Minor Arpeggios on Guitar

The short answer: a minor arpeggio is the minor chord's notes — root, ♭3rd, 5th — played one at a time. It differs from the major arpeggio by a single half step, and that half step is the entire difference between bright and melancholy. Gitori's Minor Arpeggios course teaches five ways to play minor arpeggios across the neck.

The ♭3 is the whole story

Compare the formulas: major is 1-3-5, minor is 1-♭3-5. One note moves one fret, and the emotional temperature drops ten degrees — the deep dive on that phenomenon is Major third vs minor third. Practically, this means minor arpeggio shapes are your major shapes with one alteration, so if you've done the major course, you're not learning five new patterns from scratch — you're learning where the 3 lives in each pattern and lowering it.

Example: the A minor arpeggio

Take any minor chord and the formula gives you the notes. For A minor: root A, ♭3rd C, 5th E — the same three notes as the A minor chord (Am), just played one at a time instead of strummed together. Swap the root and the formula still holds: a D minor arpeggio is D-F-A, an E minor arpeggio is E-G-B. Once you know the ♭3-and-5 shape relative to any root, every minor arpeggio on the neck is the same shape moved.

Where you'll use them

Over minor chords, anywhere — the ii and vi chords of a major key, the i of a minor key, that one moody chord in an otherwise happy song.
Minor-key soloing — outlining i–iv–v changes with arpeggios instead of running the minor pentatonic box gives your lines that composed, intentional quality.
Relative-minor moves — every major key hides a relative minor (explained here); its arpeggio is one of the strongest sounds you can play over the relative major.

Minor arpeggio shapes the course covers

Five shapes for traversing 1-♭3-5 across the neck — position shapes, spreads, and diagonal paths — each with its own lesson and drill, then mixed randomly in the Find Arpeggios game with the clock running.

Before you start

Scale degrees first — the shapes are degree logic made physical, and the degree courses make that automatic. The Major Arpeggios course is the recommended predecessor so the ♭3 edit has something to edit.

Frequently asked questions

What notes are in a minor arpeggio?

The root, ♭3rd, and 5th of whatever minor chord you're building it from — the same three notes as the chord itself, played one at a time instead of strummed. For A minor that's A-C-E; for E minor it's E-G-B.

What's the difference between a minor arpeggio and a minor scale?

A minor scale is all seven notes of the key played stepwise; a minor arpeggio is just the three chord tones (root, ♭3, 5) of one specific chord, skipping the notes in between. The scale describes the whole key — the arpeggio outlines one chord inside it. Arpeggios vs scales covers the full distinction.

How is a minor arpeggio different from a major arpeggio?

Only the middle note changes. Major is 1-3-5, minor is 1-♭3-5 — the 3rd drops by one half step and the same shape you already know for major shifts to minor. Everything else about how you'd play or use it stays the same.