S E P R

Arpeggios and Ionian – Step 8

In this final step, we play all arpeggios from each step of the major scale, in all shapes. When you can do this, you've mastered the CAGED arpeggios!

You Can Master The CAGED Arpeggio Shapes

Finally, we must organize all arpeggios around the Ionian scale shapes, just like you must with the barre chords.

The video lessons demonstrate this in the key of A. When you can play this, try it all in the key of D, then G, then C, etc.

Here’s the TAB for how to do it in the key of A using the E shape as our starting point.

Arpeggios Master Exercises E shape in the key of A

When you can play this exercise in all other CAGED shapes and all keys, you have completed the self-eliminating practice routine for arpeggios and should now stop practising arpeggios. The goal is to stop.

Instead of practising them, use them when you play songs, improvise and write guitar parts. After practising them so much, it may be that you tend to play them up and down too much, after all, we are what we eat and you’ve been eating a lot of arpeggio exercises that do just that!

So as soon as you can do it in all twelve keys – stop practising and start playing, or as one of my first slogans went: Stop guessing – Start playing!

Arpeggios Guitar Lessons | Related Pages

Arpeggios | Step-by-step guitar course

Putting the arpeggio through the cycle of 4th is the sixth lesson in this arpeggios course.

There are only four CAGED arpeggio shapes to learn on the guitar, the min7, the maj7, the dom7, and the min7b5.

In the step-by-step arpeggio course, we master all these arpeggios in all CAGED shapes, an essential skill to acquire if you want to improvise.

Chords around Ionian | Major Scales

This chords exercise is similar to the arpeggio exercise in this step.

It’s time to start playing in a key. In this step, we play all chords up and down the major scale. When you can do it, move on!

That’s all five positions of the CAGED system. Videos are in A, you’re ready to move on when you can do it in all keys.

Five tunes to practice your arpeggios over

Chordacus

Spytunes chords, scale, and arpeggio software, Chordacus is a refined version of the so-called CAGED system.

Now available as both a chromatic (original version) and “within a key”, developed with the help of a Spytunes student.

About me | Dan Lundholm

Dan Lundholm wrote this guitar lesson on the arpeggio shapes around Ionian scale shapes.

This was a guitar lesson about arpeggios and Ionian, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and learn guitar with Spytunes.

Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.