Marty Friedman style arpeggio lesson

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Marty Friedman is a true arpeggio master. He makes use of them in all possible ways: As effective shred licks, as a melodic tool and for phrasing.

In this lesson we will have a look at the shred way of doing them - in the style of Megadeth "Rust in Peace" album.

Marty's approach is very useful, as opposed to many shred guitarists he doesn't just sweep the arpeggios up and down - instead he will often play them horizontally on 2-3 strings.

Not only does this open up more for improvisation and interesting variations - it is also a technique much suitable for guitarists of all levels. In fact, this was probobly one of the first arpeggio techniques I could start jamming with, when I was a fresh guitarist.

     Major 7 two-string-arpeggios

Ok - so what's the deal with the major7 thing? An E major7 chord looks like this...

Not something you would typically associate with Megadeth... However, the arpeggio which we will play has the same notes as this chord, except we will only be playing them on the e- and b-string:

The major 7 arpeggio only has one more note than a standard major arpeggio. Still, this extra note makes a huge difference in playablity. Up to this day I am still struggling with major arpeggio improvisations - but the stuff which I am showing you in this lesson was something I mastered a long time ago - once again thanks to the extra major 7 note.

     When to play the Major 7 arpeggio?

The Major 7 arpeggio can be fitted into any chord progression, major or minor. Example: When playing a major 7 arpeggio over and E minor chord progression you can't just use E major 7 - instead you need to need to move the arpeggio three frets up , to the relative major key: G major. In other words, play G major 7 over E minor.

If the key is A major - you can obviously just play an A major 7 arpeggio.

Here is a typical chord progression in E major (where you can use E major 7 arpeggio):

E - A - F#m - B7

     Video lesson

If all this theory scares you - don't worry, the video lesson will show you all the cool tricks without one word of theory. I personally believe it is better to get some practical ideas before even attempting to understand the theory behind - otherwise you might loose inspiration quickly.

-> Watch the first part of Marty Friedman arpeggios video lesson.

Good luck!

Marty Friedman Arpeggios backing (150 bpm)     Backing track slow     TAB

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