[Drew]

Have you looked at ways to get more mileage out of the arpeggios you already know?

Let's start VERY basic. Look at the notes in a Cmaj9 arpeggio: C E G B D

Now, because extended chords, in standard tertiary western harmony, are composed of stacked triads, be they simple triads or complicated chords with many additions, it stands to reason that if you're building up a third at a time, you can simply break any of those chords down to sub-triads and capture much of that sound, correct? So, here we really have three triads:

C E G - C major
E G B - E minor
G B D - G major.

So, if you're playing over a Cmaj9 chord, then any of those arpeggios will contain viable chord tones. An Em arpeggio against a C will suggest Cmaj7 (C E G B), whereas a G major over C will suggest Cmaj9 (C (E implied) G B D).

Likewise, if you want to imply a C7 harmony against a C, change that Em arpeggio to an Edim triad (E G Bb) and you're there. Do a fully diminished 7th arpeggio (E G Bb C#) and you imply a C7b9.

Against a C, a G minor chord, meanwhile ( G, Bb, D) would give you a G9 tonality.

You get the idea. Really, you can cover a LOT of ground with simple triad arpeggios if you learn your augmented and diminished patterns as well. Large 6 note arpeggios may be cool and all, but by then you might as well be playing scales...

[Desecrated]

Some dim stuff:

Track 1

E||----------------------|------------7----5----|----------------------|
B||----------------------|-------6--------------|--6-------------------|
G||----------------------|--4-------------------|-------7--------------|
D||-----------------7----|----------------------|------------4---------|
A||------------6---------|----------------------|-----------------6----|
E||-------5--------------|----------------------|----------------------|
B||--4-------------------|----------------------|----------------------|


----------------------|-------||
----------------------|-------||
----------------------|-------||
----------------------|-------||
----------------------|-------||
--7-------------------|-------||
-------7----6----3----|-------||

Harmonic minor in odd time signature.

Track 2

E||--------------------------|----------------------|----------------------|
B||--------------------------|----------------------|----------------------|
G||--------------------------|----------------------|----------------------|
D||-----------7--------------|----------------------|-------7--------------|
A||--------6-----6-----------|--6-------------------|--6---------6---------|
E||-----7-----------7-----7--|-----------------7----|-----------------7----|
B||--8-----------------8-----|------------8---------|----------------------|



--------------------------|------------------------|-----------------|
--------------------------|------------------------|-----------------|
--------------------------|------------------------|-----------------|
-----------7--------------|---------------------7--|-----------------|
--------6-----6-----------|--6---------------6-----|--6--------------|
-----7-----------7-----7--|---------------7--------|-----7-----------|
--8-----------------8-----|------------8-----------|--------8--------|

[stubhead]

The January 2008 Guitar Player magazine has an article about exactly this, focusing on Jean-Marc Belkadi's use of altered chords.
Extreme Sweeping: Jean-Marc Belkadi’s Polytonal Plectrum Pyrotechnics
Guitar Player TV: Channels <-(if you root around here a bit you'll find January 2008 & the video & tab for his lessons - good stuff!)
He's a great guitarist, but for me to just memorize his fingerings is kind of putting the cart before the horse - I'm better off picturing a scale on the fretboard and working up my own ways through and across it, I'll certainly retain more knowledge that way. I've been into the symmetric (diminished, half step-whole step) scale lately, and it's too hard for me to picture it for long. I had to draw it up on some fretboard paper and try to work through little bits at a time. Belkadi's Example 2 is an example of what I'm trying to get to, but I have to approach it my own slow retard-o way, from the inside out. It's major triads alternating up and down - E Db G Bb Db E G E Bb - but I have to know that, not just memorize the fingerings.

Jean Marc Belkadi
Video Smoking Guitar licks - Guitar, Licks, Rock, Solo, Angeles - Dailymotion Share Your Videos

Blank Tab Sheets in PDF Format
http://shell.abtech.org/~holtz/tab/blank/6StringTab.pdf

[God Hand Apostle]

I like Michael's Maj7 #11. I like arps that arent the traditional up /\ down sweeps myself, but I hate tapping so I'm going to move it around maybe.

This is one I use as an exercise to get the hands stretched out and sync'd together. It's one of those 131313 ideas I stole from Chopin so it's pretty classical sounding. I'm an economy picker so I put in the pick-strokes and fingering, but play it however is comfy.
First is a C6 (C E G A) Second is a Bdim7 (B D F G#)


Third is an A6 (A C# E F#) End on Amaj. chord to finish.


The Chopin lick I stole the idea from:


If you don't want to zoom because these look small:

[distressed_romeo]

^^^^Great stuff. I love those sort of licks.

[Metal Ken]

Originally Posted by Uber Mega

Try playing this one!

E|------------7--------------
B|----------7---7------------
G|--------7-------7----------
D|------7-----------7--------
A|----7---------------7------
E|--7-------------------7----


...i'm just messing ofcourse, i'm really in the same boat as yourself, i'd love some new shapes to play around with aswell

Shit! That ones HARD!

[Abhorred]

Originally Posted by distressed_romeo

^^^^Great stuff. I love those sort of licks.

Ditto! Thanks, GHA.

[lambofhowe]

I've been messing around with this one lately

E-----------------15h19p15h17h18p17p15----------------15---------
B---------------17----------------------17p16p15h16h17---17p16p15
G---------16h18----------------------------------------------------
D-------17---------------------------------------------------------
A-16h19-----------------------------------------------------------
E------------------------------------------------------------------

It;s pretty basic but sounds good. I added a little legato thing at the end too. Just end it with a typical wide vibrato and it should sound killer

here's another wild-sounding one

E-17s19s17-13-------------------13h17t24p17p13
B------------15----------------15---------------15
G--------------14------------14------------------
D----------------15--------15--------------------
A------------------17p13h17---------------------
E------------------------------------------------

Just adding in a couple notes to a basic minor triad can sound really wicked if you pull it off smoothly. Especially over a metal groove

[Jongpil Yun]

Good shit. +rep for GHA and lambofhowe

[lambofhowe]

Alright one more I just remembered

E----------14-17p14h15h16p15p14
B--------15----------------------15~
G------16-----------------------
D-14h17-------------------------
A-------------------------------
E-------------------------------

Funny how you can rip stuff like this from Kotzen, Howe etc. but it sounds badass over a stompin metal groove with a bluesy touch.