making the right arpeggio - help

ok guys heres the prob!!! i came up with a chord progression as below:

F#m Dmaj F#m Emaj

fine!!!

now i wanted to make an arpeggio pattern from this progression!!! so i came up with something like this:

E------5------------5------------5-------------4-------
B----2---2-------3---3-------2---2---------0---0----
G--------------------------------------------------------
D--4-----------0------------4-------------2-----------
A-------------------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------------------
F#m Dmaj F#m Emaj


now i want to know that is this a correct arpeggio pattern??? or should we call it a riff??? secondly as you can see for F#m i used
F#2, C#2, A3, C#2 (by 2s and 3s i mean the octave)
for Dmaj i used
D1, D2, A3, D2
for Emaj i used
E2, B2, G#3, B2

what confuses me is that arpeggios have chord notes and ive used all for a F#m and Emaj triad but not for the Dmaj (F# note is missing) is it ok like this too???

then i cant seem to know why can we use different octave notes on the fret when they dont sound the same unlike a keyboard???? hope you understood the question!!! im desperately waiting for a reply plz plz help!!!

All I can say--I may get "hate" posts for this-- is that Theory is the method behind the madness. Sort of like algebra.

I look at this stuff funny. If you wrote progression using the chords you mentioned and based your appegios on the chord voicings or patterns you started with, then this would not change the chords regardless of what notes you leave out ***adding notes is a different story***.

Bottom line. Don't overthink. It can cause a head ache.

Take this with a grain of salt. Theory, to me, is like politics. We all understand the same thing but how we reach that understanding can take different paths.

It looks cool to me so I say keep it as is. 2 cents.

its fine. an arpegio is a bunch of notes found in the chord, you dont have to play them all, it just tells you what possible notes will fit nicely in the chord.


because you have missed the third out you will note get the sense that the D chord is majour, from the arpegio. but this is not necessarily a bad thing.

Originally Posted by: jimmy_kwtx Theory is the method behind the madness.

I think simply "theory is madness" would be more appropriate :D :p.

thanks to you im already feeling better :) Actually the prob with being a begineer is that you are always afraid of doing something just cuz it could be wrong!! and i guess it needs practise!!! ok so now i know its not necessary to use all note of a chord umm but do you think it might effect the feel of a the song if the D dosnt sound as its supposed to be....although the root is a D???

this leads me to another question!!! i did ask this before...umm a triad consists of there notes!! fine......now say for eg Cmaj has C E G.......these notes belong to one octave.....but i somehow cant seem to understand WHY CAN WE USE SUBSTITUTE NOTES FROM OTHER OCTAVES....like C maj when played on the guitar has C1 (thats the first octave) and E2 and C2 (thats the 2nd octave) and on the other hand we've completely omitted G????

then we have so many inversion for the same chord and yet we call it a C chord....hope its not a stupid question but im confused :confused: !!! isnt there a set of notes defined for a chords (octave wise too)?? atleast this is what i know from my childhood piano lessons!!!

and fret spider thanks for putting it so simple i appriciate that!! and you too jiujitsu_jesus atleast ill take a less restricted approach next time!! :)

Cmaj is played with (from low to high strings) E-C-E-G-C-e

every chord is defined by a certain set of notes, you learned well

I think you can play a song (eg Cmaj) with the notes E-C-G no matter what octave or what particular order they're in, does that sound right?

but then I got another question
are these other possibilities for C-chords?(I got 6 pages of chords in front of me)
G-C-E-G-C-e
G-x-E-G-C-e
x-C-E-G-C-e (same as top one, only one dead note)
E-A#-F-A#-D-f (this is a weird one..)
x-A#-F-A#-D-E (weird one.. it has 4 notes)

I think the first three are correct, but the last two are weird, still they've been put on the big list of guitar chords :confused:

Octaves and note order are irrelevant - if the chord is made up of C,E & G, it's a c major chord. The last 2 options you've listed below are not C chords - without further analysis, without a C note in the chord, it's not going to be a C...

And having just grabbed a guitar to have a look - I'm not sure the last 2 chords you've listed are very playable ether... :eek:

Originally Posted by: shapertakh

what confuses me is that arpeggios have chord notes and ive used all for a F#m and Emaj triad but not for the Dmaj (F# note is missing) is it ok like this too???

then i cant seem to know why can we use different octave notes on the fret when they dont sound the same unlike a keyboard???? hope you understood the question!!! im desperately waiting for a reply plz plz help!!!

First, yes theory comes after the music.

Although, some people run out of ideas/music within 3 days. So, theory can also be inspiration. It'l keep giving. And, knowledge is never a bad thing.

If you want some fundamentals on theory, come on over to my site and check the "Beginner to Advance Series"...http://lessons.mikedodge.com this is knowledge you "live" when it comes to music.

As far as all the notes on F#m and not Dmaj...how does F#m relate to Dmaj?

F#m is essentially a Dmaj7.

F#m = F# A C#

Dmaj7 = D F# A C#

So with just F#m you've basically covered a "voicing" for the Dmaj chord.

There are a number of ways to take lengthy progression and strip them down to just a couple of chords through substitutions. Sometimes you lose a little movement in the mix, but they are still seriously related, and not wrong.

I think you'd benefit from my site. Check it out, it's free, been playing seriously for 30 years, teaching for over 20 years. It's the right stuff to know.

thanks alot gennation!!! know what those lessons are perfect for anyone like me!!! ive gone through the begining few and i find them really helpful and easy to use!!! :) its like when your doubts are gone you tend to read on and on and on....i really appriciate your help and i feel that only a seasoned teacher could pen down such lessons!!! tc

:cool:

can anyone tell me where to look for some good topics that explain arpeggios in detail....and not just that "arpeggios are the notes of a chord when played one at a time" ive already had enough of this!!! any useful links????

Get the book Chord Chemistry by Ted Greene.

It's a legend!

It's only about $10 at amazon.com.

This is the bible of knowledge relating to chords. There's two pages in that book that will open your eyes to arpeggio's like no other place.

I've been though 3 copies of this book. Get it!