Arpeggios on the Guitar - How to Make Music Beyond Beautiful

Arpeggios come in all shapes, sizes and durations. Much of the fun in learning arpeggios comes in discovering interesting new patterns that lead to beautiful new sounds.

Although arpeggios can be played on the guitar with either a pick or the fingers, let's focus on playing arpeggios with the fingers in this article.

To help us talk about the fingers, we're going to give them a shorthand that's common in guitar literature. P equals the thumb, I equals the index finger, M equals the middle finger and A equals the ring finger. Those letters come from the Spanish words for the different fingers.

So, the first arpeggio we'll look at is just playing P, I, M and A in sequence.

Let's play a standard A minor chord.

Our thumb will play the 5th string bass note. Our other three fingers will each play the 4th, 3rd and 2nd strings.

Now, play those strings in sequence from P to I to M to A. This is the PIMA arpeggio.

Arpeggio playing is all about technique.

For your picking hand, you want your thumb to stay in a separate arc from your other fingers. It swings wide away from the palm where the other fingers are playing.

Meanwhile, your I, M and A fingers make a waving motion when they play their strings. The fingers head in the direction of the palm.

Eventually, you won't move quite so much, but in the beginning, it can be very helpful to get used to the correct finger movement by bringing your fingers all the way in to touch your palm.

Rather than clawing at the strings with most of the movement in the knuckle closest to the fingertips, try to keep the fingers waving into the palm with most of the motion in the knuckles in the middle of the fingers and closest to the hand.

Another very useful tool to use is what we call "preparations." After each PIMA cycle, bring all four fingers back into contact with the strings they are playing.

This helps you get used to keeping the fingers close in near the strings where they can play music. Often, beginners get into the habit of allowing their fingers to hover far away from the strings. This only makes arpeggios appear that much harder, because your fingers aren't in position to play their notes on time.

So, returning to our A minor chord and the PIMA arpeggio we've been playing, we're now going to extend the arpeggio a bit.

First, play PIMA just like before. But now, after you play A, come back in reverse. Play M, and finish with I.

That creates this arpeggio: P, I, M, A, M, I

This arpeggio makes a nice in and out pattern that also sounds very beautiful.

If you apply those basic technical pointers I included above and begin with these simple arpeggios, you'll soon find beautiful music flowing almost effortlessly from your fingers.

The great masters of the guitar have left behind many wonderful arpeggios and pieces in which to apply them. Have a blast as you get used to the feeling of playing arpeggios on the guitar, and know that there are many, many more arpeggio patterns where these came from.

Come on over to Nashville guitar lessons to learn more about how to get better at the guitar.

Or pick yourself up some beautiful guitar music today!

Matt Coffman lives in Nashville, Tennessee and wants you to be the best you can be on your guitar.