question about arpeggio exercise

[le-gasp]

Hi,

A while back I heard about an exercise involving arpeggios where instead of playing them up and down, you play an arpeggio and then play the next one starting with the closest note from the note you left off at (i hope that's clear)

most of my arpeggio practice has been learning and memorizing them by playing them diatonically up (1,3,5) and down (5,3,1)

is this exercise im wondering about a good idea, can someone explain it better for me, perhaps show me what it would look like

Thanks,
Jake

[Agilulfo]

Jake,

That's a really good way to practice arpeggios. Here is what it would look like in the key of C major:

C-E-G
A-F-D
E-G-B
C-A-F
G-B-D
E-C-A
B-D-F
G-E-C
B-D-F
E-C-A
G-B-D
C-A-F
E-G-B
A-F-D
C-E-G

[mutedeity]

If you practice playing arpeggios 1-3-5 then 3-5-1(octave)and 5-1(octave)-3(as the 10th) you are in effect playing the three inversions of the chord. 1-3-5 is the root inversion. 3-5-1 is the first inversion and 5-1-3 is the second inversion.

[251]

Your description of continuous arpeggio is clear. You've noticed, it's not an easy approach to soloing but it is classic Bebop.

I think of 1 3 5 as a triad & an arpeggio as 1 3 5 7 or 1 3 5 6. Perhaps using 4 notes per bar you can better see how to make a continuous arpeggio work?

[Pacman]

Expand that! Arpeggiate each chord, starting on alternating chord tones - 3 and 7 work particularly well for bebop.

[timmbass]

What do I do when I run out of strings?

Do I go up and then down in a box/position, or do I go down to the lowest string when I run out of strings to play on?

[DocBop]

To really learning arpeggios (and scales) is start playing them up and down two octave. Because you really have to understand how they are build so you can decide when to shift positions. Also play them down and back up. A lot of players spend all their time learning arp's and scale only knowing them with roots on the low strings. You need to know them from the high root also.

Last if you have the triads down start expanding to the 7th chord arpeggios. Maj7 mi7, 7th.

[MooseLumps]

When you run out of strings, buy the 14 string bass that DustyG is building and start over. arpeggios till the cows come home and then some.

[le-gasp]

Originally Posted by Agilulfo

Jake,

That's a really good way to practice arpeggios. Here is what it would look like in the key of C major:

C-E-G
A-F-D
E-G-B
C-A-F
G-B-D
E-C-A
B-D-F
G-E-C
B-D-F
E-C-A
G-B-D
C-A-F
E-G-B
A-F-D
C-E-G

thanks, is that a two-octave like doc bop said or do i stay in the same four frets (box position)?

[le-gasp]

Originally Posted by DocBop

To really learning arpeggios (and scales) is start playing them up and down two octave. Because you really have to understand how they are build so you can decide when to shift positions. Also play them down and back up. A lot of players spend all their time learning arp's and scale only knowing them with roots on the low strings. You need to know them from the high root also.

Last if you have the triads down start expanding to the 7th chord arpeggios. Maj7 mi7, 7th.

i like the idea of the two octave

[le-gasp]

Originally Posted by 251

I think of 1 3 5 as a triad & an arpeggio as 1 3 5 7 or 1 3 5 6. Perhaps using 4 notes per bar you can better see how to make a continuous arpeggio work?

well i was thinking of starting with triads, once i had those down move on to 4, 5 note arpeggios

[Agilulfo]

Originally Posted by le-gasp

thanks, is that a two-octave like doc bop said or do i stay in the same four frets (box position)?

These kinds of exercises should be practiced in every key on one octave first, then two, then three, and finally across the entire instrument from the lowest to the highest notes available on your instrument. To clarify this last bit: in C, the ultimate goal is to be able to play this particular exercise from the lowest E-G-B to the highest C-E-G (on a 24 fret instrument).

You should also reverse the exercise by starting with the first chord in its descending form, G-E-C in the key of C, and so on and so forth. Once you can do this with triads you should move on to 7th, 9th, 11th, and 13th chords. Once you can do this in major keys, you should do the same in minor keys (with both harmonic and melodic scales).

[timmbass]

C-E-G
A-F-D
E-G-B
C-A-F
G-B-D
E-C-A
B-D-F
G-E-C
B-D-F
E-C-A
G-B-D
C-A-F
E-G-B
A-F-D
C-E-G

Still looking for an explanation on how to do it.

[Agilulfo]

You play the C triad ascending (C-E-G), move to the A a whole step above the G and play the Dm triad descending (A-F-D), move up a whole step to the E above the D and play the Em triad ascending (E-G-B), move to the C a half step above the B and play the F triad descending (C-A-F), continue in this manner until you reach the C triad, an octave above the one you started on, and go back.

[le-gasp]

Originally Posted by Agilulfo

You play the C triad ascending (C-E-G), move to the A a whole step above the G and play the Dm triad descending (A-F-D), move up a whole step to the E above the D and play the Em triad ascending (E-G-B), move to the C a half step above the B and play the F triad descending (C-A-F), continue in this manner until you reach the C triad, an octave above the one you started on, and go back.

so ive been trying it and ive already been practicing arpeggios (triads) up and down , how is this an effective way of practicing arpeggios

since you could move a whole step an either direction, is it just meant to keep the patterns more linear (up and down)

[Agilulfo]

The purpose is to practice voice leading from one chord to the next. This definitely makes it more linear (i.e. more melodic).