letting all the strings ring out and all the notes ring
into one another, that is NOT an arpeggio.
However, if you play the notes of the C major chord, one note at a time, then that is an arpeggio.
Inversions
Using chord and arpeggio inversions might sound tricky, but it is actually very simple.
A chord or arpeggio inversion occurs when the root note is not the lowest note.
Using the example below (three string C major arpeggios in root position, 1st inversion, and 2nd inversion), you can see that in the root position, the note
C (5th fret) is the lowest note; in the first inversion, the note E (9th fret) is the lowest note; and in the second inversion, the note G (12th fret) is the
lowest note.
Note: Even though the lowest note changes, the chord is still C major, because the notes are still those which make up C major.
Sweep through these patterns over a C major power-chord and you're instantly in Malmsteen and Becker territory. If you're not familiar with the sweep picking
technique, please see my article Introduction to Sweep Picking.