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 Tune up
Introduction
Most of us start out on the guitar by figuring out
a few basic chords to strum. Over time we augment this rudimentary
sound with alternating bass, varied rhythm patterns, and fancier
chords. The leap from strumming chords to picking out single-line
melodies can be daunting. Beginners tend to fear scales, complex
fingerings, and forays into the murky realm above the fifth fret.
Fortunately many of the ingredients needed for playing melodies on the
guitar can be derived from the simple chord forms that beginners learn
early on.
The pattern you create when you break a chord into
its constituent notes and play the notes one at a time is called an arpeggio.
Most melodies incorporate some arpeggios, and many familiar tunes can
be understood as strings of simple scale fragments and arpeggios.
Guitar solos, hooks, and riffs in popular music frequently incorporate
this principle. Guitarists such as Andy Summers, Peter Buck, and Mike
Campbell craft many of their classic leads from fairly simple chord
forms picked out as single notes.
Try strumming through the changes outlined in
Example 1, and then pick out the individual notes of the chords as
shown in Example 2. Thousands of garage-band guitarists built their
first leads from this very string of arpeggiated chords.
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Ex. 1
