How to Do String Skipping Arpeggios in Metal Guitar

String skipping is a great tool for metal guitar. It basically "stretches out" a note progression to cover more range, to make a more original sound. String skipping can be applied to arpeggios. An arpeggio is just a scale that uses chromatic notes to make a sequence. The arpeggio can be just one octave, or with string skipping, more than one octave. Here's how to use string skipping to make your arpeggio cover multiple octaves.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

1. Figure out a common arpeggio. The arpeggio uses the same chromatic notes you use to build a major chord. If you think of the chromatic octave as 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 (do re mi fa so la ti) then you're using 1, 3, 5 and high 1 for your arpeggio. Figure these notes out and recognize them for the key you're playing in.
2. Map out where these notes are on the fretboard. Since there are only eleven separate notes in the scale, all of them appear all over your guitar neck. Find the spots where octaves repeat (such as an open string up to the 12th fret) and mark off notes in your key on each string. This is essential for creating string skipping arpeggios.
3. Start your arpeggio on a lower string. Play the first two or three notes.
4. Find a spot where you would play up to the next highest string, maybe in between your 5 and your high 1 octave note.
5. Stop. Instead of playing the note where you would on the next string, find it on the next highest string.
6. Continue your arpeggio upward to cover two octaves. You'll hear it start off in your low base note and go up to a higher octave note on a higher string.

Tips & Warnings

• If all of this sounds like Greek to you, find online resources for arpeggio building. Try the Arpeggio Preview at Guitar Alliance for a look at how arpeggios are made, and you might get a better understanding of how they are used in guitar.
• Break this process down to manageable parts. If you have trouble tackling all of it at once, make it your mission to learn all about the chromatic scale first, then master the arpeggio and then do some string skipping. A string skipping arpeggio uses multiple talents and techniques, so don't worry if you can't do everything at once. The more you study, the more easily you'll master these techniques.