Learn CAGED Arpeggios in 7 Days
Take your CAGED skills to the next level.
Intermediate
This class is for CAGED players who need new improvisational inspiration and greater fretboard freedom.
10 days
Sam will guide you through seven days of step-by-step instruction with interactive TAB and daily assignments.
Fretboard freedom
You'll leave this class as a more musical improviser with new tools to visualize and traverse your fretboard.
Take the next step
Once you've mastered this course, keep learning with advanced Master Classes and guided practice plans.
What you'll learn
Sam will show you how to open up your fretboard with arpeggios through the lens of CAGED system soloing.
- Break out of CAGED shapes with linear movement.
- Move away from "one-scale-fits-all" soloing.
- Make your lead lines more interesting.
Curriculum
Stay focused with this step-by-step learning program designed by our expert team of music educators.
Your guided learning pathway
This music-first course is designed to help you get more out of the CAGED system and become a refined lead guitarist. In each lesson, Sam will break down a new arpeggio and show you how to solo with it. If you've never dabbled in arpeggios before, this class is going to blow your mind.
Major 7
CAGED is great for mapping out your entire fretboard, but it's normal for the system to feel stale after a while.
Arpeggios (AKA the notes of a chord played one at a time) are your key to unlock a whole new world of expression within the CAGED system.
To kick off the class, you'll start with the ever-important major 7 arpeggio.
Minor 9
Let's make it moody.
In the second day of lessons, you'll learn how to outline the sound of a minor 9 chord with the same arpeggio as in Day 1. All it takes is some simple fretboard shifting.
4-note arpeggios
Once you have a couple of arpeggios under your belt, we'll dive into the five essential arpeggio shapes as they relate to the E and A CAGED shapes.
Days 5 & 6. How to solo with arpeggios
At this point, you'll know five essential arpeggios. Now, we'll work on making them musical. You'll learn how to use various arpeggios in a musical context and explore specific soloing applications with guided exercises and interactive jams.
Day 7. The ultimate CAGED arpeggio workout
Before we send you soloing into the sunset, Sam will run you through his CAGED arpeggio workout video. This lesson is essential to your future success with arpeggios. Revisiting it as part of your daily practice routine will allow you to lock arpeggios into your vocabulary and take your improvisational skills to new heights.
Day 1. Maj 7
We'll kick things off with the (arguably) most important arpeggio shape.
If you’re checking out this Master Class, chances are that you’re familiar with the CAGED system, but are feeling stale in your soloing, haven't quite unlocked your fretboard, or are just ready to take the next step.
We can't emphasize how much arpeggios are a game changer in the soloing world. They'll enable you to take bigger tonal steps as you travel across your fretboard, get away from blanket one-scale-fits-all soloing, and give you access to the greater harmonic interest via a "play-the-changes" soloing approach.
To kick off the Master Class, Sam will introduce you to the major 7 arpeggio and show you how to use it in a musical context.
Day 2. Minor 9
Learn how to access a minor 9 sound using what you already know.
Believe it or not, you’ve already done all the hard work for Day 2. We’re going to get extra miles out of the major 7 shape by simply shifting up a few frets and playing over our relative minor chord.
This unique two-for-one approach gives us access to the colorful extension of the 9th alongside reliable chord tones like the 5th, flat 7th, and flat 3rd.
We’re challenging you to take everything up into the second octave here on Day 2 for maximum melodic expression.
Days 3 & 4. Four-note arpeggios (E and A positions)
Work your way up and down the five main types of 4-note arpeggios in the A position.
Learning arpeggios in a stationary way provides a valuable comparison that will help out with memorizing and eventually applying them to chord changes.
You'll learn how to outline major 7, dominant 7, minor 7, minor 7 b5, and fully diminished chords as they relate to the E and A CAGED positions.
Days 5-7
Put a spotlight on soloing and wrap up with a CAGED workout.
Days 5 & 6. How to solo with arpeggios
Now, it’s time to get some experience with using our arpeggios to solo. Creatively using arpeggios in real-time is like nailing the perfect combo in Street Fighter. We want to avoid button mashing and intentionally execute these dazzling special moves. Over the next two lesson days, you'll learn how arpeggios fall into a two-layered soloing approaches – one of which will introduce you to the intricate "playing-the-changes" approach to soloing. Buckle up!
Day 7. The ultimate CAGED arpeggio workout
Arpeggios, like any guitar concept, require some consistent practice to bake into your muscle memory. We've got you covered with an interactive workout video led by Sam that you can use to make some major CAGED arpeggio gains. This will be perfect for your practice routine.
REAL students
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What guitarists love about this course
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Improve your playing or get your money back
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Your Instructor
Sam Blakelock
Sam Blakelock is a guitarist, educator, and the founder of Pickup Music. He's an expert at helping guitarists of all levels tackle fundamental techniques and complex topics in a straightforward & practical way.
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