Scales and arpeggios are two of the first things guitarists encounter when they start exploring the fretboard beyond chords. They can even look quite similar when written out as exercises, which raises an obvious question:
What’s the difference between a scale and an arpeggio, and how should you use each one?
The distinction becomes particularly important when you start improvising or composing guitar solos.
A simple way to think about it is this:
Scales are the notes you can choose from. Arpeggios are the important ones.
That’s a simplification, as we’ll see shortly, but it’s a useful starting point.
What Are Scales?
A scale is simply a collection of notes that belong together. For example, the A natural minor scale contains seven notes that generally sound good over music in A minor.
Because every note in the scale is a possible option, scales give you freedom. They allow you to create melodies, connect ideas and move smoothly around the fretboard.
This is why most guitarists learn scales before arpeggios. They’re relatively easy to visualize and provide a solid foundation for improvisation.
However, not every note in a scale has the same function. Some notes sound stable over a particular chord, while others create tension.
This doesn’t mean that the notes outside the arpeggio are somehow “bad” or less musical. In fact, tension is one of the things that make a melody interesting. A note outside the current chord can create a feeling of instability or movement, which can then be resolved by moving to a more stable chord tone.
If every note in your solo were completely stable, the result could become boring and predictable. Tension and resolution give melodies a sense of excitement and movement.
Before looking at how scales and arpeggios interact, however, we’re going to practice them separately. First we’ll get comfortable using a scale on its own, then we’ll do the same with arpeggios. After that, we’ll put the two together.
Exercise 1 – Practice Scale Sequences
Instead of simply playing scales up and down, practice them using sequences.
For example, you might play the first three notes of the scale, then start again from the second note, then the third, and so on (a sequence of three).
Sequences improve your technique while also helping you break away from the habit of running straight up and down the scale. Over time, they can also become a valuable source of melodic ideas.
The following is a sequence of three you can practice over the A minor natural scale.
Exercise 2 – Improvise Using Only One Scale
Choose a simple backing track and improvise using just one scale, such as the natural minor scale.
Don’t worry about following every chord change. Instead, concentrate on rhythm, phrasing, bends, vibrato and dynamics.
The purpose of the exercise is to experience the scale as a collection of possibilities rather than a pattern that you’re supposed to play from beginning to end.
You have seven notes available. What you do with them is where the music begins.
The following is an example backing track you can use to improvise using the A natural minor scale. Though you are given the chords being used (Am – F – C – G) you don’t need to pay attention to them at this point.
What Are Arpeggios?
An arpeggio contains the notes that make up a chord. Importantly, when the chord belongs to the key you’re playing in, those arpeggio notes are already contained within the scale.
For example, the A natural minor scale contains the notes:
A – B – C – D – E – F – G
An A minor arpeggio contains:
A – C – E
We haven’t introduced three new notes. We’ve selected three notes that were already in the scale because those particular notes make up the A minor chord.
This is the key to understanding the relationship between scales and arpeggios.
The scale gives you a collection of available notes, while the arpeggio identifies the notes that most clearly describe the chord being played at that moment. These chord tones tend to sound more stable and connected to the underlying harmony.
When guitarists talk about “playing the changes,” they’re often referring to becoming aware of these chord tones as the harmony moves.
The other scale notes still matter. They can create movement, colour and tension. The arpeggio simply shows you where some of the strongest points of resolution are.
Exercise 3 – Practice Arpeggio Sequences
Just like scales, arpeggios can be practiced using sequences rather than simply playing the same shape straight up and down.
Experiment with different patterns, directions and positions across the neck.
As you practice, don’t concentrate exclusively on memorizing the fingering. Listen to the notes as well. Eventually, you want to recognize the sound of chord tones as well as know where to find them on the fretboard.
The following is a sequence of three you can practice over the A minor arpeggio:
Exercise 4 – Target the Chord Tones
Now we can start bringing the two ideas together.
Improvise freely using a scale. When the chord changes, emphasize one of the notes belonging to the arpeggio of the new chord.
Emphasizing these notes means playing them on the accents, using them more often and holding them for a longer duration.
You don’t have to play the entire arpeggio. In fact, that isn’t the point of the exercise. You can continue moving through the scale exactly as before; you’re simply becoming more conscious of where the chord tones are.
The scale hasn’t changed, but your solo should begin to sound more connected to the chord progression underneath it.
Go back to the backing track given above but this time when the music is on:
The A minor chord emphasize the notes A, C and E
The F chord emphasize the notes F, A and C
The C chord emphasize the notes C, E and G
The G chords emphasize the notes G, B and D
Scales and Arpeggios Work Together
It’s easy to think of scales and arpeggios as two different approaches to soloing, but that’s misleading. In most tonal music, the arpeggios are already sitting inside the scale.
Think of the scale as a map of a city. It shows you all the roads you can take and gives you plenty of freedom to move around.
The arpeggio notes are more like landmarks, squares, cafés or other places where you might stop for a while. You don’t have to travel directly from one landmark to another. You can wander through the streets, take a longer route, explore somewhere unexpected and then arrive at one of those places when it feels right.
A guitar solo can work in much the same way. Scale notes allow you to move through the harmony, create tension and explore melodic ideas. Chord tones give you places where a phrase can settle or connect particularly strongly with the chord underneath.
And you don’t always need to settle. Sometimes the tension is exactly what the music needs.
Which Should You Practice First?
If you’re a beginner, I’d recommend learning scales first. They give you a framework for the fretboard and allow you to start creating melodies without having to think about every chord individually.
Once you’re comfortable using scales, start learning the arpeggios contained within them. You’ll begin to see that you’re not learning a completely separate system. You’re learning to recognize which notes within a scale belong to the chords underneath it.
As you become more experienced, the distinction becomes less obvious while you’re actually playing. You may move through scale notes, target a chord tone, create some tension and resolve it without consciously thinking, “Now I’m playing a scale” or “Now I’m using an arpeggio.”
That’s where you ultimately want to get.
Final Thoughts
Scales and arpeggios make much more sense once you understand their relationship.
A scale gives you a collection of notes you can use to create melodies. Within that collection, arpeggios reveal the notes of the underlying chords. Those notes can give your phrases stability and a stronger connection to the harmony, while the remaining scale notes provide movement, colour and tension.
Practice the two separately at first so that you become comfortable with both. Then start combining them and, most importantly, listen to the effect of the notes you’re choosing.
The goal isn’t to think in terms of scales versus arpeggios forever. It’s to reach the point where you know the possibilities, hear the important notes, and choose what the music needs.
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