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Note: This article assumes that the reader has a basic understanding of chord theory, the use of arpeggios, and sweep picking. If not, please see my articles Basic Chord Theory and Introduction to Sweep Picking. Voice leading can also be applied to arpeggios, chords, and triads. For the purposes of this article, we will be applying voice leading to lead guitar playing. For this reason we will be focusing on arpeggios.
What is Voice Leading?
Voice Leading happens when arpeggios and their inversions are used to reduce large intervallic leaps when moving from one arpeggio to another.
For an extreme example, play a C major 3-string arpeggio in the root position at the 5th fret and then play an A minor 3-string arpeggio in the root position at the 14th fret.
Notice that the shortest distance you had to move your fingers was 8 frets, from the 5th fret to the 13th fret.
Now let's look at where the Am arpeggio inversions fall.
As you can see, the first inversion of the Am arpeggio falls right on top of the C major arpeggio root position. This is because both the first inversion of Am and the root position of C major have C as the lowest note. Now, to go from C to Am, you don't have to jump up 7 frets. This is Voice Leading, because you are using a different arpeggio voicing (in this case the 1st inversion of Am) to stay in one position, rather than jumping up and down the fretboard.
I like to take a major key, find all the arpeggios that are in that key, and then use the inversions to play them as close to each other as possible.
Below is an example in the key of C major to get you started. I've kept the arpeggios in their simplest form so that everything can be played in the first 5 frets. For an advanced example, please see the Am Sweep Lick video at www.guyonraet.com/videos
Contact me on 0724806712 or email guy@guyonraet.com for private lessons.
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