Sweep arpeggio question

[a06]

I'm rather efficient and comfortable with the Paul Gilbert style string skipping arpeggios, and have been working on my sweeping lately.  In the columns in Guitar World,  MAB seems to use sweep arpeggios that are specific to each chord in the progression, and then simply change with the chords.   For example, sweeping some Am arpeggio patterns while playing over Am, then switching to various Em arpeggios shapes when the underlying chord is Em.    Here's my burning question..........let's say we have a simple backing track that chugs an Am chord for two measures, then an Em for two measures.    When the Am is being played, would you only play Am arpeggios?   Or, for example, could you play a C major arpeggio shape over an Am, too?    I notice with some Paul Gilbert stuff, he might do a string skipped C major arpeggio over an Am tonality.    So, what's the tried and true rule here?     What would MAB  play if he wanted to do some insane sweeps while following, for example, a twelve bar blues in the key of A........where each chord gets played for several measures.  It doesn't seem like you'd just keep sweeping Am arpeggio shapes until the chord changes.      

[razorshred]

:)I guess as a theoretical answer , if you have an Am chord ( if it's in A minor scale that is.. ) you are allowed to play the A minor arpeggio safely ( A C E ) (normal Chord ). And You could also play The C major arpeggio( C E G ) . So here you have 2 notes in common which are C & E and you can use them as pedal tones over your progression . That is just my opinion .

[a06]

Yeah, adding the C chord tones make sense (C E G), as the G note simply makes the Am an Am7 with that added G note. So, if I'm understanding this right, seems the most common arpeggio shapes would be the root chord and the third chord shape of that root. So in a major progression (A major), over the A major chord, the A major arpeggio would obviously work, and the third (C#m) would work by introducing just one note, the G#, which would make the A chord have a major 7th tonality. Seems from some tab I have that Paul Gilbert seems to play, for example, the C arpeggio shape over an Am chord.   So, for every other chord in the progession, would you stick to this rule...........play the arpeggio of the chord being played and the notes of the "third chord" of that  chord, all the while keeping it note-right for the scale one is using?           Any other input on this, especially from MAB himself, would be awesome.

[a06]

Okay, here's probably the best article I've stumbled on that answers a LOT of my questions. For typical rock solos, seems we've already mostly nailed the answers above. I analyzed another Paul Gilbert solo , and again, saw him using a C arpeggio over the Am7 chord, and then moving to a D arpgeggio as the chord was changing to Bm7. So, those playing off of the "third" work well when you prefer not to follow the root chord only with minor chords. Some of the examples in this article, like playing off of the 6th scale/chord tone work well over major chords. And of course, we all know the V7 chord invites our use of diminished arpeggios. So, basically, you have to know the progression pretty well to move into arpeggio solo land. Here's the article......enjoy. chrisjuergensen.com/arpeggios.htm    Anyway, I'm really having fun trying to amp up my ability to play more than just the scalar approach to solos by working hard on the arpeggio method.   

[a06]

Just did a test with playing with my looper pedal and asked some opinions from musical family members. When playing G major, for example a simple I-IV-V, I found that the G major arpeggio obviously sounded awesome against the G chord......however, the third, Bm arpeggio over G major, not so great.  Well, it works, just adds some tension with that F# note in there, which is cool if you want that tension.   What sounds WAY better to everyone over a major chord is playing off of the sixth (Em arpeggio) over G major. So , over a G major chord....the sweetest arpeggios were G major and Em. (playing Em arpeggio over G major simply implies an Em7 tonality).  Again, "sweetest" just means lowest tension, easy fit for the common listener, as obviously the rules are endless.   Now, when playing over a simple Am to Bm progression,,,over minor chords, playing off of the third sounds sweet. For example, over the Am chord, an Am arpeggio or a C major arpeggio sounded sweetest. Same is true when the chord changes to Bm,,,,a Bm arpeggio and a D major arpeggio sounded great. Just wanted to share, and having a blast with exploring this technique.     

[blackjack]

You could play an E minor arpeggio over an A minor chord and the result would be an A minor 9 since the E minor arpeggio contains the 5th, 7th, and 9th of the Am9 chord.

Play an F# diminished arpeggio iver an A minor chord and the resulting tonality is an A minor add 9 chord. There are many possibilities. Play an A diminished arpeggio over an A minor chord and the resulting tonality would be an A minor major 7th chord, which would work well if you are playing in A harmonic minor.