How to Play a C Form Arpeggio Pattern on the Guitar for the CAGED System

Before you break down the C form into smaller and more useable chord voicings on the guitar, add to it in the form of an arpeggio pattern. An arpeggio is a technique in which you play the notes of a chord one at a time like a scale rather than simultaneously as a chord.

The verb arpeggiate describes how players pick through the notes of chords individually rather than strumming them all simultaneously (think of the opening to “The House of the Rising Sun” by The Animals or “Everybody Hurts” by R.E.M.).

Credit: Illustration courtesy of Desi Serna

For example, a D chord is D-F♯-A. Using the position of a C form D chord, you find these notes in the barre chord shape but also outside of it.

For instance, you see an F♯ at the 2nd fret of the 6th string, an A at the 5th fret of the 6th string, and another A at the 5th fret of the 1st string. To form a full arpeggio pattern, play through all these notes in this position from low to high and then high to low like a scale.

Credit: Illustration courtesy of Desi Serna

Notice that the lowest pitched note available in this position is where the arpeggio pattern begins — on the 3rd of D, or F♯. When mapping out an arpeggio like this, you don’t need to start on the root. Instead, touch on all chord members in the position.

Also notice that some strings have more than one chord member on them. When playing notes simultaneously as a chord, you can choose only one note per string, but arpeggios allow you to play multiple notes on a string because you can fret and pick each one individually.

For example, when playing a chord, you can use either the F♯ or the A on the 1st string but not both. When playing an arpeggio, you can play both.

Check out the shape this arpeggio pattern makes on the fretboard. The numbers in the first diagram indicate the chord intervals, the letters in the second indicate the note names, and the numbers in the third indicate a sample fingering. The intervals and note names add more perspective, but you don’t need to memorize them. Feel free to come up with a different fingering that better suits you.

Credit: Illustration courtesy of Desi Serna

Play through the C form arpeggio one note at a time like a scale, ascending and descending until you have it completely memorized. You can also use this pattern at different frets to play arpeggios for other pitches. You see just three examples, C, D, and E, but you can position the pattern around any note along the 5th string.

Don’t try to memorize all the different chord shapes presented. Instead, focus on memorizing the arpeggio patterns from which each form is taken. Then you can use those patterns to build any shape you want.

Credit: Illustration courtesy of Desi Serna