Arpeggios

System 2 arpeggios will build upon the arpeggio exercises in System 1. Each week, we will go through all 5 forms of the CAGED arpeggios so that we begin to see the different connection areas of the neck. Mastering these will allow us to know all of the notes of the arpeggios across the entire neck, thus connecting the full neck together. 

This is essential for players both in improvising and composing, and it also helps us to see different ‘destinations’ as we journey across the neck. Tim Pierce, the famed studio ace, likens these to subway stops. He says that when he solos, he gets on the subway at a certain stop–one of the CAGED forms and its associated arpeggio, pentatonic and major scale. Then he’ll take the subway to the next stop, i.e., the next CAGED form and its arpeggios, pentatonic, and major scale. He gets off at that ‘stop’ and wanders around for a while. In other words, he’ll improvise over the chord changes using the arpeggio, pentatonic, and major scale in that CAGED form. Then he’ll ‘get back on the subway to the next stop’–that is, he’ll transition to the next CAGED form and then ‘jump off’ again. 

This is a good way of looking at how we improvise in the different forms. Each CAGED form, based first on the octave, should be mentally connected to the arpeggio, pentatonic, and major scale. Because the arpeggio helps define the underlying harmony, these forms are comparable to the subway ‘stations.’

This may be the single most important tool in learning to improvise. Mastery of this is essential both for writing creative parts and improvisation.