How to Play Fast Arpeggios Like George Benson: 5 Things He Does Differently

Short answer: George Benson plays fast arpeggios by doing five things most guitarists don't: he uses an eighth note leading into triplets, he links several different arpeggios instead of repeating one in two octaves, he sweeps on the way down, he stretches out of position so the same fingering repeats, and he cares more about a shape that's easy to play than about every note being "correct" for the chord. He also uses two-note-per-string arpeggios that move diagonally across the neck. Once you have the concept, you can make your own lines instead of memorizing licks.

A lot of us learn arpeggios and then don't know how to turn them into music, like Benson does. A big reason is that we're playing the arpeggio differently from the way he does. ▶ 0:00

The line: Benson-style arpeggios over C minor

I play a few of these ideas at the start of the video, then break down one line over C minor. ▶ 1:17 Everything below comes from that one line. ▶ 1:53

1. The rhythm: an eighth note into triplets

Most of Benson's arpeggio ideas use a very specific rhythm: a quarter note or an eighth note up front, anticipating into a triplet. Use the quarter note if you want to hold it a little longer. The triplets continue on the way back down too. ▶ 2:16

2. Link different arpeggios, not one arpeggio in two octaves

Benson isn't playing the same arpeggio in two octaves. In this one line you can see the combinations from my George Benson two-chord lesson. ▶ 2:53

▶ 3:26

Those are the four arpeggios that work for the ii-V (C-7 to F7) and the ii-V-I. Linking different arpeggios is what lets Benson keep going with the same pattern instead of running out of space.

3. The picking: sweep on the way down

Ascending is picked differently from descending. On the descending side there are a lot of sweeps: down, down, down, up. Practice that motion first. ▶ 4:03

It isn't always down, down, down, up. On the E♭ major it's down, down, up. The idea is that when you move across consecutive strings going down, you use down picks so the pick glides across. On the last part of the line you can use an up sweep. ▶ 4:27

The sweep is a fundamentally different motion from doing separate down picks and trying to speed up your hand. It lends itself to playing fast and clean. ▶ 5:05

4. Play out of position so the shape repeats

A lot of books and online lessons keep arpeggios in a neat four-fret position because it's easy to explain. That isn't how these players actually do it. ▶ 5:05

Many of these arpeggios stretch past four frets. The A-7♭5, for example, goes from the 4th fret up to the 8th. Doing it that way allows the fast down, down, down, up picking, and it keeps the same fingering for several shapes: the C minor shape is the same as the A-7♭5, and it can be the same as the F7. ▶ 5:48

So instead of changing every little thing and trying to speed that up, you play the same left-hand shape and the same right-hand motion three times. ▶ 6:42

5. The shape matters more than the exact notes

This shows up in a lot of Benson's ideas: how easy a shape is to play matters more than the specific notes. If you keep the same shape, some notes in between can be "wrong" for the chord. At speed, the ear doesn't catch every tension, and breaking the shape to get the correct arpeggio would force different picking and slow you down. ▶ 6:42

In the second example from the PDF, the fingering is first finger, pinky, middle, first. Some of those notes, like G♭, don't strictly fit C minor. That's fine: it adds some inner tension, almost like F7♭9 or a tritone sub, and then it resolves. Because the fingering stays the same, it's simple to play fast. ▶ 8:05

Relaxation is the effect, not the cause

People say you need to relax to play fast. I think that switches cause and effect. Relaxation is what happens when you're playing something the right way. Forcing yourself to relax won't make you fast. Learn these ideas in shapes that suit the technique, and some arpeggio shapes that are good for this kind of speed are not the ones you'd use with alternate picking. ▶ 8:26

Turn one lick into endless ideas over C minor

Don't just repeat the same arpeggio shapes. Take the broad concept: ascending through different arpeggios, connecting each one somehow, all fitting C minor broadly. ▶ 11:28

1. Tie the lick to a chord shape. The original line fits nicely around a C-11 chord. There are other C minor chord shapes on the neck, so take the same principle to each one. ▶ 12:01
2. Pick arpeggios that live inside C minor. Starting on a G, a G-7 arpeggio fits, with a little chromatic approach into it. D-7 also works over C minor. Then another G minor, then a C minor. ▶ 12:33
3. Keep the shape, even when a note doesn't fit. In one version I play C minor, G minor, C minor, then F-7. The F-7 isn't an exact fit, but switching that A♭ to A would make it much harder at this speed (you can hear me flub it). You're basically holding your fingers like a G minor chord, a common shape in Benson's hand. ▶ 13:26
4. End on a note that fits. That line works because it ends on E♭, which fits the chord (it could end on D). An earlier one has a bunch of notes that don't fit, but it ends on B♭, which does. ▶ 14:36
5. Move it up the neck. Higher up: G minor, C minor, E♭ major, then A-7♭5. Same shape. ▶ 14:49

Practicing this in all five positions is what lets me play these ideas all over the fretboard. You don't have to memorize each lick. Take the concept of linking arpeggios that work over C minor, and you won't be stuck thinking "this note over this scale" and switching scales. ▶ 15:29

Benson's two-note-per-string arpeggios

In a second lesson, How to Play George Benson's FAST 2-Note Arpeggios, I cover another Benson arpeggio that I first noticed when he played it very briefly in a Hot Licks video. It's something he took from Django Reinhardt. I call it a two-note arpeggio because you play two notes per string. ▶ 0:28

Over B♭7: start on the 3rd (D), then the 9th (C), the ♭7 (A♭) and the 5th (F). You might recognize that as a D-7♭5 arpeggio (D, F, A♭, C). Pick it down, up on each string, fingering 3, 1, 2, 1, then repeat the same shape on the next set of strings. ▶ 0:59

Benson plays it as a triplet. Slow it down first and play it as eighth notes starting on the upbeat. It's great for position shifting and getting across the fretboard, and it works ascending and descending. ▶ 1:22

• Minor chords: change one thing. The major 3rd (D) becomes the minor 3rd (D♭), so you're playing a D♭Maj.7 arpeggio over B♭-7. ▶ 2:45
• Major 7 chords: don't just alter the shape. Shift up to start on the 5th (F, D, B♭, A), because starting on D would leave a big gap between F and A that's harder to play than it needs to be. ▶ 4:16
• The ♯11 version: most of the time Benson wouldn't play the plain B♭Maj.7 arpeggio over B♭ major. One simple adjustment is to change the 5th to the ♯11, E natural instead of F. It's the same shape as the B♭7 version, just moved up to start on the ♯11, and you can see the four-note pattern repeat three times diagonally on the neck. ▶ 5:00
• Mix both sounds: in one of the licks I play the major 7 with F natural for half and the ♯11 for the other half. In the descending idea, I drive the line to resolve on the E natural, and everything else fits around it. ▶ 6:08

There's a free PDF for that lesson through the link in its video description.

Frequently asked questions

How does George Benson play arpeggios so fast?

He uses an eighth note into triplets, links different arpeggios instead of repeating one, sweeps across strings on the way down, and stretches out of position so the same fingering and picking motion repeat. He also keeps an easy shape even when a note or two doesn't strictly fit the chord.

What picking does George Benson use for arpeggios?

On descending arpeggios, he sweeps: down picks across consecutive strings (often down, down, down, up), so the pick glides instead of picking each note separately. Ascending is picked differently, and an up sweep can finish a line.

Which arpeggios work over a minor ii-V like C-7 to F7?

C minor, E♭ major, A-7♭5 and F7. Benson links all four in one line instead of playing a single arpeggio in two octaves.

What is a two-note-per-string arpeggio?

A four-note arpeggio played two notes per string, picked down-up, then repeated in the same shape on the next pair of strings so it moves diagonally across the neck. Over B♭7 it's D, C, A♭, F, which is a D-7♭5 arpeggio.

Do I have to play the correct arpeggio for every chord?

Not at speed. Keeping a shape that's easy to play matters more than every note fitting, as long as the line ends on a note that fits the chord.

Keep learning

• How to play like George Benson: his techniques, explained: the full map of Benson's techniques, with a lesson for each
• George Benson's two-chord approach: why C minor, E♭ major, A-7♭5 and F7 belong together
• How George Benson makes 'wrong' notes sound right: more on the notes that don't fit the chord

Go deeper

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The PDF for this lesson is inside Chase's Guitar Academy: 10 ideas over C minor, ascending and descending lines in all five positions, so you can link them the way I do at the start of the video. You can try it free for seven days.

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Chase Maddox is a jazz guitarist and educator in Miami and the founder of Chase's Guitar Academy. George Benson has called him "an amazing instructor." More free lessons are on his YouTube channel.