Arpeggio Etude, no 1

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This exercise focuses on 4-string arpeggio shapes in the key of D (or B minor). Each chord is in 1st inversion, so for clarity, I didn't include this in the chord symbols in the score. Since I play 7-string primarily, soloing in B minor was the reason for developing familiarity with these particular shapes in my case. Also, it's nice to have etudes that focus on one technique. Once the arpeggios are learned, this becomes more of a right hand/picking study. Sweep picking or alternate picking may be used, depending on which technique is being practiced. (Why not do both?)

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As with any exercise, start slowly enough to play each note cleanly. If some of these shapes are unfamiliar, isolate them before trying to run through the entire exercise. I like to use this as a warm-up, so starting half-tempo (maximum), and then progressing to your top speed—which may be faster or slower than the tempo indicated—is one way to use this progression. For a longer exercise, you can also run the progression in reverse (i.e. C# dim/D/C# dim/Bm/A…) instead of ending on the high D in measure 9.