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Can some please expliain to me

Music Theory
GuitarBoy666  
21 Dec 2007 16:10 | Quote
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What the hell is arpeggio ?
bodom  
21 Dec 2007 16:29 | Quote
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An arepeggio is just a chord. But instead of strumming it you sound out each note one at a time. Its like picking the chord.
GuitarBoy666  
21 Dec 2007 18:16 | Quote
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So its like picking each note at a time ?
JustJeff  
21 Dec 2007 20:28 | Quote
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Here's a quick example,

You can play a chord like this:



E|-0---3--|
B|-1---5--|
G|-0---5--|
D|-2---5--|
A|-3---3--|
E|-0---x--|


There's two different C chords for you. This is really just strumming two different variations of the same chord. Instead of doing this, you can do the following:



E|-0-----------------------3---0---------------|
B|----1-----------------5---------1------------|
G|-------0-----------5---------------0---------|
D|----------2-----5---------------------2------|
A|-------------3---------------------------3---|
E|---------------------------------------------|


That is an arpeggio of the C chord.
GuitarBoy666  
21 Dec 2007 20:49 | Quote
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So its basically like, two chords running into each other when you pick individual notes of the chords ?
I'm sorry but I never learned any of this and I have no idea what the hell it means, I only was playing 2 years and practically self taught (I am pretty good though)
Notim  
21 Dec 2007 22:13 | Quote
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Very goood subject but also hard to explain,but jeff hit it on the head
GuitarBoy666  
21 Dec 2007 22:37 | Quote
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Yeah, I know he knows what he's talkin' bout but like, I am just slow and it takes me a while to understand some things...
JustJeff  
22 Dec 2007 01:36 | Quote
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It doesn't have to be two chords running into each other. An arpeggio is just the process of playing each individual note in a chord separately.
GuitarBoy666  
22 Dec 2007 11:42 | Quote
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Oh, okay. That clears it up a bit more.
And it is every chord that can be played on a guitar is it ? Or just some ?

I'm sorry, I feel dumb aha I should know this stuff...
Notim  
22 Dec 2007 11:58 | Quote
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It's all of them, to make it very simple is to say to play a open E power chord,two notes,basic arpeggio
GuitarBoy666  
22 Dec 2007 14:44 | Quote
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okay. thanks (:
league  
24 Dec 2007 13:53 | Quote
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Some arpeggios are so simple that people don't refer to them as such.
blackholesun  
31 Dec 2007 10:06 | Quote
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You can use arpeggios not only for rhythm work but also for in your lead playing, like a maj7 arpeggio, but when you do that you can play more than one note on a string.
GuitarBoy666  
31 Dec 2007 12:48 | Quote
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Oh like as in playing a note then hammering on (or pulling off) to another note, then keep picking the strings.

|-------------0---------------
|-----------1---1-------------
|-------2h3-------3p2---------
|---2h3---------------3p2-----
|-0----------------------0----
|-----------------------------


Something like that you mean ?
blackholesun  
31 Dec 2007 20:44 | Quote
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nope, i mean when you play an arpeggio in very much the same way as when you play a scale (with 2/3 frets per string), although as there are less notes, the max is pretty much two frets per string. The example above shows a Cmaj arpeggio with one note on each string, but if you were playing a lead part over a C major chord then you could do something like this:



Cmaj
E-------------------|
B 12h13p12----------|
G----------12-------|
D-------------14----|
A----------------15-|
E-------------------|


Starts on the maj 7th (B), then goes up to root (C), and then descends using a Cmaj7 arpeggio (B, G, E, C). Basically an alternative to using scales for a lead part. It is still mostly one fret per string (a maj7 arpeggio was a bit of a bad idea - I should have chosen a maj9 or another arpeggio with more notes in) but you can play more than one fret on each string by either picking the string twice or by hammering-on or pulling-off. Check out the positions of a Cmaj9 arpeggio on the arpeggio tool link at the top of the page, and notice the extra note compared to Cmaj7, the added 9th which is a D.
GuitarBoy666  
31 Dec 2007 21:37 | Quote
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MM,
So like basically, if you play rhythm parts say in the key of C, then a Cmaj arpeggios or scales should be played over it as a lead part ?

How do you know when something is like maj7 and maj9 and how can you figure it out yourself without the help of AGC ?

I know that it would be a Cmaj arpeggio because of the root know, (C, 15) but how do you figure out where to go from there ? I am guessing you do not play a C major scale though.

They sound pretty cool though, again thanks for your help
Rshred  
31 Dec 2007 23:44 | Quote
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GuitarBoy666 says:
So like basically, if you play rhythm parts say in the key of C, then a Cmaj arpeggios or scales should be played over it as a lead part ?

there is never any "should" or "have to's" in music. It happens to be that certain things sound better than others, but the most important part is that you are creating music that you enjoy and that sounds good to you. to answer the question...you won't be breaking any "rules" if you play a Cmaj. arpeggio over a rhythm section in the key of Cmaj. It might sound a bit tacky or uninteresting although you could probably pull it off once without anyone noticing. What may sound more interesting, would be to play an Amin. arpeggio over Cmaj. Just a thought.

The numbers maj7th or maj9th are indicating a degree of a scale. for example: E is the maj3rd of Cmaj. (major, minor, perfect, augmented and diminished intervals is a whole different subject.)

When you are playing in Cmaj there are 7 main scales to play and you can mix and match the scales as you see fit for your song. all the scales use the same notes, but they're arranged differently therefore creating a different scale. the most obvious example: C Ionian (or C major) and A aeolian (or A minor-> A minor is the relative minor to C major, uses the same notes and is the 6th degree/mode/scale of the C major scale). C Ionian has an almost happy sound to it, while A aeolian has a darker sound. D Dorian and E Mixolydian are like that as well. the Dorian scale has a darker texture while the latter has a much brighter sound and both are in the key of C major. I think it is either Bodom or Afro Raven who made a great lesson on keys and modes, check out the lessons section of this site to learn more about that.
GuitarBoy666  
1 Jan 2008 11:37 | Quote
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Oh yes, it was Bodom I have the lesson bookmarked for further reference.
I think I might be understanding now - Cmaj7 would be like the 7th Cmaj scale ?
Rshred  
1 Jan 2008 17:10 | Quote
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no not really. so you have a C major chord which uses the 1st(C), maj.3rd(E) and the 5th(G). to make the Cmaj7th you add the 7th(B) to the chord. now you have 1-3-5-7. to get a Cmaj.9th you add the 9th(D)-the eighth degree of any major scale is the root (in this case the 8th degree in Cmaj. is C), so any degree after that you start the root again (for example the 9th is the same as the 2nd and the 10th is the same as the 3rd etc...although you'll rarely see anything past the 13th).

Explanation of degrees:
in the C major scale you have 7 notes: C, D, E, F, G, A, B -in that order.
each note is a degree (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc...) in the scale. since chords are built from scales, these degrees apply to chords as well. Normally there are only 13 degrees in a chord/scale/key. six of those degrees repeat themselves. here are the degrees in C major:
C-1st D-2nd E-3rd F-4th G-5th A-6th B-7th C-8th D-9th E-10th F11th G-12th A-13th. there are 13 degrees because for whatever reason we use odd numbers for degrees most of the time. so if you're talking about A in the key of C major, you would say the 13th degree instead of the 6th degree. degrees refer to notes NOT SCALES. there are only seven scales in the key of C major. The degree of each scale is only the root. heres a little diagram for you:


In the key of C major
root-degree-scale name
C -1st -Ionian/Major
D -2nd -Dorian
E -3rd -Mixolydian
F -4th -Lydian
G -5th -Phrygian
A -6th -Aeolian/Minor
B -7th -Locrian
blackholesun  
1 Jan 2008 19:51 | Quote
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Rshred says:
The numbers maj7th or maj9th are indicating a degree of a scale


Actually they refer to the chords maj7 and maj9. Arpeggios come from chords, so it's useful to understand a bit of chord theory. I just wrote a huge detailed reply but I somehow logged myself out (there might be a timeout thing where you only stay logged in for an hour or something) so nothing happened after I clicked post :( It talked about how chords are made up from scale degrees (a major chord contains the 1, 3 and 5 scale degrees of the major scale) and how the chord formulas are always relative to the major scale. For example, a minor 7th chord contains the scale degrees 1, b3, 5, b7, relative to the major scale. The 3rd scale degree in C is an E, so the b3 is an Eb, and the 7th scale degree is B, so the b7 is a Bb, making the chord C, Eb, G, Bb. I found a website that contains the chord formulas for quite a few chords but not all of them, and I don't like the way some of the chords are sorted into type, so I'll write a lesson in a couple of days about chord formulas and why it's useful to learn and understand them.

http://members.aol.com/rw501/crdint.htm
GuitarBoy666  
1 Jan 2008 20:21 | Quote
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Okay I think I am starting to understand it, here goes:

So a maj7, maj9 etc. and the degrees, they come from what note in the scale it is ? Like,

C,D,E,F,G,A,B ... The degree, would be the place the note is right ?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ... And those are the degrees of each ? It is kinda of hard to explain with a PC, much easier in person to explain.

Any who,
Say I had F major scale, the degree would be:

F,G,A,A#,C,D,E,F
1,2,3,4 ,5,6,7,8

There wold be 8 degrees there right and each note is of the degree underneath it, right ?

But what does the degree mean ?
What's so important about it ?

PS, I am sorry about this but I am only a 12 year old, I guess my mind can't comprehend it as quick yet. Apologies :(
KicknGuitar  
1 Jan 2008 23:10 | Quote
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GuitarBoy, The numbers are used to keep an order in the scale. It is key to remember that in the basic scales, note names don't repeat. It is because we use whole steps and half steps, take a look at,
http://www.all-guitar-chords.com/lesson.php?id=26

For example,
F Major contains Seven notes. Using whole and half steps we come up with,
F G A Bb C D E F
1 2 3 4_ 5 6 7 1 (8)
See how the 4th is a Bb here, where you have A#? You repeated the note name "A." this is not allowed (it actually helps with correcting yourself when memorizing scales.

The numbers used this way are shortened from interval names (Perfect fifth, minor second, Major second etc.) Those however can be much more difficult to comprehend although it does help with chord structure.

The arpeggio simply takes the "scale degrees" that were used in the chord, then is played as if it were a new scale with those missing notes. To get a taste of constructing chords through scale degrees or intervals, see Structuring triads,
http://www.all-guitar-chords.com/lesson.php?id=28
GuitarBoy666  
2 Jan 2008 03:32 | Quote
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Why can't you repeat the notes ?
A# is the same as Bb.. what difference does it make ?
I just don't get why you have to use the flat.. next note (if that makes sense)

Doz  
2 Jan 2008 05:59 | Quote
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It just keeps things diatonic and easier. If you're studying music theory it's pretty much a rule... if you're not to bothered about the finer details then it's whatever is easier for you.
GuitarBoy666  
2 Jan 2008 13:08 | Quote
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Ooh, okay,
Well thanks a lot everyone for the help and your time
I really appreciate it and will definitely keep reading it over to assure that I understand it all
KicknGuitar  
3 Jan 2008 13:54 | Quote
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As Doz pointed out, we use diatonic (scales). Hence we use what is called diatonic half and whole steps, instead of chromatic(which would be repeating the note name, seen int he chromatic scale in western music)
GuitarBoy666  
3 Jan 2008 15:04 | Quote
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Okay, cool.
chcrush27  
5 Jan 2008 19:18 | Quote
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Reading The conversations helped Thx


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