Guitar Guide

Music Theory with the Guitar

Arpeggios and triads

triads

To memorize all major, minor, and diminished triads across all string sets, you should follow these exercises:

And then practice with them by doing the following:

1. Crosspicking through chord progressions
2. Improvising with triads only

Major arpeggios

E shape

The first 2 octave E shape arpeggio is based off the E shape pentatonic and has 4 triad sets going vertically on it.

C shape

This is the C-shape 1-2 octave for the major shape

D shape

This is the D shape which covers one octave but also has 4 triad sets, thus completing the 12 major triad sets, 3 for each of the 4 string sets.

Minor arpeggios

E shape

This is the 2 octave E shape arpeggio

C shape

This is the C-shape 1-2 octave for the minor shape

D shape

This is the D shape which covers one octave but also has 4 triad sets, thus completing the 12 minor triad sets, 3 for each of the 4 string sets.

Major 7th Arpeggios

There are multiple flavors of 7th arpeggios and here you'll learn them all. First, it's important to know the 1-octave shapes, as all the rest of the 2-octave shapes are just built from those.

1-octave shapes

These first four shapes are the most useful arpeggio shapes on all string sets.

• The first two are from the CAGED E arpeggio shape
• The second two are from the CAGED C arpeggio shape

Maj7 arpeggio E string set

Maj7 arpeggio D string set

Maj7 arpeggio B string set

Maj7 arpeggio G string set

These next shapes are based on a widened version of the basic, but still useful. It's translated down 3 sets.

Maj7 widened arpeggio E string set

Maj7 widened arpeggio B string set

Maj7 widened arpeggio D string set

There are two more useful widened shapes.

Maj7 widened arpeggio E string set

Maj7 CAGED D shape arpeggio

two octave shapes

E shape

Now we can start getting into the 2-octave shapes. First off, here's the E shape, based on the the E-shape major arpeggio:

Note how it's just a combination of two single octave Maj7 arpeggios from the E-shape arpeggio.

Maj7 arpeggio E string set

Maj7 arpeggio D string set

C shape

these are the 1-octave shapes from the C-shape arpeggio that make up the full arpeggio

Maj7 arpeggio A string set

Maj7 arpeggio G string set

three octave shapes

Minor 7th Arpeggios

1-octave shapes

Here are the 4 shapes on the E string set

Min7 arpeggio E string set

Min7 arpeggio E string set

Here are the 2 shapes on the A string set

Min7 arpeggio A string set

Min7 arpeggio A string set widened

Here are the 2 shapes on the D string set

Min7 arpeggio D string set

Min7 arpeggio D string set

Here are the 2 shapes on the G string set

Min7 arpeggio G string set

Chord grips

Spread Triads

Here are all the major triads as chords, which include only the root and the 3rd.

Major Triad, E-string root

Major Triad, A-string root

Major Triad, D-string root

Major Triad, D-string root

Here are all the minor triads as chords, which include only the root and the flat 3rd.

Minor Triad, E-string root

Minor Triad, A-string root

Minor Triad, D-string root

Shell chords

Although there are a lot of shell chords, they are easy to memorize if you group them by spread version and by string set.

Compact Shell chords

THe compact shell chords always have the 7th on top.

These are the compact shell chords on the E string root

Maj7 E string root (compact)

7th E string root (compact)

m7 E string root (compact)

These are the compact shell chords on the A string root, and keep in mind how they are the exact same as the E string roots.

Maj7 A string root (compact)

7th A string root (compact)

m7 A string root (compact)

The ones on the D-root are as so:

Maj7 D string root (compact)

7th D string root (compact)

m7 D string root (compact)

The ones on the G-root are as so:

Maj7 G string root (compact)

7th G string root (compact)

m7 G string root (compact)

Spread Shell chords

These spread shell chords have a much more lush and open voicing and always have the 3rd on top.

Maj7 E string root (spread)

7th E string root (spread)

m7 E string root (spread)

Here are the ones for the A string root

Maj7 A string root (spread)

7th A string root (spread)

m7 A string root (spread)

Here are the ones for the D string root

Maj7 D string root (spread)

7th D string root (spread)

m7 D string root (spread)

Major chord grips

These three major chord grips are made from stacking a D-set major triad on top of a G-set major triad.

Maj D-string root

Maj B-string root

Maj G-string root

• The D-string root grip comes from the CAGED E arpeggio shape.
• The B-string root grip comes from the CAGED D arepggio shape.
• The G-string root grip comes from the CAGED C arpeggio shape.

Minor chord grips

These three minor chord grips are made from stacking a D-set minor triad on top of a G-set minor triad.

Minor D-string root

Minor B-string root

Minor G-string root

• The D-string root grip comes from the CAGED Gm arpeggio shape.
• The B-string root grip comes from the CAGED Dm arepggio shape.
• The G-string root grip comes from the CAGED Cm arpeggio shape.

7th chord grips

These chord grips are all formed from the 7th arpeggio shapes.

These are the chord grips found from the E CAGED 7th arpeggio:

7th D-string root

7th high E-string root

These are the chord grips found from the single octave 7th arpeggio with root on D:

7th D-string root

These are the chord grips found from the D caged 7th arpeggio shape:

7th A-string root

7th high B-string root

These are the chord grips found from the C-shape CAGED 7th arpeggio:

7th D-string root

Note how this chord grip is essentially just the 7th shell chord with G string root with an extra bass note

min 7th chord grips

maj7th chord grips